# S-tronic locking up



## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

Trying to maneuver between two cars (moving out of my parallel parking spot).

I was feathering the gas. Light press, then release then light press again. (similar how you would rev the engine in neutral at the stop light).

The transmission (or throttle) started acting like it choked. Similarly how manual transmission would behave if car is ready to stall (exactly the same sensation).

Anyone had this?


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## KevC (Jul 12, 2016)

No but doing those kind of moves you're better off turning off the hold assist (button behind the handbrake one) and letting it move on the automatic box creep instead and basically driving it on the brakes not the throttle.


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## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

KevC said:


> No but doing those kind of moves you're better off turning off the hold assist (button behind the handbrake one) and letting it move on the automatic box creep instead and basically driving it on the brakes not the throttle.


I dont have hold assist.

But yes I usually move with just by braking and letting the gearbox creep on its own. But sometimes letting the car move on its own (with no gas pedal input) wont cut it. Especially if you are on a slight hill or maybe creeping around would take too long.

Still doesn't explain why this happened? Regardless of how you drive it. It shouldn't do this right?


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## VorsprungDur (Apr 6, 2018)

captainhero17 said:


> Trying to maneuver between two cars (moving out of my parallel parking spot).
> 
> I was feathering the gas. Light press, then release then light press again. (similar how you would rev the engine in neutral at the stop light).
> 
> ...


How many miles are on your car?


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## macaddict111 (Jun 13, 2018)

Hey man. It would help to see/hear a video, but if you're backing up a hill in reverse I can can say it's normal for DSG to feel a bit abrupt or feel like it's "cutting out" or "catching" a bit. I've had two separate DSG owners ask me if that's normal, and it is. TBH if you've driven manuals much, you know it's challenging to not stall them backing up a hill yourself. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the reverse gear uses the even-gear clutch (I've read that in D initially, both Gear 1 and R are preselected and it just depends on odd vs even clutch, because it allows a D to R switch to be quicker), so I imagine that clutch has less articulation too.


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## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

VorsprungDur said:


> captainhero17 said:
> 
> 
> > Trying to maneuver between two cars (moving out of my parallel parking spot).
> ...


80.000km

And
Mac
I will try to replicate it. However the incident was on level ground. And fluffing the gas pedal made the car shake like there was an earthquake and about to stall.

I tried to stop. And then apply the gas pedal again gently. It still shook like crazy. And didnt want to go past 5kmh in reverse

Turning the engine on and off fixed it but still WTF


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## powerplay (Feb 8, 2008)

Was the car cold or was this at the end of a journey?

Reason for asking was - and I hope this isn't the case - there are many issues with the mechatronic control unit on older Audis which can cause similar symptoms, usually due to overheating or faulty temperature sensors.


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## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

Hey powerplay

The engine was at working temp 90c
So it wasnt cold nor overheating.

I drove it for 30min before that.
Then waited 30minutes (did some errands) and started it up again.

Dsg firmware update can fix it?


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## powerplay (Feb 8, 2008)

I would be surprised if a firmware update would resolve as that would indicate an existing software issue not a mechanical one - but I guess it all depends on what your issue is to begin with.

I can only offer than in my experience - which was with a DSG box on the mk2 - once it had the mechatronic issue it would work completely normally until up to temp, only after about 30-40 mins drviing would the problem start to be noticable.


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## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

The sensation here was same how you would experience before your manual transmission car stalls. It shakes the whole car, gas pedal wobbles...

It cant go past 5kmh in reverse. And basically acts like its hitting a solid wall every 1 meter.

Very strange.

I had a similar experience 1 year ago when I was in slow traffic and was going over a speed bump (big old concrete ones) with very little gas.


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## KevC (Jul 12, 2016)

Are you sure you don't have hold assist? I thought that was standard with the auto box (holding it on the brakes when stopped so you don't have to keep your foot on the pedal). I only say that because you can get a funny grinding noise if the brakes are trying to hold just when you decide to accelerate a little bit. I very occasionally get that when in very slow moving traffic and you're just about to stop and then it moves and you go on the gas just as the brakes have started to grab. You kind of catch the electronics out because they're committed to doing one thing and just at the wrong moment you ask it to do something else.


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## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

KevC

There is no 2nd button bellow my e-brake button 
So yeah Im sure I don't have hill assist 

Tbh its been feeling strange for a while now. I dont feel confident with the gas pedal in Audi mode (Audi Drive Auto gearbox, engine).

Feel on the pedal is wobbly. I feel a lot more vibrations under the gas pedal than usual.


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## powerplay (Feb 8, 2008)

captainhero17 said:


> The sensation here was same how you would experience before your manual transmission car stalls. It shakes the whole car, gas pedal wobbles...
> 
> It cant go past 5kmh in reverse. And basically acts like its hitting a solid wall every 1 meter.
> 
> ...


If I'm honest this really does sound like the classic mechatronic failure, typical symptoms are hestitancy pulling away and jerking or kangarooing at low revs; caused by the servos that operate the clutch packs getting bad or incorrect data and they repeatedly adjust the clutch pressure incorrectly - but only when the car had been running for a while, smooth as normal when cold.

That's how it was on a previous TT anyway and it does sound similar to what you describe.

If your car is still under warranty I would visit your dealer and at least get it documented on the system.

I remember a previous thread on this topic from years ago; the usual process it to get your car nice and warm so the symptom exists, pop into the dealer and ask someone to "just reverse park it between that R8 and RS6 over there"....


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## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

powerplay said:


> If I'm honest this really does sound like the classic mechatronic failure, typical symptoms are hestitancy pulling away and jerking or kangarooing at low revs; caused by the servos that operate the clutch packs getting bad or incorrect data and they repeatedly adjust the clutch pressure incorrectly - but only when the car had been running for a while, smooth as normal when cold.
> 
> That's how it was on a previous TT anyway and it does sound similar to what you describe.
> 
> If your car is still under warranty I would visit your dealer and at least get it documented on the system.


I will try to get it with checked with my indy. Audi would probably recommend a new engine just to be sure. 

Its not under warranty. Sadly last year the extended warranty expired.


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## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

powerplay said:


> the usual process it to get your car nice and warm so the symptom exists, pop into the dealer and ask someone to "just reverse park it between that R8 and RS6 over there"....


Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha 
I haven't laughed genuinely like this in months. Powerplay you diabolical minx DDDD


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## powerplay (Feb 8, 2008)

Lets hope they diagnose something other than mech failure then. The bill I didn't pay when mine was done under warranty was £2.5k


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## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

powerplay said:


> Lets hope they diagnose something other than mech failure then. The bill I didn't pay when mine was done under warranty was £2.5k


Well Im due for a 20bx retrofit recall (gas tank reinforcement) on 29th. I can ask them to diagnose the transmission.

You recommend that they check the transmission and not maybe the engine too?

The gas pedal like I said feels weird too.

Or it doesnt matter since they plug the laptop in and get all the errors anyway??


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## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

Also the weird gas pedal wobbly and vibration feel doesnf occur when in S mode.

In D and auto mode it feels like its very cold, fighting for air and fluctuating in power delivery.


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## powerplay (Feb 8, 2008)

They will scan for fault codes, but a code can only exist if a system is designed to monitor and log it.

I would get them to check everything and have the tech acknowledge he has seen/felt/heard the problem.

I'm only guessing based on your description sounding similar, there are so many things that can lead to problems, might just be a missfire or a bad solenoid.


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## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

I will ask them to check the cars transmission and maybe engine.

I will tell them the problem and let them figure it out on their own.

Hopefully a test drive tech can tell if the gas pedal and this kind of power delivery are normal in D mode.

Problem is that they have zero experience here with TT. They sold maybe 2 in 2 years.
I hope he can tell that gas pedal is janky... or tell me that Im tripping


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## bcrele182 (Dec 12, 2019)

Hi captainhero17, 
What was the outcome of the issue? My TTS just started playing up with this :?


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