Q5 Gearbox problem...
 

Hi All!

This is my first post here. My 2010 Q5 2.0T today had an error. It said Gearbox malfunction (No reverse) but you may continue to drive. I only have D1, D3, D5, D7. The even gears are missing and no reverse. Gearbox is ok when cold but acts up when warm.

I took to a shop and got a P174E00 error. They say the whole mechatronic must be replaced. True?

Please help. I only found a Chinese site with same error.

It's my only car. Daily driver. Please help.

Sprint.

This won't be of much help, but someone else posted (in very poor English) a similar error a few weeks ago. We thought it might've been a spam posting, but maybe he was trying to ask for help and wasn't getting any due to a language barrier.

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho...light=mal+gear

Unfortunately he hasn't come back to explain his problem further, but it sounds very similar to what you're saying.

Sprint, I had exactly the same error with my Q5 and exactly as you said I could only engage the odd number gears and no reverse.The dealer replaced the transmission circuit board(not sure if that is the mechatronic?)Was under warranty but the cost was $2,550 if I had to pay. This was about 3 months ago and has been running great ever since. Hope this helps.

Tranny problem
 

The tranny has always shifted funky, but the other day at hwy speed it went to down shift and bogged! It came up with a message saying BV error on the dash. French for speed box (tranny).
I could excelerate but it would move only slow, it was like being in 4x4 LOW in my Tahoe. I pulled over, turned it off then on and it was fine. It did happen again when it was hot and at speed and it holds gears to long when it's cold.
I did see a post from someone in France describing The same thing i think. He said audi wanted $12gs to replace the tranny. He got a second opinion that said it was a board of some type $400.
He replaced the board from what I can understand and all is good.
Does this sound familiar to anyone?

My Q5 also showed the same message in dash, took it to the dealers and they tell me it needs a gearbox! £8400+vat and fitting! 61k miles! full audi service history to 58K . Audi should be ashamed of themselves selling S--- like this!

Eventually, I replaced the mechatronics. It is the stuff that shifts the gears, not the gearbox itself.

Thanks Sprint!
My code was for an overheated transmission. Turns out that my AC wasn't working and therefore the cooling fans were not coming on which in turn did not provide enough cooling for the tranny in hot weather. I found this by accident, I fixed the blown fuse for the AC and have not (knock on wood) had the same tranny issue. I do believe I will have to replace the mechatronic at some point due rough shifting and holding 2nd gear to long when cold. I'm at 370000klm now.

Hi Sprintstar,

I have exact same problem with my 2010-Q5 as well.
How much Mechatronics cost you to fix this ?

Rgds,
Jagdish

Buying Q5 with replaced mechatronic/transmission
 

Hi guys,

Need your advice. I'm planning on buying a used 2011 Q5 .. very good condition.. all service records maintained at Audi dealership.. however the owner was honest with me that he replaced the transmission .. which has 6 months warranty.. i test drove the car and seems to be running smoothly.. But i want to know if I should be worried? Will i have an issue in the future? It's quite expensive to replace the transmission.. Please advice.. Thanks in advance!

I hope that you did your searches on this vehicle for problems. If this is a 2.0T engine, 2011 Q5's are known for high oil consumption that may require new rings and pistons. There is also the problem of bad timing chain tensioners that fail, if that happens the valves will hit the pistons causing an approximately $7K repair bill at the dealer.