palmerg

I haven't posted in a while and here is why.
Last Monday I was returning to NC from a week in FL. The S7 had been running flawlessly since I picked it up on June 15th an I was having a blast driving it and learning something new all the time about its operation a all its unique features. The way back wasn't so much fun and here is what happened, in a nutshell.

I was driving north on I95 with adaptive cruise control on set to 70 mph. Just south of Savannah GA I had gotten behind a truck in the center lane and decided to pass when the way was clear. I signaled and initiated a lane change to the left lane and slowly accelerated after it was clear. About halfway into the lane was when the engine light started to flash. I was taken by surprise but completed the lane change and then felt the engine start to sputter like it was running rough. Shortly afterward the EPC light came on and both went on solid. I moved to the right lane and slowed to 50. Got off at first opportunity pulled over and looked at the book to see what EPC was. I shut the car off to do that. Both error codes suggested to get the car to a service center as soon as possible. It restarted, still sputtering with both lights on and I drove slowly to another location about a mile east where I parked and called Audi Roadside Assistance. They were great and scheduled a tow to the nearest Audi dealer which was 68 miles away in Hilto Head SC.
I can't be sure but I am fairly certain that the engine was operating on 4 cylinders when I initiated the lane change and acceleration. Maybe that cylinder on demand system was involved in the anomaly that occurred.
The S7 had just 1826 miles on it when this happened.
Long story short, they gave me a nice loaner (A6 2.0 liter) and kept the car after doing initial tests. The dealer apparently was in communication with AOA and their technicians analyzing what could have happened. All agreed that there was a fault, they said it was specifically a misfire. I have yet to get a full report that was promised but they did say that after initially moving some components around they could not get the fault to reoccur. They also added about 120 miles of road testing trying to recreate the fault condition but it never happened again.
They will be shipping the car back to me on a flatbed (my request) next Monday.

I have to say that audi really seemed to throw a lot of expertise at the problem and all the representatives and technicians were great and helped tremendously.
I am however, very disappointed and more than a little worried that the problem could not be identified so a specific fault could be repaired.
So, next Tuesday I will load up the car and head out to visit my mom on Long Island for a week or so. Will it happen again? I hope not but it will be on my mind of that you can be sure, which diminishes the driving experience just enough to make me think twice before smiling broadly.
Here's hoping your experience is a better one.

snagitseven

So basically everyone at Audi was nice, efficient and concerned but in the end it was another NPF. Hopefully it was an anomaly and won't reoccur. At the same time, you probably shouldn't take any more long trips until you've had a chance to drive it locally for awhile just tp be sure. I would imagine you don't want to repeat that experience a long way from home again.

BasicSlvr

Had a similar issue last week with my 2012 A7. The event produced a long list of stored error DTC's. Car was in shop for 3 days. Turned out to be a faulty ECM Component Power Supply Relay. Dealer replaced the ECM Power Supply Relay and ECM Component Power Supply Relay just to be sure. I'd discuss with your local dealer. Ask them to get a copy of the GFF fault list from the Hilton Head dealer and have them take a look. A second opinion couldn't hurt.

Tek23

Sorry to hear that. Back in the day with my B8 S4, I had an engine misfire and my car went limping after only 1,500 miles. Restarted it after a few minutes and same thing. Did ok with the 3rd restart and was able to drive it to the dealer. They were worried about carbon buildup at that time and the car spent almost a week in the shop. Never happened again in the 5 years I had the car.

Hope this is just a one time thing for you!

palmerg

Thanks to all who posted sympathy and personal experiences. If it happens again I will pull out the list I generated from this thread and make sure they try them all.

Heading out to Long Island tomorrow morning at 0500. It's over 11 hours and I want to mKe sure I try to miss the rush hour (more like 3 hours starting at 1600) - maybe 0400 would be a safer bet, we'll see.

Wish me luck! I'm feeling good about the drive and when it's running (which I am hoping is always from now on) it's a dream. I was getting 28 mpg when the misfire happened last Monday. Let's see if I can replicate that on this drive.

Ciao!

tenspeed

Best of luck on the trip. You might want to plan on more time. NYC has rush hour traffic around the clock. We lost a couple hours just trying to enter the Lincoln Tunnel a few years back.

palmerg

Made it to NY without incident. Ran like dream. I absolutely love Adaptive Cruise, it is fantastic! Used it for most of my 12 hour drive. Briefly recorded 28 mpg and averaged 66 mph. Also found a new bass player I want to hear more of, Doug Johns and "Pocket full of Nasty". The Bose was sounding fine, crisp & clear.
Ciao!

Peter B.

I'm glad you made it safely!! How many S7s did you see on the drive? I've only seen 2 since I ordered my car on April 29.

palmerg

Saw 0. About 3 A4, 1 A5, 2 A6, 1 A8L, and a few Q7. They are rare for sure, not as rare as the RS but close.
Thanks

Tek23

Glad you made it. Did you use the active lane assist feature? I can't feel the vibration even though it is checked on in the MMI. I can feel the car steering back into the lane when I drift, but the steering wheel doesn't feel like it is vibrating. Do I really need to go over the line to get the wheel to vibrate?