Autostart disengaged gear
 

Couple of times over the last few months, autostart has disengage the gear. Meaning, that when I take my foot off the brake, it's in neutral instead of drive.

Yesterday it happened twice, the second time on a hill and it freaked me out since I wasn't ready (and car behind was WAY too close).

Has this happened to any one else?

I'm a '14 Q5 TDI

Using the term "Autostart" suggests that you've had an aftermarket device spliced into your Audi's communication system.If that's the case bonne chance.These cars don't play well with outside forces !

My mistake. I mean Auto Stop/Start.

Ok good amstrad.Remote starters are evil ! I live in the land of remote starts, Quebec, and I've dealt with many of them.What you need is a good tech who can record a run until this occurs.Something is commanding the tranny to go to neutral and this culprit needs to be identified sooner rather than later.It's entirely possible that a "code"has been kicked up so step 1 is a good scan.

As someone that has been installing remote starters for over 25 years and would probably be considered a professional, since companies like Alpine, Pioneer, Phoenix Gold and MB Quart have had me build them demo cars over the years and I have had a few cars in these little shows called SEMA and CES. Remote starters are not evil, But people are cheap and will go to the bottom price guy and get exactly what they paid for( and deserve, In my opinion) You may have had a bad experience but all things considered, a remote start is not evil, I have one in my SQ5 and would not be without just for warming the oil, if not my ass. I am not trying to be a dick, but statements like that kind of are a bit of a kick in the junk as it is how I make my living and people spreading bad info is what really hurts an industry. My biggest problem with the whole automotive industry is truly know it all ignorant customers that will not take the time to listen and get proper information because their "Buddy" knows his ****. I would be happy to answer any question regarding vehicle electronics and to help educate anyone regarding proper installs of aftermarket electronics, And if I don't have the answer, I will help us find it.
Thanks
Jeff

what one are you using in your SQ5, I am considering getting one for my 2016 Q5

thank you

+1. Please tell...

Good Morning, In my 2016 SQ5 I have installed a Smartstart and a Dball2. You are wondering what is that, here goes.
A Smartstart is DEI's smartphone GPS/cellular controller that plugs in to the Dball2 which is a CanBus controller that talks to the bus system of the vehicle to gather information( engine rpm, door state open closed, hood open, locked or unlocked, etc) and to talk to and send commands regarding things like lock, unlock, arm, disarm, open rear gate, start vehicle,etc.
So how the system works is I can either use my OEM keyfob and hit lock quickly 3 times, within 4 seconds, and it will start the car or I can whip out my phone ,open the app and start stop lock unlock trunk gps track and gather status about enrty points and runtime for engine start.
The Dball controls the start stop by interfacing with the keyport and does require the sacrifice of the valet key. The Dball once it has received the signal will disarm the alarm,turn on the ignition by applying ground to the keyport keysense wire to prime all systems and do a system check, if all is good, it will apply voltage to the brake wire at the brake pedal switch and then apply ground to the 3 start/stop wires wires to start the car. It will then communicate back to the app on my phone and give me status regarding run time.
I know this sounds pretty involved, but there is 9 connections to the car and the key wrap around the front of the keyport, behind the door flaps. Some vehicles I do will require 20-30 connections and multiple data lines along with MUX and LIN lines. It takes much longer to take the Audi apart vs a Nissan though.
Here in Alberta a car starter is something I will not go without, the ability to even warm the oil for a few minutes makes a huge difference on how the car drives first thing, sure it helps to warm the interior too but all the fluids in the vehicle anything that has moving parts, the LCD displays even work faster warmed up, the nav boots faster. I have a short run time set on my vehicle, 10 minutes, that is more than enough time to take the chill off and does not use much fuel.

Any more questions please ask away
Jeff

I am actually interested in hearing more, I might have to look into where to get such a product. How is it in regards to security of the Q5? any links to the products?

Kris

Not to take away from your great explanation and not trying to kill your industry, but the counterargument to this is that idling an engine is about the worst way to warm it up. The oil takes much longer to circulate and properly lubricate all the parts, and all the metal spends a longer time in the unexpanded state, because the engine warms up much slower than driving it right away. The end result is significantly more wear during the warm up cycle compared to driving it right away. If you live in a very cold climate it's even worse, because the temperature difference between operating temperature and ambient is significantly larger. Not to mention that the catalytic converter will take a lot longer to get up to temp as well, and therefore emissions will be at its worst for a much longer time. The latter is actually why many municipalities have already outlawed idling cars or are considering it.

As for OP's question, this may be normal. The transmission may automatically go into neutral if you are sitting at a stop and then when the engine turns off, it's in neutral. The engine should automatically restart the moment you take the foot of the brake.