SteveDu

14 TDI, 22k miles on it.

So today I was braking for a red light before the freeway on-ramp. I felt it downshift, jerk and the engine sounded like it's almost going to stall, then right away it went back to normal RPM, but the glow plug light is now blinking with no other messages at all.

It was a bit too late to pull over, so I hop on the freeway. I think the car went into the "limp mode" as it wouldn't give too much power but it's still drivable. I reached 65 mph and took the very next exit about a mile out. Got on a surface street, parked it and turn it off.

Restarted it and everything went back to normal. The engine performs as it would. Acceleration is just like before, nothing out of place.

The 25k service is coming up. I am not sure if I should take it to the dealer right away or should I wait and see if it happens again.

Any insights? I'm kinda worried...

Coolieman1220

I had that happen to me once when I was driving, came to a stop, start stop turned on so the engine turned off but as soon as it turned off, i started moving. The engine started up and the glow plug light remained lit. I turned off start stop and drove home. I didn't restart my engine because I felt it was running ok, don't mess with it.

The only other time I've seen my glow plug light flash was when my diesel fuel gelled. The engine stalled shortly thereafter.

brutus23079

More info in this thread.

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/q5-...shing-2863237/

Talks about replacing the (rather expensive) fuel pump. Personally I'd get it to Audi quickly.

SteveDu

I was reading that last night. What I've gathered from that thread was the indicator came on while driving. In my case, like Coolieman1220 mentioned, it was during the auto start/stop kicking in and "bad timing", where the engine is in the middle of a shutdown I pressed the gas, which lead to what feels like a stall.

Today I've driven about 60 miles on the freeway and surface street. Almost similar condition like yesterday but nothing so far. The engine performs just as normal as before. Everything is fine.

I will give my dealer a call tomorrow since they aren't open today. The 25k service is due soon so I will keep my eyes on it and see if it happens again.

BTW here in Southern California, gelling of the diesel isn't really a concern. I always use top tier diesel such as Chevron and 76. Never the cheap stuff.

I just hope it was a bad timing as I mentioned above.

brutus23079

True enough Steve. Please do let us know what the dealer says...

SteveDu

Well, called the dealer this morning. Explained to them the situation. Their answer was if it happens again bring it in. It could be the car got confused with the auto start/stop and gas paddle at that very moment.

The dealer did say, keep the car running if it happens again though as it "might reset the system" if I restart it.

Anyway so far so good, it hasn't happened, even with the auto start/stop functioning in LA traffic.

brutus23079

Yeah, not much you can do except monitor. If it is something more serious, hopefully it'll reveal itself within the next 28,000 miles (i.e. under warranty)...

SteveDu

Thanks.

I actually have it extended to 85k/10 years.

brutus23079

Cool. Well, back to getting out and enjoying our Q5 TDIs.

brutus23079

Soooooo, today I get my own continuously-flashing glow plug light. As I come to a stop, display reads "Start-Stop System Failure: System Unavailable" and I get the flashing glow plug light. Start-stop button on console actually locks to the defeat (light on) position. No other changes to Q5. I do my best to further break something, but to no avail. Guessing dealer will just reset and call it good.