Ocranius

I have had my car for 3 weeks and all of a sudden while driving the messages, "Parking Brake Malfunction" and "Stabilisation programme fault!" appeared. Has anyone else had this problem? Would anyone know if it is electronic or mechanical? The car sounded like it was working harder.

Also, when I put it in park, then engaged the brake and tried to drive after that, the parking brake would not disengage, like it normally would.

Other than this unfortunate hiccup, I have been very happy with the car and Audi Roadside assistance picked it up right away from my home. Hopefully, it is a quick and easy fix and I will be driving it again tomorrow.

Blake P

I've had the parking brake malfunction message appear once after removing the silver MMI trim and unplugging the emergency flasher button. I cleared the codes via VCDS (VAG-COM) and it never came back. Apparently it's a common error message when something electronic is unplugged or fails, whether it has anything to do with the parking brake or not. However, in my case the parking brake would engage/disengage normally the entire time. Hopefully it's nothing serious and you're back on the road ASAP. Please update this thread with the resolution.

Ocranius

Okay so, apparently the vacuum hose came loose, which sucks air into the engine. So there was a change in the amount of air going into the engine which caused the whole system to go haywire. The Audi technician said the entire computer system is intertwined with the various functions of the car, so if one system fails, likely many more will appear to do so as well. It was out of service for about a day, but everything seems back to normal now.

Old Dog

Thanks for letting us know. I'm glad that's all it was. It certainly is dishearting though this happening after just having the car three weeks.

Good luck in the months and years ahead .

Ocranius

Yes, it was quite surprising how soon the issue arose. The dealers said it was an anomaly and was probably due to the hose not being connect tightly enough at the factory.

Another interesting tidbit, is that when they ran diagnostics on the car, their computer system rejected the transmission and did not recognize it. After baffling the technicians for some time, they discovered that their computer systems were not updated enough for the new 8-Speed transmissions. I suppose this was one of the first 2011's in Canada and possibly the first to go wrong.

I do hope this was only a minor hiccup, but the tow truck driver said he very rarely tows Audi's. Mercedes and BMW's are his more frequent clients, Audi FTW!

Old Dog

May I ask what part of Canada you are in? Always nice to run into a fellow Canuk here on AW .

NJRoadFan

Somehow I don't believe this "explanation" the dealer gave you regarding your problem. A vacuum leak in the engine intake would throw a check engine light (sucking in air causes a lean running condition), not cause the electronic parking brake to malfunction. A problematic parking brake could cause the ESP fault though, particularly if only one wheel was properly released by the parking brake and the other was still locked. The one wheel dragging against the brake would be enough for the ESP system to go into fail safe mode. Hopefully the dealership checked your brake pads for uneven wear in the rear.

Ocranius

I live in Ottawa, but go to University in Waterloo. How about yourself

Ocranius

The technician did specifically say that this caused the engine to run lean. I am not entirely sure what this meant, but I was just happy that it was a relatively easy fix. I am not sure if they checked the pads, but I am sure it will come up on the next full service. They did say that they tested it extensively, a few drivers, and everything is as good as new.

Old Dog

I'm in Montreal. You're getting ready for your career, whereas I ended my career 7 years ago after 36 years with CN .

Best of luck in your upcoming school year. Work hard now, play later .