Said J. Macias

After crossing a semi-flooded road yesterday (the water was like 10 inches high and I had cars all around me, so there was no turning back), the battery light came up and the voltage dropped to 12v, so I thought it was the belt that slipped from the generator and after a few moments, I switched the car off and on again, seeing the light succesfully turn off. Minutes later, I started feeling a weird vibration in the car and almost inmediately, the ESP light came in steadily, but very dim. I continued driving, hoping that the problem might be some wet circuit and it would solve overnight, but this morning, when I turned on the car, both the ABS and the ESP lights were on. I drove for about 15 miles and, suddenly, the lights went off, but my power steering also died!. I pulled aside, switched the car off and on and the power steering returned. When joining into traffic, the car hesitated very abruptly (felt like a transmission issue) a couple of times, then it started vibrating and the ESP light turned on again (dimly). From that moment on, when I'm accelerating from a dead stop, my car hesitates very abruptly and I start to feel the vibration in an unconsistent manner, like an almost unperceptible road noise that can be felt all over the chassis. I'm taking the car tomorrow for service, so I'd be glad if you could lighten me up on what can I be dealing with.


Update: I discovered what seems to be a leak of brake fluid in the front/right wheel, thus the reservoir seems to be complete! HELP!!!!!


TIA,

Said J. Macias
'02 A6 4.2 Sport

April

There is some protection for normal rain and puddles. This could cause the drivability issues as the sensors are sending weird signals to the ABS and ESP controllers. If the ESP thinks it is slippery when it isn't, it may be controlling the brakes or throttle.

The power steering and brake leak are beyond anything I can think of. The brake reservoir shows a loss of fluid ?

See dealer ASAP.

Cornelius Scriptor

Keep a Jeep or an inflatable boat for fording large bodies of water.

Seriously, in addition to electrical gremlins, most transmissions have poor seals somewhere near the top where the linkages enter (even the Jeep is vulnerable to this). If you got wet enough, get the dealer to check the transmission fluid for any sign of contamination by water and, if so, REPLACE IMMEDIATELY.

Said J. Macias

...and they haven't informed me yet. They suspect it could have been the transmission computer that got wet somehow, but they don't have a clue. April, again thanks for your help, members like you make this forum worthwhile... I'll keep you all informed...