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Transmission Malfunction: You can continue driving.
I received this message on Monday the 23rd of December. The cars sat for about 6 hours before driving it again, I backed out of my driveway and driven about 200' and the message displayed. I pulled over cut the car off, cut it back on and as soon as I put in reverse the message displayed again. I went to my destination which was about 5 Miles away, and the message never displayed again (was cleared) until it came back 2 days later on Xmas.
Yesterday the car sat about 14 hours before I took it for a spin to make my Christmas rounds, and the message displayed itself almost the same way as before. I went a few Miles, the car sat for a few hours and never came back. The car drives normal for the most part, but I have noticed that it doesn't go into Sport mode no matter what you do, while the message is displayed. And while driving, it almost seems as if it doesn't know if it's in sport mode or comfort mode.
Has anyone seen this message before? Have a clue what it could be?
Such as a CEL?
I have a regular code reader but I haven't attached it because the error always goes away.
I hear people talk about a vagcom reader, but I do not own one of those.
"This message informs the driver of transmission-related faults
they might not otherwise notice. The Transmission Control Module
(TCM) is able to use a substitute signal (substitute program) when
impaired. The fault can have little or no affect on performance. The
purpose of the warning is to prompt drivers to take the vehicle to an
authorized Audi service center at their earliest opportunity to have
the fault checked out."
The good news is that it seems to be the least severe of all the transmission warnings. Without knowing what the malfunction code is (and there definitely IS one), it's kind of hard to diagnose a trans problem when the car has less than 50k miles.
Find someone who owns a VAG-COM or find yourself a reputable repair shop to pull the codes. Otherwise, it's a trip to the stealership.
FWIW, why you buy VCDS (VAG-COM) or something similarly powerful. Or, you pay the mechanic likely the same magnitude price of admission to get the diagnostic info...over and over again... An OBDII reader will read literally nothing from any module other than the engine computer, since is dumbed down, standardized only for that and has as its primary purpose maintaining emissions related items. Meanwhile, I haven't even bothered to try to add up the number of computerized modules on my D4. On the C5 (D2 era) it was something like 15. On the D3 it was probably double that. On a D4, TBD but a lot. As any vehicle ages and particularly ones packed with options/features/gizmos, the occasional issue elsewhere than can often be fixed (and at least diagnosed) inevitably increases.
On substance, figure there is a code in there if it behaved like this. Hence why another poster mentioned it already. Codes typically log in the relevant Audi module even if the issue resolves. It is most likely and logically in the transmission computer/module (TCU) for this one, though occasionally codes around the drivetrain end up in other intertwined systems like ABS/ESP. With VCDS you get a summary screen if you run a quick scan that lists all the modules there there are codes. Before it runs a full scan, I usually then just exit the longer full scan and go right to the modules showing codes. Or here, likely simply directly to the TCU as my first check point.
"This message informs the driver of transmission-related faults
they might not otherwise notice. The Transmission Control Module
(TCM) is able to use a substitute signal (substitute program) when
impaired. The fault can have little or no affect on performance. The
purpose of the warning is to prompt drivers to take the vehicle to an
authorized Audi service center at their earliest opportunity to have
the fault checked out."
The good news is that it seems to be the least severe of all the transmission warnings. Without knowing what the malfunction code is (and there definitely IS one), it's kind of hard to diagnose a trans problem when the car has less than 50k miles.
Find someone who owns a VAG-COM or find yourself a reputable repair shop to pull the codes. Otherwise, it's a trip to the stealership.
FWIW, why you buy VCDS (VAG-COM) or something similarly powerful. Or, you pay the mechanic likely the same magnitude price of admission to get the diagnostic info...over and over again... An OBDII reader will read literally nothing from any module other than the engine computer, since is dumbed down, standardized only for that and has as its primary purpose maintaining emissions related items. Meanwhile, I haven't even bothered to try to add up the number of computerized modules on my D4. On the C5 (D2 era) it was something like 15. On the D3 it was probably double that. On a D4, TBD but a lot. As any vehicle ages and particularly ones packed with options/features/gizmos, the occasional issue elsewhere than can often be fixed (and at least diagnosed) inevitably increases.
On substance, figure there is a code in there if it behaved like this. Hence why another poster mentioned it already. Codes typically log in the relevant Audi module even if the issue resolves. It is most likely and logically in the transmission computer/module (TCU) for this one, though occasionally codes around the drivetrain end up in other intertwined systems like ABS/ESP. With VCDS you get a summary screen if you run a quick scan that lists all the modules there there are codes. Before it runs a full scan, I usually then just exit the longer full scan and go right to the modules showing codes. Or here, likely simply directly to the TCU as my first check point.
I had a regular obd2 for my Infiniti and Acura, but could you recommend a good scanner for my Audi? Thanks
FWIW, why you buy VCDS (VAG-COM) or something similarly powerful. Or, you pay the mechanic likely the same magnitude price of admission to get the diagnostic info...over and over again... An OBDII reader will read literally nothing from any module other than the engine computer, since is dumbed down, standardized only for that and has as its primary purpose maintaining emissions related items. Meanwhile, I haven't even bothered to try to add up the number of computerized modules on my D4. On the C5 (D2 era) it was something like 15. On the D3 it was probably double that. On a D4, TBD but a lot. As any vehicle ages and particularly ones packed with options/features/gizmos, the occasional issue elsewhere than can often be fixed (and at least diagnosed) inevitably increases.
On substance, figure there is a code in there if it behaved like this. Hence why another poster mentioned it already. Codes typically log in the relevant Audi module even if the issue resolves. It is most likely and logically in the transmission computer/module (TCU) for this one, though occasionally codes around the drivetrain end up in other intertwined systems like ABS/ESP. With VCDS you get a summary screen if you run a quick scan that lists all the modules there there are codes. Before it runs a full scan, I usually then just exit the longer full scan and go right to the modules showing codes. Or here, likely simply directly to the TCU as my first check point.
I had a regular obd2 for my Infiniti and Acura, but could you recommend a good scanner for my Audi? Thanks
I had a regular obd2 for my Infiniti and Acura, but could you recommend a good scanner for my Audi? Thanks
He made an inference to his preferred scanner/diagnostics unit. The equipment is called VCDS by Ross-Tech. VCDS is probably the de facto tool for precisely the kind of diagnostics needs you're currently facing. The price has come down quite a bit for a unit, which is a plus. I forgot the full name of the unit, but the price is something like $199, which is similar in cost to high performance regular OBDII scanner, anyways.
Now my chance to return the favor. I had the same issue, turned out to be a software glitch. You need to do a software update and this warning will disappear. Most Audi dealerships will do it for free.