99AEight

About a week before my 2014 A6 TDI went off of the manufacturer warranty, the TDI began to develop a noticeable surge that would only be present for about the first 10 minutes after a cold startup. The dealer performed the emission modification months earlier without any engine surging present until recently.

Long story short, the dealer has had my TDI for three weeks now and the service manager is now stating that "with the update that this would be an inherit trait of the vehicle until it was warmed up. . . .letting the vehicle warm up for 5-10 minutes in the morning would eliminate this concern."

I haven't noticed anyone here complaining about surging and I'm wondering if anyone who has had the Audi approved emission modification performed observed any engine surging during the first 10 minutes of driving like I have. I've attached a sample video of how my TDI is behaving. Some mornings it is a lot worse than the video shows; other mornings, its not as noticible.

nhdoc

I watched your video and couldn't really observe what I would describe as surging. If you are saying the car stays in gear longer (meaning it revs higher before upshifting) then, yes, that apparently is a trait of the update. They did this to help the engine warm up faster apparently. The colder the ambient temperature the more pronounced this would be, which may be why you haven't noticed it until now and say sometimes it is worse.

KevinGary

nhdoc

It's really not that big a deal...it just feels more like you are driving it in sport mode rather than the standard (economy) mode.

And, BTW, your emissions warranty, which covers much of the engine, is extended to 10 years/120K miles so had there been an issue related to any of the components listed as covered by it you would not have to pay for the repairs even though the "factory warranty" has expired.

99AEight

Thank you guys for the replies. I've manually selected the gear to force the car to surge for the purpose of taking the video. During normal driving, with D selected, it will also do the same. The sweet spot where it behaves the worst is usually between 1600 and 2000 RPMs while driving at lower constant speeds. Some days it is worse and somedays it is better; it is often bad enough that you can feel the car buck as the tach bounces up and down. The dealership has acknowledged the complaint and is trying to get off the hook by saying the the surging is an "inherent characteristic" of TDIs that have received the fix. And I expected some changes in how it shifts when cold; no one told me that I would experience any surging with the fix and that if I didn't like it, then I should let the car warm-up for 5-10 minutes. The surging did not appear until months after the fix as well.

Has anyone who has received the fix experienced any surging?

nhdoc

If it is really a surge, as you have described, then, no, that is not normal. I have a 2016 which has been "fixed" and doesn't do that. The only caveat there is the 2014 and 2015-2016 needed different work done so I guess to be conclusive you need owners of 2014 MY to chime in. But it sounds like they are feeding you B.S.

One thing that can cause surging is fuel starvation. How many miles on the car and has the fuel filter been replaced?

99AEight

Thankyou for sharing your feedback and your suggestion. My TDI has about 46,000 miles on it and has had all of the factory maintenance performed, using Audicare, at the required intervals.

The dealership initially couldn't figure anything out and requested additional diagnostic support from a tech that works directly for Audi, assisting dealers with closing work orders. The initial suggestion was to clean the throttle body (I didn't know that any diesels had one) and that did absolutely nothing. The latest thing that they are trying is a suspected EGR line that may have carboned-up. They wanted me to pay 700 dollar for the service, with the understanding that it may not be the problem, and I had brought up the extended emissions warranty that was part of the emissions fix; they ultimately agreed to perform the service. Now that that has been done, the car is still surging, and the dealership is now telling me that the surging that I can feel through the whole car is an "inherent trait" of TDIs that have had the emission fix performed.

The service manager emailed me the following in reference to Audi's corporate technician: "He did feel what you are talking about and did state that with the update that this would be an inherit trait of the vehicle until it was warmed up. He mentioned letting the vehicle warm up for 5-10 minutes in the morning would eliminate this concern. He did not feel the work we have been doing on the EGR system will change what you are feeling."

A call to Audi Customer Service has so far not helped as well. The woman on the phone told me that Customer Service will look into the case but will likely "support the dealer's decision."

My feelings are that if this is an "inherent trait" of TDIs, the dealer never would have spent the past three weeks working on my vehicle and that other owners should be experience the same surging; but, I have not found one single person here that has the same concern. Any additional information from someone here is certainly appreciated as I'm on the verge of being screwed.

nhdoc

I'd call Audi corporate back and speak to someone in a position of authority. It is usually the squeaky wheel that gets the grease and they are just hoping you go away. It's clearly not "normal" so they need to either fix it or buy your car from you if they can't. The extended warranty is worded "Conflicts concerning the warranty are to be resolved in favor of the consumer." - they were required to word it that way in the settlement because of cases just like this. Find it online and read that section to them.

99AEight

In a nutshell, I have basically asked them to either fix it or else buy it back from me. I just got off the phone with Customer service again and it looks like they are going to reach out to the dealer and then see if the case will be transferred to customer resolution and retention. My fingers are crossed; I noticed the wording that "Conflicts concerning the warranty are to be resolved in favor of the consumer" and am hopeful that is something that will be followed through on.

It looks like this problem must be unique to my TDI and hopefully is not something that anyone else is going through. I'd still like to hear if anyone else is experiencing this TDI surging that can be felt through the entire car.

50pascals

I am experiencing similar issue. I am post-fix, but also have 96k on the car. So can't point directly at the fix. The surging started a few weeks ago.

Basically right after startup when cold if you are driving slow (under 10 or 15mph) the engine will surge, or pulse. You can feel it in the seat. If you have the window open you can hear the diesel clatter get louder and softer. Especially when driving along next to a brick wall. I have a 1/4 mile long driveway and about a 3/4 mile long drive out of work. So I experience this regularly.

The other night when fully warmed up I left the car running outside the shop while I ran in to get some tools and I noticed the idle sound was fluctuating. The tachometer was steady, but there was noticeable rhythmic up and down to the engine sound. I was parked in the corner of a concrete block building so the sound was very clear. My daughter was in the car and noticed it too. The car was not doing a regen at the time, and the AC was off. Previously the idle sound on this car was dead smooth.

If you know anyone with a modified Duramax, it is a very mild version of that exhaust sound. On those, I am told it is the emission controls varying some engine parameters to verify the condition of the DPF and cats. When you remove all that, and the muffler, the idle noise gets very pronounced.

I have been waiting to understand mine enough to make it very regular and repeatable before I take it to the dealer. Otherwise they will "not be able to duplicate." I've dealt with that on plenty of other cars.

On edit - I should add that once I am rolling at road speed, this is no longer detectable. We drove to and from Michigan when this started and no noticeable issues with driveability or mileage. I still love the car.