2012 RS5 EPC Light & Max Speed 6,000RPM From Cold
 

Hi all,

I recently bought my 2012 RS5 and loving it so far! But have come across my first problem.
Whenever starting the car before or after work from cold, about 2-3 minutes in to the journey the EPC light will flash up along with the 6,000 PRM max speed warning.
No other issues seem to happen at the same time. So I have no idea what could be causing it. Once the car is even slightly warm and I restart the engine it clears and won't appear again unless starting the engine from completely cold.
I've done some searching but can't seem to find any answers to this one.

Appreciate and advise you might have!

Take your car to an Audi dealer or indy mechanic and have them pull out the DTC or diagnostic trouble code. The codes are stored in the car's memory and only gets erased after several start-ups. If you have access to VCDS or OBDEleven, you can pull up the codes yourself.

Thanks, I've ordered a scanner to see if I can pick up the codes.

I had the same problem coming in to work this morning, this time the engine light also came up!

Once I stopped and turned the engine off, it really struggled to start again and the lights are now persistent through a turn off and on.

Do you often exceed or at times exceed the 6000 RPM rev range from a cold start? If you read the manual, revs are limited to 6000 RPM to make sure the car warms up properly before going beyond that rev range. Owners have reported getting the same error message when they flog the car beyond 6000 RPM even before it has warmed up.

Never in my ownership, was told the same by the dealer I purchased the car from. So I've made sure I'm sensible before it's warmed up!

Fault scanner has arrived so hopefully will be able to throw some codes up this evening.

You don't need to wait until it throws another error before using your new fault scanner. It should be in memory. If you want, you can attempt to clear any trouble codes first. Then, take another reading after you get another trouble code.

So I did the scan and it returned:

P000D B Camshaft Position Slow Response Bank 2

After some research its either a faulty sensor, or what it suggests and quite serious!

Will be booking in to a garage ASAP.

Good decision! According to this article, it could be as simple as a sensor but it can also be as complex as timing chain and chain tensioners. I hope the repair required is simple.

Lets hope so! Luckily the dealer I got the car from had good warranty, so that should cover any expensive repairs!

Thank you for you help!

My buddy having exact same problem on his 2013 RS5. Brought it to the dealer and 2 indy mechanics for a total of 8 times, can't find the problem. Did your dealer solve it?

Update to the problem!

Took the car to an Audi specialist (Autohaus in Wokingham), they suggested a carbon clean and oil/filter change as the car may have been sat around for a long time. So went ahead and it seems to have solved the problem.

Drove the car from completely cold this morning and no warning lights! :) Now hopefully it stays that way and I can enjoy the new car!

Congrats! I hope the dreaded EPC light does not come back! I did feel that your issue may be carbon build-up because of what I have read about it in the past, i.e. this problem will cause the EPC light to come on at certain times. An engine with carbon buildup problems won't feel as potent and vibrant as it once was. The lack of feedback on this important clue made me think that the EPC light might be caused by something else. Glad to know that a good carbon clean made things right.

Having not driven one without the problem I didnt realise!

Now driving after the clean it seems to be performing slightly better too. Even if it is placebo :D

Thank you for your help!

My buddy found an Audi specialist and the guy found that the variable timing solenoids were the problem. It's funny because the previous garage had checked them (they commanded it with the scan tool and listened to see if they click, meaning open and close) and concluded they were fine. This specialist pulled them out and found they were bent and loose (I don't know what they mean by that, but they were defective). Changed both and the problem seems to have gone away.

Hi All,

Just thought I would update this in case anyone runs in to a similar problem.

After a few days of the EPC light disapearing, it came back.

Took the car to the same garage and they replaced both camshaft positioner valves. This has fixed the problem and I have had no EPC light or error codes in a week of driving.

Hope this helps anyone with the same issue!

Thanks for the update! Just curious, was the error code the same this time around? Or, different?

Same code but this time on just one bank.

They replaced both just to make sure it didn't happen again!

Hi RS5JON

I have had my RS5 for 2 months and this code came up this morning for the first time. I was wondering what the cost was at Autohaus for the work as I am near Wokingham?

So I got the 6000 RPM limit message but no EPC. Also my coolant temps were high. I went to the indy shop to have them take a look. I was thinking of thermostat but they said first the engine temp sensor. Change that and no-go, that wasn't it. Now going to change the thermostat. Tell you what happens then.

It was the thermostat. Car runs fine now.