Could I have damaged engine over revving it?

[chi123]

Probably going to get laughed at for this but it happens. I was behind a Golf R and G35 at a stoplight. They took off and I decided to mess with them. G35 pulled ahead of the Golf and I cut in front of the R and then passed up the G35. Then I noticed my gas pedal is all the way to the floor but felt like the car wasn't accelerating at all. I looked down at the gauge cluster and noticed I was revving the engine at 8K for the last 2-3 seconds or so. My S4 is manual but I also have another car I switch driving around that's auto. Must have got confused thinking I was driving auto or something. First time this happened. Could I have done any damage to the engine? I'm at 105K miles. Car did smell burnt for a while after but got no CELs and oil is still full. [facepalm]

[04Moroblue]

Did you downshift?? If you downshifted at to high of a speed/ to low of a gear you can cause damage by exceeding the valve trains capacity and bend a valve... but it would run pretty shitty.

If you didn't downshift you probably just pinged it off the rev limiter, which while not the greatest thing shouldn't have caused any long term harm. Any harm for that matter really.

[chi123]

Did you downshift?? If you downshifted at to high of a speed/ to low of a gear you can cause damage by exceeding the valve trains capacity and bend a valve... but it would run pretty shitty.

If you didn't downshift you probably just pinged it off the rev limiter, which while not the greatest thing shouldn't have caused any long term harm. Any harm for that matter really.

I basically forgot to shift into 3rd and went beyond the rev limiter in 2nd gear lol.

[GWS42013]

A rev limiter is a safety parameter set in place in the working limits of your car, so bouncing off the rev limiter for a couple of seconds does no harm except it cleans the carbon a bit on the valvetrain...

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[LINDW4LL]

As stated above, the rev limiter is there for a reason. The only way you can realistically do damage to the engine via over-rev is by downshifting at too high a speed.

[chi123]

When you guys say rev limiter, do you mean at 7K RPMs? Cause I went beyond redline until the gauge needle went to the end at 8K.

Edit: Think I understand what you guys are saying now. I was worried since I forgot to shift up and went past beyond redline. Only way I could have damaged the engine is if I accidentally downshifted into a wrong gear or something and rev the engine over 8K doing so?

[DGVR6]

Did you get a check engine light

[LINDW4LL]

Edit: Think I understand what you guys are saying now. I was worried since I forgot to shift up and went past beyond redline. Only way I could have damaged the engine is if I accidentally downshifted into a wrong gear or something and rev the engine over 8K doing so?
Yes, you're fine. Many others have reported seeing the tachometer hit 8k as well, even with DSG. In reality, the engine is not revving that high and it's just the needle overshooting. I understand the concern though!

[Brother Owl]

Engine tune will cut power after x rpms. As others have stated your car is smart enough to ptotect itself unless you money shift.
No cel? No problem

Edit: isn't this why cat-less S4s cant blow 4ft flames like WRXs? I'm an idiot [rolleyes]...

[MrFunk]

If you hit the rev limited as others have described then you are fine.
If you mechanically over revved the engine that's different. Ex: shifted from 5th into 2nd by accident at a high rate of speed. This can cause damage.

It does not sound to me like you mechanically over revved the engine.

[DannyDeez]

Yup. Just another confirmation here that you're fine. The rev limiter does exactly what it's called and stops you from over accelerating into a dangerous zone.

[Johnnycash]

i guess the real question here is:

did you pull on those cars like they were tied to poles?[>_>]

[NPuter]

Are there any reports of someone actually mechanically over revving the 3.0?

I was at a meet once where a friend test drove someone's 6MT S4 and misshiffted from 3rd to 2nd while wot. I wasn't in the car, but apparently a ton of warnings were thrown and the car lost all power. They restarted it and drove back like nothing happened. There was oil splattered all over the engine bay, but there wasn't an overrev fault when I scanned with vag com like I expected. As far as I know, there were no lasting consequences.

[dean.mohr]

Are there any reports of someone actually mechanically over revving the 3.0?

I was at a meet once where a friend test drove someone's 6MT S4 and misshiffted from 3rd to 2nd while wot. I wasn't in the car, but apparently a ton of warnings were thrown and the car lost all power. They restarted it and drove back like nothing happened. There was oil splattered all over the engine bay, but there wasn't an overrev fault when I scanned with vag com like I expected. As far as I know, there were no lasting consequences.

I've mechanically over-revved mine twice. Once on the test drive, once since. Both times it kicks all sorts of warnings... EPC, traction control, tire pressure, you name it. You pull over, shut it off all the way, then restart and you're fine. Its scary, but at least to this point I haven't done any damage.

[AmrS4]

I moneyshifted my 335i , from the top of 3rd gear at 7k rpm went to shift to 4th gear threw it into 2nd gear 😒 engine shut right off shattered all the lifters. I blame it on my short shifter as it angled the rod to the left a little causing it to go into 2nd alot easier then 4th . Ohh well 1 sec mistake cost me 6 grand motor+install .

[NPuter]

I've mechanically over-revved mine twice. Once on the test drive, once since. Both times it kicks all sorts of warnings... EPC, traction control, tire pressure, you name it. You pull over, shut it off all the way, then restart and you're fine. Its scary, but at least to this point I haven't done any damage.

Sounds like these engines are pretty robust in that regard.

I went into 1st when I meant to hit 3rd once when my car was a week old. Luckily I was just below the max speed for 1st. I don't think I fully engaged the clutch either (the car rev matched hard, so I knew I had missed the gear and slammed the clutch back in). Still scared the shit out of me and literally almost got sick after that


I moneyshifted my 335i , from the top of 3rd gear at 7k rpm went to shift to 4th gear threw it into 2nd gear 😒 engine shut right off shattered all the lifters. I blame it on my short shifter as it angled the rod to the left a little causing it to go into 2nd alot easier then 4th . Ohh well 1 sec mistake cost me 6 grand motor+install .

Really scary. I wish here was some sort of warning/fail-safe or something. Like an alarm when you gate a gear that would over rev the engine. Although I guess that wouldn't really help when you're blowing through the gears.

[dean.mohr]

Sounds like these engines are pretty robust in that regard.

Really scary. I wish here was some sort of warning/fail-safe or something. Like an alarm when you gate a gear that would over rev the engine. Although I guess that wouldn't really help when you're blowing through the gears.

Who knows. I figure they must be pretty solid to be used in the S4, S5, A6, A7, and A8, not to mention SQ5 and Q7.

I don't think a warning would help... if you're accidentally downshifting, you're probably going too fast for a warning to help :/

[hotleadsingergu]

I've mechanically over-revved mine twice. Once on the test drive, once since. Both times it kicks all sorts of warnings... EPC, traction control, tire pressure, you name it. You pull over, shut it off all the way, then restart and you're fine. Its scary, but at least to this point I haven't done any damage.

On the test drive? Tell me it wasn't a new car...if it was, why on Earth are you pushing it enough to jump over rev?


I moneyshifted my 335i , from the top of 3rd gear at 7k rpm went to shift to 4th gear threw it into 2nd gear 😒 engine shut right off shattered all the lifters. I blame it on my short shifter as it angled the rod to the left a little causing it to go into 2nd alot easier then 4th . Ohh well 1 sec mistake cost me 6 grand motor+install .

How do you intend to go 3>4 and go 3>2? No matter what shifter you're using, standard mid-position should be neutral center...which means in any case you should just be dropping the shifter straight down.

[dean.mohr]

On the test drive? Tell me it wasn't a new car...if it was, why on Earth are you pushing it enough to jump over rev?

Nope, not new. Had bout 70k on it. Salesmen wanted me to give it some gas on the on ramp, I hadn't spent any time in a stick shift in a long time, let alone this vehicle. Wasn't too bad, but was enough to get all the warning lights.

[AmrS4]

On the test drive? Tell me it wasn't a new car...if it was, why on Earth are you pushing it enough to jump over rev?



How do you intend to go 3>4 and go 3>2? No matter what shifter you're using, standard mid-position should be neutral center...which means in any case you should just be dropping the shifter straight down.

The angleft of the rod was tilted to the left (towards driver) if I were to just pull the shifter down with two of my fingers it would want to go into 2nd gear rather then 4th gear.. seems all so stupid but the rod was out of an older 3 series which was shorter in length and throw, basically a 75 dollar part cost me 6k

[richfx513]

I accidentally overrevved my 2015 Q5 TDI |(80,000 miles on the clock) yesterday while in neutral coasting down a long highway hill. Thinking I'd returned it to Drive, I stepped on the accelerator and the tach very quickly revved all the way through 6,000 rpm - the end of the redline range. It returned to idle speed within two seconds max.
After returning it to Drive mode, the engine started heaving and jerking high and low by itself while pushing and lifting off the accelerator. I slowed down, pulled over within a half mile and turned the car off for several minutes and checked the engine compartment and underneath for leaks. None found. After restarting it, the problem went away completely (other than the oil level function in the MMI not working for a half hour or so), and I drove 200 more miles without incident. NO fault or other codes were thrown.
Could I have damaged the engine, valves, rods or other parts (which are under the TDI extended warranty) by having this happen? I feel like I should have my local Audi dealer check it and look for faults and/or any other telltale signs of possible engine / drivetrain damage.
Any insights / guidance would be greatly appreciated.

[JRYtheS4]

I accidentally overrevved my 2015 Q5 TDI |(80,000 miles on the clock) yesterday while in neutral coasting down a long highway hill. Thinking I'd returned it to Drive, I stepped on the accelerator and the tach very quickly revved all the way through 6,000 rpm - the end of the redline range. It returned to idle speed within two seconds max.
After returning it to Drive mode, the engine started heaving and jerking high and low by itself while pushing and lifting off the accelerator. I slowed down, pulled over within a half mile and turned the car off for several minutes and checked the engine compartment and underneath for leaks. None found. After restarting it, the problem went away completely (other than the oil level function in the MMI not working for a half hour or so), and I drove 200 more miles without incident. NO fault or other codes were thrown.
Could I have damaged the engine, valves, rods or other parts (which are under the TDI extended warranty) by having this happen? I feel like I should have my local Audi dealer check it and look for faults and/or any other telltale signs of possible engine / drivetrain damage.
Any insights / guidance would be greatly appreciated.Absolutely no good reason to shift into neutral while driving. The biggest reason you don't is exactly what you experienced: you try to press the go pedal and something unexpected happens. Otherwise you're probably fine.

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