Tip tranny sometimes hangs onto 2nd, won't go to 3rd for extra 5 secs

[gnosis]

I searched and didn't find anyone else with this problem. It's been doing this since the car was new. Happens every 20 miles or so, which is every friggin day. If I accelerate from a stop at about, say, 50-60% full throttle so that RPM goes to 3k-4k before going to 2nd, it'll take about TEN seconds before it goes to 3rd. It just stays on 2nd gear WAAAAAY too long, as if I were flooring it and it's waiting to hit near the redline before it'll go to 3rd. If I decelerate, doesn't matter, it still stays in 2nd for an extra 5 seconds or so before shifting to 3rd.

I brought it into the dealership today for this issue and they found no faults or codes, but they did say that there a recent ECM update and they did that... but it didn't help. I still have this problem. I really don't want to have to deal with this for another 3 years (lease). THIS SUCKS!!!

[B_Boy]

damn that sucks sounds like it might be a tranny problem, good luck.

[rickdenv]

I have the exact same issue. The transmission works fine most of the time but it will sometimes fail to upshift and rev to about 4-5k before finally shifting. My car has less than 1000 miles. I also noticed that sometimes the car seems to have trouble shifting into gear even when idling along in a parking lot. The strange thing is like you said, the problem is not consistent, it happens sporadically.

I called my dealer today, taking the car in Monday.

[b8avant]

I too have this problem occasionally, I also had this problem on my old TL-S

[astaikos10]

im over 12k and have also had the same problem since the beginning. Interested to see what is done for you guys.

[mfresh2k2]

Are you guys using the paddle shifters while in d or s prior to the delay? if so, depending on the pedal pressure, it will stay in the lower gear until it senses normal throttle again. Like if you're approaching a turn and you downshift while in d, it will lock into the selected gear while under load and as you throttle through it, it gains speed. Backing off a bit results in less pedal pressure bringing it to normal shifting mode again.
If that is not the case then I'm out,
carry on

[rickdenv]

I'm not using the manual shifters. For me it occurs while in normal D just accelerating away from a stop. It happens even when I accelerate slowly, on a flat grade. I thought perhaps I was the only one experiencing this. It is interesting other people have this problem too.

I'll let you guys know what I find out from the dealer. I have a suspicion this could be one of those difficult to diagnose problems. I hope not.

[mfresh2k2]

yeah, good luck trying to get a tech or service advisor to acknowledge the concern

[gnosis]

Are you guys using the paddle shifters while in d or s prior to the delay?

Nope, just happens when driving in pure auto.

[gnosis]

Well, it's nice to know that I'm not the only one. I've already struck out once with the dealership. I'll tell them that they didn't fix it and take it back in soon. I'll keep this thread updated.

[babadudu]

i've got this also, but I couldn't pinpoin the problem nor describe it very well, and didn't see others have the same problem. Now i know.

it usually happen when i am on a slight downward slope (doens't happen on a steep slope nor uphill)

[Jack Foulard]

yeah, good luck trying to get a tech or service advisor to acknowledge the concern

Only one solution: take the SA and tech for a drive and show them how it happens and then have them drive and tell them what to do. You can't just leave the car and hope that they get the jist of what is going on. Get them to document it and keep taking it back for repeated documentations. Know your states Lemon Law too.

[astaikos10]

Only one solution: take the SA and tech for a drive and show them how it happens and then have them drive and tell them what to do. You can't just leave the car and hope that they get the jist of what is going on. Get them to document it and keep taking it back for repeated documentations. Know your states Lemon Law too.

Only problem with this is that the problem is not constant, nor triggered by any known driving behavior, so chances are if any of us were to take a tech for a drive, the problem may not show itself. In my car I can go 50-60 miles easy without a problem.

[babadudu]

it happened twice tonight,

I have 2.0T quattro ADS,

It only happened(so far) when I am on D, after I swithced to S (sports mode, not M) it doesn't happen anymore. might just be luck, or it could be D...

tonight it happened on flat ground tho. it went up to about 5000rpm

[gnosis]

I took it to the dealership again this week, drove with the service manager for 15 minutes, repeating stop and go, but I couldn't reproduce it. Son of a bitch! This car is too smart to do that. It knew the manager was riding with me. I'll try rolling the dice again next month when it gets under my skin again.

[Blake P]

I have been able to get my car to do this on a couple of occasions and figured out how it happens (on mine, at least). I can reproduce it by driving along at city speeds (~35mph) where RPM's are increasing almost to the shift point between 2nd and 3rd, then lift my foot off the gas pedal a bit and the car cruises along at high RPM's, but not quite enough to kick into 3rd gear. If you accelerate smoothly into 3rd there is no issue, but if you lift off the gas when the transmission was expecting a higher shift point, it holds 2nd gear. See if this describes what might be happening in your case, but it's all I can figure out from my own experience.

[rickdenv]

Sorry for the late update on this. I took my car to the dealer a couple of weeks ago. I even printed out this thread and gave it to the service manager. Expectedly, they were unable to reproduce the problem. I had anticipated this but told the service manager I wanted to at least get the issue documented. So for the past two weeks I have not had the problem except for one time. For me it always occurs after I've stopped and am acclerating away from a stop sign or traffic signal, usually very casually. I'm not sure if it has to do with the throttle modulation as Blake is describing but it is very possible. Next time it happens I'll see if I can see a similarity. In any event I'm planning to just drive the car and try not worry about it unless it gets worse. Perhaps Audi will come up with a solution if it is affecting enough vehicles, but it sounds like it is not that widespread. At least I'm under warranty for quite some time and I've documented it.

[A4before24]

I searched and didn't find anyone else with this problem. It's been doing this since the car was new. Happens every 20 miles or so, which is every friggin day. If I accelerate from a stop at about, say, 50-60% full throttle so that RPM goes to 3k-4k before going to 2nd, it'll take about TEN seconds before it goes to 3rd. It just stays on 2nd gear WAAAAAY too long, as if I were flooring it and it's waiting to hit near the redline before it'll go to 3rd. If I decelerate, doesn't matter, it still stays in 2nd for an extra 5 seconds or so before shifting to 3rd.

I brought it into the dealership today for this issue and they found no faults or codes, but they did say that there a recent ECM update and they did that... but it didn't help. I still have this problem. I really don't want to have to deal with this for another 3 years (lease). THIS SUCKS!!!

i had the same problem happen prolly twice when the car was newer. when i would rev it hard from start it would stall for 2-3 seconds at 5k i think in 3rd or 4th gear and if i released the gas it would take a few seconds b4 the rpm went back down with a shift up (auto tranny). but after the first 2,000 km or so it stopped doing that and now i can floor it with no problems.

also, my dealer told me that the engines are electronically programmed now so that you dont have to worry about reving your engine hard below 2,000 km? he said the engines now are designed to be worked in arleady, is this true?

[gnosis]

I have been able to get my car to do this on a couple of occasions and figured out how it happens (on mine, at least). I can reproduce it by driving along at city speeds (~35mph) where RPM's are increasing almost to the shift point between 2nd and 3rd, then lift my foot off the gas pedal a bit and the car cruises along at high RPM's, but not quite enough to kick into 3rd gear. If you accelerate smoothly into 3rd there is no issue, but if you lift off the gas when the transmission was expecting a higher shift point, it holds 2nd gear. See if this describes what might be happening in your case, but it's all I can figure out from my own experience.

I don't get the problem when I try the method you've described. I only get the problem when accelerating casually from a stop, as RICKDENV said two posts above me.

[Cabal_san]

This just happened to me yesterday out of the blue. Took me a sec to to realize that no upshift into 3rd @ 4000+ rpms. I thought, well that was weird. Hasn't happened since.

I have no recollection of what, if anything, I did to facilitate the tranny getting stuck in 2nd longer then usual driving in boring old "D".

Anything new on this front?

[MiracleWhips]

Never saw this thread, but this has happened to me a number of times now exactly how everyone else has described it....In D, cruising along, slight downhill slope, stays in 2nd gear damn near till redline etc....only 2,200 miles on the car.

At first I would let it do its thing when it acted up. Then the last couple times I would throw her in Tip and upshift that way cause it is a terrible noise.

I figured it was some wierd software glich with the TIP and that my GIAC reflash would fix the problem.

But it hasn't......It usually happens at the same stop light, so i know the workaround now, but still pretty lame when it happens without warning.

[akaisuzu]

I can actually reproduce this on demand... with a left/right turn.

[JSitthi]

I have this issue as well, but rarely. Happens whenever I accelerate to 25mph from a stop.

[EuroB6]

i have it too. I F'n pissed, because I also have an issue when I turn the wheel in the parking lot, the steering wheel vibrates like a mother. Of course Audi can't fix it. I'll be happy to get rid of this POS. Already got rid of my S4 and went with a MB, service is 100x better. Audi's service sucks these days, so I am going to the competitors now a days.

[hender]

yep i noticed it too! i'll make an appointment once I get more information from you guys :D

[hender]

i have it too. I F'n pissed, because I also have an issue when I turn the wheel in the parking lot, the steering wheel vibrates like a mother. Of course Audi can't fix it. I'll be happy to get rid of this POS. Already got rid of my S4 and went with a MB, service is 100x better. Audi's service sucks these days, so I am going to the competitors now a days.

My dad was looking at one of those. he's got an SLK AMG and on his experience, I would certainly disagree with the service being 100x better, but i guess that varies from region to region? he just attributes it to german arrogance...wait, where does audi call home again?

are the interior parts of the 63AMG any better than the c250/300? that was one thing he didn't like about them, seemed rather cheap for such a car.

[joung300]

I have the steering wheel vibration at low speed (parking lot), steering wheel vibration at 60-70mph, transmission knocks into first from 2nd gear when coming to a stop, and sometimes it bangs into 2nd gear from 3rd gear when decelerating.

my friend got his 09 g37s 4dr just about the same time as I got my car and he claims no issues. asldkfjalsdjflasdkjflasdkjf

I love this car too...

[hender]

I have the steering wheel vibration at low speed (parking lot), steering wheel vibration at 60-70mph, transmission knocks into first from 2nd gear when coming to a stop, and sometimes it bangs into 2nd gear from 3rd gear when decelerating.

my friend got his 09 g37s 4dr just about the same time as I got my car and he claims no issues. asldkfjalsdjflasdkjflasdkjf

I love this car too...

wasn't it determined that the steering arms will most likely fix this issue?

[Cabal_san]

This threads about 2nd gear locking, not shimmy!

[paulpassat]

Same thing is happening to me. I can't reproduce it though. Service did not find anything wrong with it.

[joung300]

wasn't it determined that the steering arms will most likely fix this issue?

yeah but the dealer wants to try replacing the tires first....

in other words they are reluctant to do the necessary work to actually fix the problem and want to put a bandaid on it instead.

[hender]

yeah but the dealer wants to try replacing the tires first....

in other words they are reluctant to do the necessary work to actually fix the problem and want to put a bandaid on it instead.

loll.
let them replace the tires, and before you leave, tell them to go with you on a test drive. if it still does it, leave the keys and demand a loaner car, with gas, because they're simply wasting your time at this point.

plus grab some audi swag while you're at it.

[joung300]

sounds like a good plan. It'll save me the drive back to the dealership to get control arms installed.

[B8Phil]

i've got this also, but I couldn't pinpoin the problem nor describe it very well, and didn't see others have the same problem. Now i know.

it usually happen when i am on a slight downward slope (doens't happen on a steep slope nor uphill)

I know this is an old thread, but just came across it doing a search. You hit the nail on the head. I can reproduce this everytime in my neighborhood. I believe this is actually by design. It will not upshift when on a slight decline. On a steeper decline, you will usually be in 3rd gear or higher and braking, so you wouldn't notice the phenomena. You wouldn't want to car to upshift when going downhill unless you're flooring it or already at cruising speed.

[dracolnyte]

yeah it happen to me once and i noticed it was because i was on a steep decline, as if it was trying to engine brake to slow down and modulate the descent? doesnt the car have like an accelerometer? maybe that was malfunctioning

[laakness]

I have this happen to me once and a while when driving quickly around a corner from a stoplight. Car is in normal drive mode, I punch it around a corner from a stop and it is like it forgets it has a 3rd gear.

[Dubfound]

loll.
let them replace the tires, and before you leave, tell them to go with you on a test drive. if it still does it, leave the keys and demand a loaner car, with gas, because they're simply wasting your time at this point.

plus grab some audi swag while you're at it.

I also have this control arm issue and my dealer was like "RFB your tires." So we did and no fix but the tires RFB fine. Than the dealer to told me I need "Audi approved tires" WTF!

I also have the trans issue with the odd shift.

Huh

[premiere84]

I had the same problem with holding 2nd, but I took it to Audi and they did a software update for the transmission which apparently fixed that bug.

[chaduvalA4]

Never saw this thread, but this has happened to me a number of times now exactly how everyone else has described it....In D, cruising along, slight downhill slope, stays in 2nd gear damn near till redline etc....only 2,200 miles on the car.

At first I would let it do its thing when it acted up. Then the last couple times I would throw her in Tip and upshift that way cause it is a terrible noise.

I figured it was some wierd software glich with the TIP and that my GIAC reflash would fix the problem.

But it hasn't......It usually happens at the same stop light, so i know the workaround now, but still pretty lame when it happens without warning.

My car has been doing this probably once a week the past few months. It happens at the same exact stop light every time. Because of this, I didn't really pay too much attention to it. The transmission seemed to be ok once I put it in Tip and manually upshifted it as well. Figured it was some software issue and after finding this thread, I'm going to bring it into the dealership. See if they check for a software update. Keep you posted once I get her back with results...

[Lambda13]

I too have this problem. It is weird, but I throw it in trip and manually shift to third as well.

I'll have to drop it by the dealership and get me a loaner.