New Audi A3 problems.. loud turbo noise and brake servo failure

[custard6060]

hi All,
My wife bought a new audi a3 1.4tfsi sport (s-tronic) 2 weeks ago,
after 1 week it has developed a loud whooshing noise from the engine, audi say they know about it and are working on a fix. does anyone else have this issue?
also the brake servo failed, a vacuum hose came loose.
We are concerned that the 2 maybe related.

again has anyone had issues with a vacuum hose on the new a3

thanks in advance

nick.vo

[Guest 2]

Brand new A3?

Take it back.

[custard6060]

We are trying! dealership waiting to hear back from Audi UK

[james_tiger_woo]

******** to that - get to the dealer and leave it with them. You shouldn't be messing about with a 2 week old car.

Get them to sort it and if not, reject it under the SOG act.

[mjcourtney]

There is a problem with rattling Turbo Linkages on 1.4TFSI's. Audi are indeed aware of it and a fix is apparently going to be released imminently. I'm not sure if this would result in the 'whooshing' noise, but it's possibly related.

[james_tiger_woo]

Any joy Custard6060?

[jeh100]

I have exactly the same problem/noise, 1.4 TFSI new in March. I have spoken to my local dealer and all they can say at the moment is that they are waiting for Audi to release a fix and that they are checking daily for an update - the noise is driving me mad though. I can hear it between around 2500 and 3000 rpm and at about 70mph in 6th gear it is a constant noise. Other than that every time I accelerate and the rpm goes from around 2500 to 3000 I can hear the noise. My local dealer have given me the Audi customer service number but I'm not sure how much help they will be? Thanks.

[james_tiger_woo]

Might be worth getting in writing that this isn't going to cause any physical damage - if there is a software fix, I would want something in writing stating that the problem is non-destructive and that continued use of the car will not cause problems and/or invalidate any warranty.

[QasimAhm]

Hi all,
i bought a new audi a3 sportback sLine, after a week, I also noticed a noise when I rev over 2200 on any gear,
i spoke to audi and took my car back, the said my turbo actuator rod is faulty, they said there was 3 other cars of the similar problem,
because its a new design turbo they do not have any in the garages at the moment, they are still in Germany, but they will have new stock by mid July,
i have also noticed a whooshing sound from my exhaust when I rev my engine in neutral, :/

ver disappointed, but I still love the car!

[ajw19782005]

Hi all.

I bought an Audi A3 1.4TFSI back in March 2013. Within a week of buying the car I was hearing the odd noise when accelerating in all gears between 2-3Krpm. Initially it was faint but appeared to get worse and was clearly audible from the driver’s side with the radio off! It seemed to be much worse on cold mornings when it seemed very bad. Naturally I took it back to the dealership (Ipswich as I had recently moved from Newcastle where I bought the car). I took it for a drive with one of the mechanics and luckily enough he could also hear the problem and said they would take a look. The next day they asked me to come back and pick up the car. When I arrived they said there was nothing they could do about the noise and explained that it was a "design fault". Obviously I was very disappointed with this as the noise was starting to really annoy me every time I drove the car. Once you have heard it, it makes you avoid driving at higher revs (2-3Krpm!) which is not very pleasurable. Add this to the fact that this was a £20000 brand new car is wholly unacceptable. They said that they had 2 other of the same model in the garage and they both had the same issues. They would report it to Audi and hope they released a fix for it. Copied below is the email they sent to Audi with the reply:

Paul Master Tech Ipswich Audi sent….

Customers complaint is a rattling noise on acceleration from the engine, and an intermittent loss of power, that occurs at the same time. We rectified the loss of power with tpi 2033194/2, however the noise remains. We tested it against 2 other cars with CMBA engines and found it to be a characteristic. Customer finds it "completely unacceptable, on a £20k+ car" both myself and our other master tech believe the noise is the wastegate actuator rod vibrating, very similar to older 2.0 TFSI engine where a modified clip was produced to stop the noise. Can you please advise if you had had any similar complaints on the CMBA engine, and also please advise on any possible future modification to eradicate it. Also Is there any way of escalating this case, even though it is found to be a characteristic, as the customer is very unhappy and can’t believe he is the only person to complain about it. He is contacting customer services. Thanks very much, Paul D, Master Tech, Ipswich Audi.

Neil From dealer Technical replied….

Hi Paul, Thanks for your enquiry. There is a TPI for this - 2033013 - which is currently to postpone repairs. Unfortunately, this problem predominately affects the right hand drive market due to the position of the turbo. The noise is very difficult to hear from the left hand side of the vehicle. There is something in the pipeline for this but I do not have any set time scales. We have successfully test-fitted parts to 2 UK vehicles and fed back to the factory so I should imagine that a complete solution is just around the corner. Please be patient and we shall update the TPI once the solution is released.


Clearly I was aghast that they appeared to be continually making these engines which had the same problem. Looking on the web there are instances of the same problem occurring with other engines also and this is not limited to Audi but appears with VW, Seat and Skoda also. The only thing I could do was wait for the fix or complain to Customer Services which I did. They could not give me a timescale for the fix which I said was pathetic knowing that all forms of engineering will have a realistic timescale associated with the work. After further badgering they said it would be sometime in early August. Clearly I wanted some form of compensation for this as I was still having to pay ~200/month for what I considered to be a dysfunctional car. This is still be discussed but no offer has been forthcoming which I find to be very poor customer service. I have even copied emails to the head of Audi UK and I don’t even get a reply just something from customer services not even acknowledging that I am trying to contact the senior manager.

Thankfully enough the car appears to be “fixed” after last week having a part fitted to stop the resonance of the actuator rod. So if there are people out there with this problem it can be fixed if you bother them enough. Clearly not very good customer service as surely there should be a full recall for this model. Naturally enough I am still trying to get some form of compensation for the 5 months that I have had to put up with this, so if anyone can help with ideas or people to contact that would be very helpful. Hopefully this goes some way to helping others out there with the same issues.