Lonewolf95

Hi guys,

Thought I should report it here since someone else may have experienced the same issue. So long story short I have a 2013 4.0T A8 and been having a mystery coolant loss since early this year. It was slow and seemed very random. Local shops could not identify the cause. Until very recently I had MIL on and VCDS showed a few fault codes under 01 engine regarding shorted wires. Traced them down and found faulty coolant valves (N488 and N509) that leaked coolant and damaged connecting wires. Spent about $800 on the repair. However later I found out it was a known issue and Audi had issued a recall back in 2016 but only for 2011-2012 A8. Apparently some later models (at least my car) suffer from the same issue as well. Contact Audi of America and complained about it. And of course they claimed it's no fault of theirs and since no recall no reimbursement will be given.

The recall I'm referring to is NHTSA# 16v619, and there is also a TSB 2033806/3 talking about the same issue. Apparently this issue can be serious as leaking coolant may damage important control units in the engine. So if any of you are suffering from a coolant leak, check those valves and get them replaced before ECU gets damaged. Oh and don't forget to file a complaint. If there are enough reports maybe Audi will finally issue a recall.

Best regards

gk1

FWIW the TSB is up to rev 7 as of 2015 and does include a certain VIN range of 2013 A8's. I don't know why the recall did not include them as well. (Which sucks.)
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...58574-8951.pdf
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/201...6V619-3364.PDF
What I find odd is the recall says 2011-2012 A8's, but the production date range includes Sept of 2012 which in my experiences with Audi would be a 2013 model.
I bought both my 2014 SQ5 in Aug 2013 and by 2015 S6 in Aug 2014 so they had to be produced before that.
I'd force the dealer to take another look...here is the recall including 2013's.
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/201...6V619-7355.PDF
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/201...6V619-1095.pdf

Push them hard as it is obviously the same issue and I do not believe they confirmed the part was revised in 2013...it wasn't revised until later. Simple check would be if the one they took out was still the old defective part number......

Lonewolf95

My car was built in Oct 2012 so it's out of the range. Spoke with AoA customer service earlier and they pretty much said we knew about this issue but we ain't gonna do sh*t about it so screw you...

My understanding is that the 4.0t engine is a bit different, comparing to the 4.2 NA. On the 4.0t, those valves are located down the bottom behind ACC radar on the driver side, instead of on top of the transmission as on the 4.2. So it is unlikely that coolant will get to the ECU and cause engine stall (which is a safety hazard that's why Audi issued a recall).

What's interesting is that I just talked to my mechanic and he said he got two other A8s in the shop right now for the exact same issue. So apparently there are more people out there facing the same issue. If more people complain to Audi then they may eventually issue a recall.