Transmission Issue 2017 Q7 Premium Plus
 

Hi! I am following up on another thread I posted on the wrong page. I am going to repost the original and then the follow-up. Here is the original post:

Hi all! I have an issue with my Q7. 2017 89K miles. At takeoff and reverse, the car stutters around 3-4 times. They aren't big huge stutters, they are fairly mild but definitively an issue. After that shifting is smooth and no issues driving. Here's where the fun starts:

1. Take it to an independent shop number one. He states it's my transmission and needs to be fully replaced. Let's just say that $15K took my breath away...seemed like a lot. Time for opinion #2.
2. Take it to a higher-end independent shop here intown ATL. They say there is a software update (service action?) that is being worked on for the Transmission Control Unit (Module?). His contact at Audi says it could be a month or two until it's ready, and then I get notified by mail.
3. Take it to Audi. They identify three issues:
   • Water Pump leaking (fine, it has 90K miles but I haven't seen any coolant/fluid level warnings)
   • Replace both lower guide link bushings due to them being torn/leaking and cracking
   • Replace both engine mounts due to mounts leaking and cracking

I did not believe that is the issue. I ask the service advisor to have their #1 tech look at it. A day passes and they call me back, stating that their top tech confirmed that this will definitely fix the problem. They quoted me $5.6K. Since I am suspect that this is the problem, I take it back to the high-end intown shop to do all the relevant work for 3.6K. Result? During the road test after the work, the "Trans malfunction light came on and the vehicle would not reverse.Cycling the ignition on and off cleared the issue.Fault code for clutch A friction element is stored."

What is that fault code? What are my options? This has been boatloads of fun. I love the car and want to keep it. But if this is something I am going to have to pay 15K to fix, I just don't know what to do. Any thoughts/guidance appreciated.

2.0L or 3.0L ?

and this is why I change my ZF trans fluid even if there is a "lifetime spec" from Audi. Curious to know if you have a 2.0 or 3.0 and did you get it new? anything weird in the service history? first time with trans issues? do you beat on it or tow with it?

additionally I had a 2017 3.0T that was stage 1 tuned that I beat on and i just traded it in october with 78K and have never heard of a transmission control module (TCU) update as long as I owned the vehicle (since Feb 2019). FWIW I don't think that would be the cause, nor do I think replacing engine mounts would fix your transmission issues.

keep us posted.

3.0. Never beat it. Meticulously maintained. No towing. Stage 1 tune.

Bought it brand new in 2017.

There was a electronic clutch failure on 16-18 builds. As far as I know AoA swapped out 7 vehicles as lemons because of this fault.
Your symptoms are not similar as those failures were not showing fault codes yet the gearboxes were snatching gears. The maintenance free specification seems to be a fairy tale.
My 19 was tripled checked before it left the factory! still has slight snatching in D mode on the freeway.
We have had 2 gearbox issues with Audis. My recommendation if you can is get rid of your car. I never managed to resolve issues with a A4 and Q7.
I am a supplier to the VW group which made it very difficult to aggressively address. This is a great forum for sharing data but sometimes there is a Audi bias.

willing to throw in a low mileage used trans at an indy mechanic?

I had no fault codes either.

Could you please describe what you mean by 'snatching'? We've been chasing down an issue with ours and it has proved difficult to research. Every shop we take it to says it's 'normal' but IMO there is no way the behavior is as designed.

here is my 18 story. See the link, end up a transmission replacement. https://www.audiworld.com/forums/q7-...hange-3031618/