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Q7 2017 Steering Wheel Problem HELP PLEASE!!

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Old 03-17-2018, 01:16 PM
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Default Q7 2017 Steering Wheel Problem HELP PLEASE!!

Hello,
I've stumbed upon this forum desperate for help and expert advice!

I had purchased a brand new Audi Q7 2017 when it first came out (S-Line package, Fully Loaded with the Maximum Upgrades).
Sometime about a 2 months ago, while driving in local streets, my steering wheel suddenly stiffened and locked. Let me explain... imagine your car is off and your steering wheel doesn't move - the "lock" feeling is kind of like that! The "stiffening" feeling is what leads up to that.
With extremely hard pressure with two hands I could turn the car off the street and came to safe stop. At this time, my car is in parked and I tried to turn the wheel back and forth (left to right) to see if I could loosen the steering wheel. But the steering wheel would resist and made more changes. A lot of force was need to move it! So I turned off the car, waited a couple seconds and turned the car back on again. And the steering wheel and drive was back to "normal". I let this weird malfunction go at this time - hoping this was just a weird one time incident. Unfortunately, this was not the case a few weeks later (2 weeks I would say) this incident happens again. I had to do the exact same thing for it to reset (turn off & on the car). And finally, a week later it happened again, the only difference I had a passenger (On Valentine's day evening). Scary. Embarrassing. Right?
Side note: I've driven with car without Lane Assist when these issues occurred. Had no problems prior to. Had the car serviced for maintenance & all recalls prior to - the car is up to date.

I brought my vehicle to my dealership (the dealership I purchased the vehicle from).
1. I tried to explain the issue at hand. The service advisor, I received that day, before even servicing the vehicle, briefly looked at the car and saw a bit of curb damage on the rim and blamed it on that. Saying it there was driver's impact on the tire/rim and because the wheels and steering wheel are connected, it will cause the steering to have an effect. Gave me all these quotes on costs for labour etc. LOL Well, if thats the case why does the steering wheel not lock every single time from this "driver's impact". It only happens when the car chooses to. Sounds more like a defect. But wait, how are you making these statements without the car being serviced or looked at yet? (Food for thought).
Anyways, they took the car for 48 hrs and return the vehicle to me with "we couldn't find the problem", "you're probably feeling the Lane Assist", "try driving without the lane assist". They even put it on my servicing papers.
[Sorry Audi, I know I'm asian and young lol, but I've had this car for 50k when the issue had occurred - I know how to use this car and what Lane Assist feels like. I've previously driven Lexus & Mercedes, all brand new.]

2. Immediately, brought this issue to the Service Manager to be taken seriously.
2 days in, no faults found. Foreman drove it around and still no faults.
I refused to pick up the car. Addressed my concerns again.
They kept it again for 5 days. No faults.
I insisted they keep it for another 7 days. No faults.

3. No choice but to pick up my car today.

And I know they can't do much without the car locking and stiffening when they're driving it.
I understand they are in a bind as much as I am.
But there has to be something they can do. I did not spend 100k on a car for it to just chose when to lock & stiffen the steering wheel on me when it feels like malfunctioning. Am I wrong?
I know the service manager did the best he can and was thorough from what i could tell. But I still have an issue with no immediate solution.
Their solution for the time being is "When it happens again, drive the car immediately to the dealership and will try to fix it".

A little side rant.
Upon return of the car, I noticed the car was fully cleaned inside (like after every servicing) but there was cigarette ash on the driver's back passenger seat.
Great. I'm already taking back a faulty car. But to add to that someone was smoking in my car? For how long? What else were they doing with my car? Joyriding?
Brought it to the service managers attention, and the response "The people who drove your car don't smoke" "We will look into it" "Maybe in the Spring, we will take the car for detailing".


To summarize, 14 days with Audi Dealership, 1100kms later, no faults found. issue not resolved.
What do I do?

My concerns are:
Safety - I'm driving a car, with a steering wheel, that can lock at any given time for no apparent reason. I could be on the highway turning off and this could happen. I'm in a 7 passenger seat vehicle, I'm not only risking myself but my passengers & of course the public.

Sorry for my extra ranting!!! PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME! WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS? WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?
I WANT A SOLUTION TO THIS ISSUE.
Old 03-17-2018, 01:43 PM
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Originally Posted by xxaudixx2510
Hello,
I've stumbed upon this forum desperate for help and expert advice!

I had purchased a brand new Audi Q7 2017 when it first came out (S-Line package, Fully Loaded with the Maximum Upgrades).
Sometime about a 2 months ago, while driving in local streets, my steering wheel suddenly stiffened and locked. Let me explain... imagine your car is off and your steering wheel doesn't move - the "lock" feeling is kind of like that! The "stiffening" feeling is what leads up to that.
With extremely hard pressure with two hands I could turn the car off the street and came to safe stop. At this time, my car is in parked and I tried to turn the wheel back and forth (left to right) to see if I could loosen the steering wheel. But the steering wheel would resist and made more changes. A lot of force was need to move it! So I turned off the car, waited a couple seconds and turned the car back on again. And the steering wheel and drive was back to "normal". I let this weird malfunction go at this time - hoping this was just a weird one time incident. Unfortunately, this was not the case a few weeks later (2 weeks I would say) this incident happens again. I had to do the exact same thing for it to reset (turn off & on the car). And finally, a week later it happened again, the only difference I had a passenger (On Valentine's day evening). Scary. Embarrassing. Right?
Side note: I've driven with car without Lane Assist when these issues occurred. Had no problems prior to. Had the car serviced for maintenance & all recalls prior to - the car is up to date.

I brought my vehicle to my dealership (the dealership I purchased the vehicle from).
1. I tried to explain the issue at hand. The service advisor, I received that day, before even servicing the vehicle, briefly looked at the car and saw a bit of curb damage on the rim and blamed it on that. Saying it there was driver's impact on the tire/rim and because the wheels and steering wheel are connected, it will cause the steering to have an effect. Gave me all these quotes on costs for labour etc. LOL Well, if thats the case why does the steering wheel not lock every single time from this "driver's impact". It only happens when the car chooses to. Sounds more like a defect. But wait, how are you making these statements without the car being serviced or looked at yet? (Food for thought).
Anyways, they took the car for 48 hrs and return the vehicle to me with "we couldn't find the problem", "you're probably feeling the Lane Assist", "try driving without the lane assist". They even put it on my servicing papers.
[Sorry Audi, I know I'm asian and young lol, but I've had this car for 50k when the issue had occurred - I know how to use this car and what Lane Assist feels like. I've previously driven Lexus & Mercedes, all brand new.]

2. Immediately, brought this issue to the Service Manager to be taken seriously.
2 days in, no faults found. Foreman drove it around and still no faults.
I refused to pick up the car. Addressed my concerns again.
They kept it again for 5 days. No faults.
I insisted they keep it for another 7 days. No faults.

3. No choice but to pick up my car today.

And I know they can't do much without the car locking and stiffening when they're driving it.
I understand they are in a bind as much as I am.
But there has to be something they can do. I did not spend 100k on a car for it to just chose when to lock & stiffen the steering wheel on me when it feels like malfunctioning. Am I wrong?
I know the service manager did the best he can and was thorough from what i could tell. But I still have an issue with no immediate solution.
Their solution for the time being is "When it happens again, drive the car immediately to the dealership and will try to fix it".

A little side rant.
Upon return of the car, I noticed the car was fully cleaned inside (like after every servicing) but there was cigarette ash on the driver's back passenger seat.
Great. I'm already taking back a faulty car. But to add to that someone was smoking in my car? For how long? What else were they doing with my car? Joyriding?
Brought it to the service managers attention, and the response "The people who drove your car don't smoke" "We will look into it" "Maybe in the Spring, we will take the car for detailing".


To summarize, 14 days with Audi Dealership, 1100kms later, no faults found. issue not resolved.
What do I do?

My concerns are:
Safety - I'm driving a car, with a steering wheel, that can lock at any given time for no apparent reason. I could be on the highway turning off and this could happen. I'm in a 7 passenger seat vehicle, I'm not only risking myself but my passengers & of course the public.

Sorry for my extra ranting!!! PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME! WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS? WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?
I WANT A SOLUTION TO THIS ISSUE.
WOW! That is horrific! I would call corporate, call Audi USA and report it! Tell them everything that you wrote in this forum and that you are still having the same issue. They don't want a lawsuit I'm sure. Please let us know how it got resolved. Hope you get it resolved.
Old 03-17-2018, 03:19 PM
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Originally Posted by xxaudixx2510
Hello,
I've stumbed upon this forum desperate for help and expert advice!

I had purchased a brand new Audi Q7 2017 when it first came out (S-Line package, Fully Loaded with the Maximum Upgrades).
Sometime about a 2 months ago, while driving in local streets, my steering wheel suddenly stiffened and locked. Let me explain... imagine your car is off and your steering wheel doesn't move - the "lock" feeling is kind of like that! The "stiffening" feeling is what leads up to that.
With extremely hard pressure with two hands I could turn the car off the street and came to safe stop. At this time, my car is in parked and I tried to turn the wheel back and forth (left to right) to see if I could loosen the steering wheel. But the steering wheel would resist and made more changes. A lot of force was need to move it! So I turned off the car, waited a couple seconds and turned the car back on again. And the steering wheel and drive was back to "normal". I let this weird malfunction go at this time - hoping this was just a weird one time incident. Unfortunately, this was not the case a few weeks later (2 weeks I would say) this incident happens again. I had to do the exact same thing for it to reset (turn off & on the car). And finally, a week later it happened again, the only difference I had a passenger (On Valentine's day evening). Scary. Embarrassing. Right?
Side note: I've driven with car without Lane Assist when these issues occurred. Had no problems prior to. Had the car serviced for maintenance & all recalls prior to - the car is up to date.

I brought my vehicle to my dealership (the dealership I purchased the vehicle from).
1. I tried to explain the issue at hand. The service advisor, I received that day, before even servicing the vehicle, briefly looked at the car and saw a bit of curb damage on the rim and blamed it on that. Saying it there was driver's impact on the tire/rim and because the wheels and steering wheel are connected, it will cause the steering to have an effect. Gave me all these quotes on costs for labour etc. LOL Well, if thats the case why does the steering wheel not lock every single time from this "driver's impact". It only happens when the car chooses to. Sounds more like a defect. But wait, how are you making these statements without the car being serviced or looked at yet? (Food for thought).
Anyways, they took the car for 48 hrs and return the vehicle to me with "we couldn't find the problem", "you're probably feeling the Lane Assist", "try driving without the lane assist". They even put it on my servicing papers.
[Sorry Audi, I know I'm asian and young lol, but I've had this car for 50k when the issue had occurred - I know how to use this car and what Lane Assist feels like. I've previously driven Lexus & Mercedes, all brand new.]

2. Immediately, brought this issue to the Service Manager to be taken seriously.
2 days in, no faults found. Foreman drove it around and still no faults.
I refused to pick up the car. Addressed my concerns again.
They kept it again for 5 days. No faults.
I insisted they keep it for another 7 days. No faults.

3. No choice but to pick up my car today.

And I know they can't do much without the car locking and stiffening when they're driving it.
I understand they are in a bind as much as I am.
But there has to be something they can do. I did not spend 100k on a car for it to just chose when to lock & stiffen the steering wheel on me when it feels like malfunctioning. Am I wrong?
I know the service manager did the best he can and was thorough from what i could tell. But I still have an issue with no immediate solution.
Their solution for the time being is "When it happens again, drive the car immediately to the dealership and will try to fix it".

A little side rant.
Upon return of the car, I noticed the car was fully cleaned inside (like after every servicing) but there was cigarette ash on the driver's back passenger seat.
Great. I'm already taking back a faulty car. But to add to that someone was smoking in my car? For how long? What else were they doing with my car? Joyriding?
Brought it to the service managers attention, and the response "The people who drove your car don't smoke" "We will look into it" "Maybe in the Spring, we will take the car for detailing".


To summarize, 14 days with Audi Dealership, 1100kms later, no faults found. issue not resolved.
What do I do?

My concerns are:
Safety - I'm driving a car, with a steering wheel, that can lock at any given time for no apparent reason. I could be on the highway turning off and this could happen. I'm in a 7 passenger seat vehicle, I'm not only risking myself but my passengers & of course the public.

Sorry for my extra ranting!!! PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME! WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS? WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?
I WANT A SOLUTION TO THIS ISSUE.

Does the wheel stiffen up when the start/stop is activated? Maybe try driving with that off and see if it still happens.
Old 03-17-2018, 05:03 PM
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Potentially faulty power steering pump, or the power steering fluid reservoir is leaking (or anywhere along the pipes in the system), or the serpentine belt is slipping intermittently on the power steering pump pulley due to a bad pulley or belt.
Old 03-17-2018, 05:04 PM
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OR there is an air bubble in the pwoer steering system, which service techs can bleedd and refill.
Old 03-17-2018, 05:07 PM
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It has electromechanical steering. No pump, no belts.
Old 03-17-2018, 05:35 PM
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Originally Posted by NABS4
It has electromechanical steering. No pump, no belts.
Wow you’re righ; learning smth new everyday
Old 03-17-2018, 08:00 PM
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Originally Posted by erwheezy



Does the wheel stiffen up when the start/stop is activated? Maybe try driving with that off and see if it still happens.

This is what I was thinking at first but as soon as you take your foot off the brake, the engine powers back up and the wheel is no longer stationary/locked. I'd like to think OP at least tried taking the foot off the brake and then found the problem to be there.

Otherwise, yes, start/stop shuts the engine off and locks the wheel until the brake is released. I'm wondering if I've misread the post and OP finds that the wheel locks while the car is still in motion? That is is Fin dangerous. But when stationary and start/stop enabled? That sounds about right.

I'm not sure the car has a smoke break in your back seat when it's stopped, though, and ashes in the ashtray.
Old 03-18-2018, 10:08 AM
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Originally Posted by smacky
This is what I was thinking at first but as soon as you take your foot off the brake, the engine powers back up and the wheel is no longer stationary/locked. I'd like to think OP at least tried taking the foot off the brake and then found the problem to be there.

Otherwise, yes, start/stop shuts the engine off and locks the wheel until the brake is released. I'm wondering if I've misread the post and OP finds that the wheel locks while the car is still in motion? That is is Fin dangerous. But when stationary and start/stop enabled? That sounds about right.

I'm not sure the car has a smoke break in your back seat when it's stopped, though, and ashes in the ashtray.

This is happening all while the car is in motion - during the drive.
Old 03-18-2018, 11:05 AM
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Originally Posted by Sundiego1
WOW! That is horrific! I would call corporate, call Audi USA and report it! Tell them everything that you wrote in this forum and that you are still having the same issue. They don't want a lawsuit I'm sure. Please let us know how it got resolved. Hope you get it resolved.
OP is likely not in the US given his S-line package


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