Jdsengineer

I hope your trip has no car problems. Let us know how it goes. At the moment I'm not taking my A7 on any "7 minute" trips waiting for the alternator to fail. Yesterday the start stop function quit so its going to happen soon.

ThomasWShea

I do not remember seeing anyone mention the start stop quitting as a symptom before. Can you share where you are hearing this?

Jdsengineer

I've been reading the A7 and A6 forums and as the alternator fails, various things fail first. One being the start stop, on the A7 then you see notification that the pop up spoiler is inactive. Shortly (as in minutes or a few miles) you get all kinds of electrical failure notices. My stop start quit working yesterday at 22K miles, so I'm just taking short trips around town not wanting to get on a busy highway just waiting to see if other things pop up. its supposed to go to the dealer for oil change and plugs, but I'm hesitant that it can make the 10 mile trip there.

angrypengu

Same, I recall reading about the SS failing first, yeah.

ThomasWShea

Ah, ok, well if start / stop was all mentioned in the A7/6 forum, I don't read those, so that makes sense that I would not have see that before. I get the hesitance to drive it, but on the other hand, if it doesn't fail, they won't fix it...at least so far, in this thread, we haven't seen anyone get the TSB software update, and a new alternator, without total failure. One person did successfully pay their dealer a few hundred dollars for the software update specified in the TSB. So maybe you could see if your dealer would agree to that, and then tow the car in...

ajmilan

I monitor 5 separate boards across the A6, A7, and Q8 models and have heard that the SS and rear spoiler (as applicable) failures have been early warning signs.

Jdsengineer

Oh, I'll continue to drive it till it fails, just not very far. I even bought the extended warranty last month planning on using it for this fix, then weeks later seeing that the fix is being covered. At least I have a warranty for anything else for the next 5 years (assuming I keep the thing)

retom

This makes sense because the SS stops working when the voltage drops in the car's network and/or the battery is not properly charged.

ThomasWShea

Speaking to what @retom says about the voltage drop - @Jdsengineer if you had a multi meter you could read the voltage after each start up, note the readings and see if you see any pattern. Just an idea, to collect some data...

Jdsengineer

good idea. I'll do that right now. I need to make a quick trip to the drug store. Might do a before and after reading.

UPDATE: well, I guess it lives another day. Voltage started out at 11.9 after sitting in the garage for a week and after the short 15 min. trip it read 12.2. So its charging. . . for now