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TPMS + Gearbox Malfunction (No Reverse, Continue Driving) Error: Mechatronic Unit

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Old 05-28-2015, 11:05 AM
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Default TPMS + Gearbox Malfunction (No Reverse, Continue Driving) Error: Mechatronic Unit

I know the mechatronic unit has been an issue and cause lots of people pain. Just two days ago i got the dreaded message. Heres the story/cost of repair.

Audi 2010 Prestige
Meteor Gray Pearl
62000 miles

Drove home from work no problem - i have just recently replaced the spark plugs with Denso IK16 Iridium Spark plugs and put on some new Continential Extreme Contact DWS XL tires on - the car had been driving fantastic. Better than its ever ran since i got the car a little over a year ago with 38k miles.

So i went outside to move the car to the street so i could mow the grass and had no problem. Two hours later i get in to go to the store and as soon as i shift into D, the TPMS and Gearbox Malfunction light flash up telling me i have no reverse and im still good to drive. So i decide to drive down the streen and see what the issue is. As soon as the car went to shift from 1st to 2nd it skipped, revved in Nuetral for about 2 seconds then dropped hard into 3rd gear. This scared the crap out of me so needless to say i went right back home and started researching what the hell this error meant. After reaseaching i found a lot of answers and a lot of pissed people saying the mechatronic unit was bad. So after a night of sweating bullets researching i came to the conclusion that 3 things could have happened.

1. The error threw for some weird electrical reason and would reset and not be a problem the next day
2. The mechatronic unit was shot and i could expect to spend 3-4k to fix it (no longer under warrenty)
3. The transmission is bad - im toast

The next morning i went to drive the car and test option 1. Got in and drove around the neighborhood with no problem - no error message, no faulty shifting, no jerking or anything. So i decided to run to the stor about 4 miles away and see how it help up. I made it to the store and halfway back before BOOM - it happened again. I will say i was taking it extremely easy all the way until the second i punched it (just to test how it was really working). As soon as i went for a hard acceleration, the gear just slipped out and revved in nuetral. Pulled into a parking lot to turn around and didnt give myself enough room - went for reverse - NONE. Had to get out of my car, put it in Nuetral and push it backwards. I was able to limp my way but as i did i noticed a trend on the way the car performed

1. Car will start in 1st gear fine
2. went shifting into 2nd it slips into nuetral for about 2-3sec then drops abruptly into 3rd
3. When you have enough speed it does the same thing trying to shift into 4th - skips and drops into 5th
4. Same thing into 6th - slips out of 5th and drops hard into 7th.
5. Slowing down was not a hige problem as long as you have plenty of room to take it easy. If you slowed to fast the gears wouldnt keep up and it would jerk very hard.

Called my local audi dealership and scheduled the first available service which was in 2 days at 8am. At this point i was thinking i could either tow the car or try to wait a day and see if i could get it there driving very slow and easy. I went with option 2. The next night i got in the car to test and see if had gone back to working order - it had. So i got about 3/4 of the way there before BAM slipped right out again. Managed to limp it the last 3 miles or so.

Diagnosis - Audi called me this morning saying the issue could be an electrical problem, coolant issue, or a software issue and not to worry too much yet (BULL S***). Sure enough, an hour later they called and say... you guessed it, Mechatronic unit is toast. HOWEVER, instead of a brand new unit (3-4k) they informed me a few months back Audi came out with a Mechatronic replacement kit which is much cheaper and easier to install.

End all be all - $1500 for a new Mechatronic Kit and the ~5hours of labor they estimate. Also the repair is only going to take 2-3 days. I had took my car in this morning (Thursday) and they expect to have the new parts in tomorrow (Friday) and completely done and ready to go Monday. All in all this is still bull s*** that a $60k car with 60k miles has a faulty part this promenent and they havent recalled the part. I will say i am WAY WAY more willing to pay the $1500 over 4k. Im hoping to get it back Monday and not have to drop another dime into broken parts for a long, long time.

If anyone wlse has had this problem and knows of a way to save money through AoA or anything else - im open to suggestions. Good luck to all you fellow S4 drivers
Old 05-31-2015, 12:48 PM
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Have a feeling that Audi making a $1500 kit available is their way of admitting that the transmission manufacturer screwed the pooch and is offering a way to fix the situation for something more reasonable then 4 grand. As much as I like my car and I think DSG is so much faster then the row your own option, it doesn't really make me feel involved with the car so it will likely be my last.
Old 11-10-2015, 03:27 AM
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............But I had reverse & it wouldn't go into 1st, 3rd, 5th or 7th gears. Only 2nd, 4th & 6th.
Having it towed to stealership today and bracing for the worst as I only have 90k miles on it.
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Old 05-07-2016, 08:45 AM
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I have the same problem on my 2011 A5 2.0 tfsi Quatro.... I have not received much assistance from Audi SA as they claim they are not familiar with this problem. My car is also out of the freeway plan so it is clear Audi does not care and I am fast falling out of love with the brand as this is my 5th Audi with the most problems.

I got an Audi specialist to diagnose the problem and the fault indicated oil valves/solonoid failure and he recommended the same repair kit which is not that cheap.

I am really frustrated to be quiet honest!


Originally Posted by tylerud22
I know the mechatronic unit has been an issue and cause lots of people pain. Just two days ago i got the dreaded message. Heres the story/cost of repair.

Audi 2010 Prestige
Meteor Gray Pearl
62000 miles

Drove home from work no problem - i have just recently replaced the spark plugs with Denso IK16 Iridium Spark plugs and put on some new Continential Extreme Contact DWS XL tires on - the car had been driving fantastic. Better than its ever ran since i got the car a little over a year ago with 38k miles.

So i went outside to move the car to the street so i could mow the grass and had no problem. Two hours later i get in to go to the store and as soon as i shift into D, the TPMS and Gearbox Malfunction light flash up telling me i have no reverse and im still good to drive. So i decide to drive down the streen and see what the issue is. As soon as the car went to shift from 1st to 2nd it skipped, revved in Nuetral for about 2 seconds then dropped hard into 3rd gear. This scared the crap out of me so needless to say i went right back home and started researching what the hell this error meant. After reaseaching i found a lot of answers and a lot of pissed people saying the mechatronic unit was bad. So after a night of sweating bullets researching i came to the conclusion that 3 things could have happened.

1. The error threw for some weird electrical reason and would reset and not be a problem the next day
2. The mechatronic unit was shot and i could expect to spend 3-4k to fix it (no longer under warrenty)
3. The transmission is bad - im toast

The next morning i went to drive the car and test option 1. Got in and drove around the neighborhood with no problem - no error message, no faulty shifting, no jerking or anything. So i decided to run to the stor about 4 miles away and see how it help up. I made it to the store and halfway back before BOOM - it happened again. I will say i was taking it extremely easy all the way until the second i punched it (just to test how it was really working). As soon as i went for a hard acceleration, the gear just slipped out and revved in nuetral. Pulled into a parking lot to turn around and didnt give myself enough room - went for reverse - NONE. Had to get out of my car, put it in Nuetral and push it backwards. I was able to limp my way but as i did i noticed a trend on the way the car performed

1. Car will start in 1st gear fine
2. went shifting into 2nd it slips into nuetral for about 2-3sec then drops abruptly into 3rd
3. When you have enough speed it does the same thing trying to shift into 4th - skips and drops into 5th
4. Same thing into 6th - slips out of 5th and drops hard into 7th.
5. Slowing down was not a hige problem as long as you have plenty of room to take it easy. If you slowed to fast the gears wouldnt keep up and it would jerk very hard.

Called my local audi dealership and scheduled the first available service which was in 2 days at 8am. At this point i was thinking i could either tow the car or try to wait a day and see if i could get it there driving very slow and easy. I went with option 2. The next night i got in the car to test and see if had gone back to working order - it had. So i got about 3/4 of the way there before BAM slipped right out again. Managed to limp it the last 3 miles or so.

Diagnosis - Audi called me this morning saying the issue could be an electrical problem, coolant issue, or a software issue and not to worry too much yet (BULL S***). Sure enough, an hour later they called and say... you guessed it, Mechatronic unit is toast. HOWEVER, instead of a brand new unit (3-4k) they informed me a few months back Audi came out with a Mechatronic replacement kit which is much cheaper and easier to install.

End all be all - $1500 for a new Mechatronic Kit and the ~5hours of labor they estimate. Also the repair is only going to take 2-3 days. I had took my car in this morning (Thursday) and they expect to have the new parts in tomorrow (Friday) and completely done and ready to go Monday. All in all this is still bull s*** that a $60k car with 60k miles has a faulty part this promenent and they havent recalled the part. I will say i am WAY WAY more willing to pay the $1500 over 4k. Im hoping to get it back Monday and not have to drop another dime into broken parts for a long, long time.

If anyone wlse has had this problem and knows of a way to save money through AoA or anything else - im open to suggestions. Good luck to all you fellow S4 drivers
Old 06-06-2016, 02:40 PM
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Originally Posted by tylerud22
I know the mechatronic unit has been an issue and cause lots of people pain. Just two days ago i got the dreaded message. Heres the story/cost of repair.

Audi 2010 Prestige
Meteor Gray Pearl
62000 miles

Drove home from work no problem - i have just recently replaced the spark plugs with Denso IK16 Iridium Spark plugs and put on some new Continential Extreme Contact DWS XL tires on - the car had been driving fantastic. Better than its ever ran since i got the car a little over a year ago with 38k miles.

So i went outside to move the car to the street so i could mow the grass and had no problem. Two hours later i get in to go to the store and as soon as i shift into D, the TPMS and Gearbox Malfunction light flash up telling me i have no reverse and im still good to drive. So i decide to drive down the streen and see what the issue is. As soon as the car went to shift from 1st to 2nd it skipped, revved in Nuetral for about 2 seconds then dropped hard into 3rd gear. This scared the crap out of me so needless to say i went right back home and started researching what the hell this error meant. After reaseaching i found a lot of answers and a lot of pissed people saying the mechatronic unit was bad. So after a night of sweating bullets researching i came to the conclusion that 3 things could have happened.

1. The error threw for some weird electrical reason and would reset and not be a problem the next day
2. The mechatronic unit was shot and i could expect to spend 3-4k to fix it (no longer under warrenty)
3. The transmission is bad - im toast

The next morning i went to drive the car and test option 1. Got in and drove around the neighborhood with no problem - no error message, no faulty shifting, no jerking or anything. So i decided to run to the stor about 4 miles away and see how it help up. I made it to the store and halfway back before BOOM - it happened again. I will say i was taking it extremely easy all the way until the second i punched it (just to test how it was really working). As soon as i went for a hard acceleration, the gear just slipped out and revved in nuetral. Pulled into a parking lot to turn around and didnt give myself enough room - went for reverse - NONE. Had to get out of my car, put it in Nuetral and push it backwards. I was able to limp my way but as i did i noticed a trend on the way the car performed

1. Car will start in 1st gear fine
2. went shifting into 2nd it slips into nuetral for about 2-3sec then drops abruptly into 3rd
3. When you have enough speed it does the same thing trying to shift into 4th - skips and drops into 5th
4. Same thing into 6th - slips out of 5th and drops hard into 7th.
5. Slowing down was not a hige problem as long as you have plenty of room to take it easy. If you slowed to fast the gears wouldnt keep up and it would jerk very hard.

Called my local audi dealership and scheduled the first available service which was in 2 days at 8am. At this point i was thinking i could either tow the car or try to wait a day and see if i could get it there driving very slow and easy. I went with option 2. The next night i got in the car to test and see if had gone back to working order - it had. So i got about 3/4 of the way there before BAM slipped right out again. Managed to limp it the last 3 miles or so.

Diagnosis - Audi called me this morning saying the issue could be an electrical problem, coolant issue, or a software issue and not to worry too much yet (BULL S***). Sure enough, an hour later they called and say... you guessed it, Mechatronic unit is toast. HOWEVER, instead of a brand new unit (3-4k) they informed me a few months back Audi came out with a Mechatronic replacement kit which is much cheaper and easier to install.

End all be all - $1500 for a new Mechatronic Kit and the ~5hours of labor they estimate. Also the repair is only going to take 2-3 days. I had took my car in this morning (Thursday) and they expect to have the new parts in tomorrow (Friday) and completely done and ready to go Monday. All in all this is still bull s*** that a $60k car with 60k miles has a faulty part this promenent and they havent recalled the part. I will say i am WAY WAY more willing to pay the $1500 over 4k. Im hoping to get it back Monday and not have to drop another dime into broken parts for a long, long time.

If anyone wlse has had this problem and knows of a way to save money through AoA or anything else - im open to suggestions. Good luck to all you fellow S4 drivers
Had same issue with my car
Audi S4 2010 prestige.
52,000 miles
Gear box malfunction light pops up on my cluster.
Took it in to Lynbrook audi dealer ship in Long Island .
They charged me $2023 to fix it.
Now two weeks later, the same issues pops up.
Now they are telling me After attempt at fixing it - I need to replace the transmission - cost $12,000.00
Old 06-08-2016, 02:55 AM
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Now that frigging sucks. Who has that kinda money lying around!!!
Old 06-08-2016, 03:16 AM
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Originally Posted by arn560
Now that frigging sucks. Who has that kinda money lying around!!!
Audi knows it's a reoccurring issue - ONE NEEDS TO BE A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST THEM. Seriously.
Old 06-08-2016, 01:57 PM
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Originally Posted by iceburgwaters
Audi knows it's a reoccurring issue - ONE NEEDS TO BE A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST THEM. Seriously.
You may want to Google the attorney who took the 2.0t oil consumption case against audi. That was successful in that audi put 120000 crap engines in their cars and ended up reimbursing all the poor folks who had to drop 8 grand on new engines.

Mike
Old 06-09-2016, 04:20 AM
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Thank you for this information Mike, I am going to try follow this up and see if I cannot use this against Audi South Africa who have claimed that their cars have no problem and I was the first to complain to them.

These cars are really beautiful and lovely cars but its service like this that makes them bad cars, Audi must simply own up to the design fault and move on.

I will post progress as I move along.

Kagiso Mogoba
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Old 06-09-2016, 04:39 AM
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Originally Posted by Kagiso Mogoba
Thank you for this information Mike, I am going to try follow this up and see if I cannot use this against Audi South Africa who have claimed that their cars have no problem and I was the first to complain to them.

These cars are really beautiful and lovely cars but its service like this that makes them bad cars, Audi must simply own up to the design fault and move on.

I will post progress as I move along.

Kagiso Mogoba
Like wise thanks for the information Mike.
Kagiso - I looked up their Information and I sent an email to Capstone Law APC.
This is an issue being experience - worldwide and Audi needs to comes to it sense and take action.
This are the lawyer info-
plaintiffs were represented by the law firms of Capstone Law APC, EcoTech Law Group PC, and Strategic Legal Practices APC.

- let's get this going
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