apetriedmd

That's too bad about the tranny update failing to improve anything. I will talk w/ Larson Audi in Tacoma about it but i have little faith. My practice is located near Belarmine HS by the narrows. Any other pointers on the vehicle or recc independent shops for maintenance ?

$Audi2013A8L$

I have a 2013 A8L 4.0. 20,000 mi. It has developed what I think is a shifting issue similar to that described elsewhere. From a cold start up to about 30 mph I feel a shuddering as it is changing gears and it seems to hold on to first gear to about 4,000 rpm. I admit I don't let it warm up a lot as I like to conserve fuel, but I had not noticed the problem before. Ideas? Is this transmission under a recall for a fix? I had a 2012 with the same transmission and never s problem. Thanks in advance.

Return For Deposit

The OP mentions sport edition which means you should have different driving modes Comfort to Dynamic. Does this cold shift behavior appear in all modes?

SadSole2003

Good evening, i am having the same issue with my 2012 A8 shifting from 1st to 2nd on cold starts without getting that bump to 2nd. I've had my computer reprogrammed and preformed a "Clutch adaptation" twice at two different dealers. both stating they do not work on transmission and only replace them with new ones for a small sum of gold and my first born.
Were you able to have yours repaired and if yes what was the issue.?

LexusLSguy

I'm surprised you guys are not having the dealer or an independent shop drop the pan and replace the filter / about 8 quarts of the transmission fluid. Every transmission manufacturer recommends they be serviced. They are designed to be serviced. It is only the vehicle manufacturers who invent the term of a lifetime fluid to make the vehicle appear to need less maintenance. It's really bad for the units longevity. Lexus tried to pull the same crap for U.S. vehicles. If you want your transmission to last you absolutely need to service the fluid and filter depending on the vehicle. Some don't have traditional filters. The cost is about $600 from an independent German vehicle specialist. Probably about half that if you just do a drain and refill.

SadSole2003

I've had the dealer drop the oil and tranny pan, complete a clutch adaptation twice and still have the same issues.

LexusLSguy

I'm not sure how cold your mornings are but I also notice the very first shift is not the smoothest. Well, depends on temp and warm up time. What I personally do is let her warm up a little a bit. At least 30 seconds not matter the temp on cold starts. If it's about 25 f or below I will her her idle for a good min or two. Then I drive very easily and she holds the gears longer for part of the warm up cycle. Following this I notice she shifts better on the first shift.

I plan on dropping my pan within the next 10k miles. Or maybe just a drain refill. Not sure yet. Independent shop says they recommend every 90k but I personally think every 60k is better. Probably do the differential and fuel filter at the same time.

A 8

I have the clicking too and it is an electrical relay, I don't have the shifting issue you describe though. I have the gearbox hesitation sometimes and have noticed that the clicking comes with it so it seems the relay is connected to the gearbox and if we could figure out what it does it might help us understand the gearbox hesitation and perhaps indicate what's up with you gearshift issue.

tgsz

For the transmission issue, I have some bad news based on my recent (last 2 years) experiences with this car. In fact I just got out of a 1.5+ year back and forth with the dealer and audi canada for my 2011 4.2 8sp where they replaced the mechatronics twice, controller, did 4 "re-adaptations" and numerous software updates trying to fix this stubborn shift at low speeds (and particularly bad when cold, accompanied by the relay clicking just as you describe). In the end they finally changed the transmission after I showed 10+ videos demonstrating long delays of 3+ seconds followed by jarring hard lock-up when rolling off of a stop (or slowing down to take a corner). After about 1.5 years of being assured by the dealer and audi canada that this was normal, and driving it with this condition, it would occasionally make some bad whining noises like gears meshing. At the end, it started hard-locking so hard the car would actually restrict itself to 1500rpm for 5-10 seconds after, which was what caused me to raise the flag at the dealer and start recording it.

I test drove a 2012 with similar mileage (40k miles) and it had the exact same symptoms but less drastic. Very easy to reproduce, get up to 40mph, slow down to 5-8mph (as if you were slowing down to turn into a parking lot, or out of a parking lot) and then switch from the brake to the gas - it will free spin for some amount of time before reaching a timeout inside the controller and locking up (this is the relay clicking). It is much more pronounced in very cold weather (~-30C/-20F).

The worst news is it still does it occasionally (although much less worse), leading me to believe it will eventually degrade again over time. Looks to me like Audi just did a very poor job at dialing in the transmission maps and it causes excessive hard lockups in 2nd, wearing the transmission prematurely. The car had 45,000km (under 30,000 miles) when it started doing this so I highly doubt its due to fluids.

I've driven the A8 4.0T and 3.0 and they have no such issue. Seems like **** luck, but this model (4.2fsi w/ZF 8sp) was only made for 2 model years and they don't seem motivated to fix this problem.

Maybe somebody in the aftermarket will make a proper map/program for the transmission.

Swissman564

I have the exact same issue with my 2011 A8L and you do a great job of describing it. I have wondered for years if this is some sort of impending doom tranny issue or just part of the car's DNA. It is the ONLY mechanical bug I have ever had. In my case, I have learned to accommodate the delay by a very light pedal finesse when coming out of the 1-second delay which can be, as you state, dangerous when idling away from a stop sign and then accelerating. I hardly think about it anymore since the pedal finesse eliminates the issue and now has become automatic for me.