2004 A4 3.0 CVT - Possible Tranny Issues?

[socalkid]

hey all, obviously new to the forums and appreciate any insight you might have...

my parents own the above mentioned car and they have been having intermitten issues with, what i think to be, either the CVT or the electronic "by wire" throttle...

when coming to a rolling stop like at a red light or stop sign:

1. ...the car will give a slight surge forward (similar to the sensation when you tap the throttle). when at a complete stop, the engine/throttle will not respond to the pedal, i.e., you step on the accelerator and the engine will not rev. put the car in Park, turn it off, restart (the car will restart fine with full power) and the issue wont go away... this last time i met my Mom when this happened, the car was at idle, in Park... i stepped on the gas, no response at all. just for giggles i put the car in Drive, stepped on the accelerator and the car drove away fine. when i came to a stop after driving away, i put the car in Park, threw it a rev and the engine revved and responded like it was supposed to...
2. ...the car won't surge when slowing to a stop, but as you go to accelerate away, the engine will rev but the car will not accelerate, however, the car will roll if you did not come to a complete stop, like the tranny is in Neutral... after about 5-10 seconds this issue usually goes away and the car drives away fine.

these issues almost always happen in the morning, not immediately when you start driving but maybe 2-5 minutes into driving, and always when coming to a stop or after having stopped. my parents have even resorted to letting the car warm up a few minutes before driving but these issues still occur.

the problem is this doesnt happen that frequently, maybe once or twice every month or so, if that... as such, working with the dealer has been frustrating because of course they cant reproduce the symptoms. my parents even leave the car with the dealer for weeks at a time so they can have a mechanic drive it and take it home, etc... but no luck. no check engine lights, no flashing dash display, etc... and the dealer has said that there are no errors in the car's pc (dont know about this last time as the car is still at the dealer).

i'd love to hear the board's insight & comments... has anyone else ever heard of this or a similar issue? thanks!

[socalkid]

just a follow up...

predictably dealer called to say the car is fine and there were no issues in the car's computer and it drove fine. but then i come to find that a mechanic didn't take the car out for drives but it was the service technician i deal with... at this point i tell them im we're not going to take delivery of the car because (1) a mechanic was supposed to drive it (2) these issues are happening and something must be wrong. i tell the service tech i will contact Audi USA to see what my issues are, and he advises he will do the same. the dealer calls me back later that day and says someone from Audi USA will be there the next day (supposedly) and they will proceed. Audi USA notes no service bulletins on the car when i contact them but ask that i keep them informed of what the dealer does. dealer calls back the next day and says they removed all electrical connections regarding the transmission & accelerator and replaced with new wiring via the advice of Audi USA. Audi USA contacts me to confirm the work and says the next time i have an issue, contact them before taking to dealer... so we'll see! come to find out my parents have the longest warranty possible (something like 100k miles) so hopefully this will be resolved prior to that expiring, if not now.

[andrew68]

Hi, my 2003 1.8T CVT does nearly the same thing, especially when it's cold in the morning, but only after you've been driving for a while. For example, if I start from cold, drive say 5ks to the shops, and then start up again after 5-10 minutes, I get the behaviour you describe.

Also when cold, when I pull up to a stop (at lights etc), the revs will 'drop' right down to the point of nearly stalling (say 500 rpm) before 'surging' back to a more normal 750rpm - all in the space of 1/2 a second or so. This goes away after the car has warmed up.

Did you get this problem resolved? Any ideas?

[socalkid]

hey andrew68

the problem didnt get resolved... in the end, my parents dumped the car and picked up an E350... i was trying to convince them to fight Audi, maybe invoke the "lemon law" here in the US, bu in the end they just traded it in and took the hit.

the final straw was my mom driving the car one rainy evening... she went to make a left had turn through an intersection (where you yield to oncoming traffic) and the car died on her right after she began to accelerate, leaving her at a dead stop in the middle of the road. luckily no one hit her and some young men behind her saw she was having issues and they put the car in N and pushed her to the nearest parking lot. she refused to drive the car anymore - my dad came and they literally put the car on a flatbead all the way to the dealer (it's an Audi/Mercedes/Jaguar/Porsche/Maybach/Bentley/R Royce dealer group) and gave hell to the GM and traded it in off a tow truck!

oh well, that was before Christmas so it's been a good 4-5 months.