S3 Stalls

[McFarland]

Has anyone had problems with your S3 stalling? I was backing out of a parking space last night. The S3 stalls and dies. Put back into Park, starts back up with a weird idle. Any ideas?

[coolwater]

Has anyone had problems with your S3 stalling? I was backing out of a parking space last night. The S3 stalls and dies. Put back into Park, starts back up with a weird idle. Any ideas?

Get your car scanned for any engine error codes. Did any of the lights come on in the dash?

-cW

[McFarland]

Get your car scanned for any engine error codes. Did any of the lights come on in the dash?

-cW

No lights came on. I had the dealer scan and they couldn't find anything. This is starting to happen a lot.

[phillyquattro]

No lights came on. I had the dealer scan and they couldn't find anything. This is starting to happen a lot.

What's a lot? When did it start and how often does it now occur? Any commonalities as to when the car stalls (for instance is it always when backing up)? How old is the car? If this is really starting to happen a lot I suggest you start raising hell at your dealer service center.

[McFarland]

I've started noticing a trend. It happens when I get gas, backing out of a parking space or pulling forward out of a space, when I dip below half a tank. It's a 2015, she's a year old this month. The dealer told me maybe water in the gas. I travel all over the metro DC, every station can't have bad gas. It happens about 3 times a week. I'm going to a different Audi dealer next time. I'm not pleased with my local one.

[HurrayFive]

I've started noticing a trend. It happens when I get gas, backing out of a parking space or pulling forward out of a space, when I dip below half a tank. It's a 2015, she's a year old this month. The dealer told me maybe water in the gas. I travel all over the metro DC, every station can't have bad gas. It happens about 3 times a week. I'm going to a different Audi dealer next time. I'm not pleased with my local one.

The trend you're noticing, especially after getting gas, sounds like that after a short stop (to get gas, or parking and running into a store) and then trying to restart the vehicle, the stall comes on. I had very similar problem in a previous 2.0T direct injected car (SS Cobalt) and to me it seemed like the car was vapor locking; I thought maybe an injector was leaking a tiny amount of fuel into the combustion chamber after shutoff, enough that over a short stop the fuel doesn't have enough time to evaporate, trying to start the car dumps more fuel into the cylinder, it vapor locks and the car stalls. Letting the car sit long enough for the excess fuel to evaporate out of the combustion chamber would let the car start.

It turned out to be the high pressure fuel pump that was doing the leaking, the injectors themselves were fine, but the HPFP was leaking a tiny amount of fuel after shutoff that was flooding each cylinder just enough to vapor lock the engine after short stops. Do you smell gas a bit stronger than usual after a fill-up or after any short stop? If so that may be what's going on, these engines utilize a similar HPFP design. Mention the gas smell and that it only happens specifically after short stops the next time you take it in (if it's happening), any decent tech should be able to identify this condition based on the smell alone. Good luck!

[McFarland]

Thanks. I appreciate your info. I'll do what you said.

[blk04ultraA4]

I have an A3 less than 100 miles on it and it's in the garage for a new fuel pump. Same symptoms as your S3.

[Blaine]

I have an A3 less than 100 miles on it and it's in the garage for a new fuel pump. Same symptoms as your S3.

^ This. But DC does have horribad gas. Always do your own research before taking your car to the dealer to give them a nudge in the right direction. Not all mechanics are superstars...

[Nightmare1708]

Sometimes it's the start/stop. It'll switch off but force you to put the car in Park and turn the key to switch it back on. This usually happens in parking situations.

[montess2001]

Thanks. I appreciate your info. I'll do what you said.

Any luck on this issue?
I recently began noticing a similar trend....Happened 2x in the last couple weeks. I'll go to start the car and all it does is crank several times. When it does fire up, it has a lumpy idle and will cut off. Eventually it starts up fine after several attempts.

[949]

I think there was an older thread about some of the cars having faulty fuel pumps. its covered under warranty.

[blk04ultraA4]

Update: Had a new fuel pump installed on the car and was still having issues. Problems got worse and almost got me into an accident as I was trying to merge on a busy highway. Engine fell flat on its face twice as soon as I got into boost. Car had only around 300 miles on it. I took it back to the dealer and demanded another car. I am now in an identical A3 and luckily have not had any issues so far...

[Anthony]

Yes, happened to me a few times as well. It's a known issue with the early build S3's, and apparently the A3's too.

I've had my fuel pump replaced and thought all was good, until the other day when it happened again. Downshifted up an incline and whoops, EPC light came on and engine cut power. Was in the fast lane and had to pull to the left side shoulder on a bridge. It was idling rough, turned off and back on then it was fine. Previously before the pump replacement I stalled in a tunnel! It just loves to happen at the worst of times.

The S3 is definitely the most fun to drive Audi I've owned so far, but also the least reliable.

[McFarland]

After going in circles with my local dealer, I'm now going to another one. I'm still having the same issue.

[m3brad]

Subscribed

[ModdedEuros]

we have had it happen a few times now on our S3. use to happen before and seems to have stopped. have little over 37k on the car. literally the first S3 here on the lots when they came out. wouldn't really call the S3 unreliable though. minor hiccup.

[markn1689]

have you tried scanning it for codes? if no MIL its doubtful anything will show up on the scan but worth a try

[redwing497]

I'm going to copy and paste my experience that I posted on another forum.....

Problem:

Ugh. Hey guys. So, my 2016 S3 did not have a good morning. Everything seemed fine until about 3/4 of the way into my commute when the EPC light came on. When I got off my exit for the parking garage, car had no power, was shaking, DSG wouldn't shift correctly or sometimes at all, and was on the verge of stalling. I made it to the garage and shut the car off. We'll see what happens when I get back to it.

Needless to say, I'm not too happy about this. My last 3 cars have been Hondas and I've never had any problems whatsoever. This time around, I wanted to treat myself and get something nicer. I love the car, don't get me wrong, but this is already leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

I've followed the break-in procedures as per the manual and have been really easy on the car. I'm hoping this is a minor issue and gets resolved quickly. More importantly, I'm hoping I can actually drive it to the dealership later today and not have to call Audi Roadside.

"Solution":

Well, the verdict is in, and turns out to be sorta my fault. It was bad gasoline. Normally, I fill up with either shell, sunoco, or BP(when I can find one). All good gas and never had a problem. This time, I put gas in at a Valero. They ran an analysis on the gas and found way too high levels of ethanol.

Basically, the gas was crap and "watered" down with too much ethanol. The tech said there was so much he could actually smell it. They added some additive and also had to clean out the injectors which were contaminated.

I was instructed to run this tank almost dry, fill it with good gas, and add one more bottle of the additive they gave me. Best of all, none of this was covered because it's not actually a manufacturer defect. So out of my pocket it came.

Car ran fine on the way home from the dealer, but obviously I wasn't pushing it. So, lesson learned. It is kind of annoying though. The service guy said you won't notice anything if this was a Honda or Chevy.

I've since been through that follow up tank of gas with the additive and one additional tank without the additive. Both fill-ups were Shell V-Power 93 octane. No issues at all since and power is back to what it was before this problem.

[Anthony]

I'm going to copy and paste my experience that I posted on another forum.....

Problem:

Ugh. Hey guys. So, my 2016 S3 did not have a good morning. Everything seemed fine until about 3/4 of the way into my commute when the EPC light came on. When I got off my exit for the parking garage, car had no power, was shaking, DSG wouldn't shift correctly or sometimes at all, and was on the verge of stalling. I made it to the garage and shut the car off. We'll see what happens when I get back to it.

Needless to say, I'm not too happy about this. My last 3 cars have been Hondas and I've never had any problems whatsoever. This time around, I wanted to treat myself and get something nicer. I love the car, don't get me wrong, but this is already leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

I've followed the break-in procedures as per the manual and have been really easy on the car. I'm hoping this is a minor issue and gets resolved quickly. More importantly, I'm hoping I can actually drive it to the dealership later today and not have to call Audi Roadside.

"Solution":

Well, the verdict is in, and turns out to be sorta my fault. It was bad gasoline. Normally, I fill up with either shell, sunoco, or BP(when I can find one). All good gas and never had a problem. This time, I put gas in at a Valero. They ran an analysis on the gas and found way too high levels of ethanol.

Basically, the gas was crap and "watered" down with too much ethanol. The tech said there was so much he could actually smell it. They added some additive and also had to clean out the injectors which were contaminated.

I was instructed to run this tank almost dry, fill it with good gas, and add one more bottle of the additive they gave me. Best of all, none of this was covered because it's not actually a manufacturer defect. So out of my pocket it came.

Car ran fine on the way home from the dealer, but obviously I wasn't pushing it. So, lesson learned. It is kind of annoying though. The service guy said you won't notice anything if this was a Honda or Chevy.

I've since been through that follow up tank of gas with the additive and one additional tank without the additive. Both fill-ups were Shell V-Power 93 octane. No issues at all since and power is back to what it was before this problem.

Another forum!?

But anyway, I'm calling BS on the dealer. It sounds like the exact same problem a lot of us have been having, and it's not due to bad gas.

[redwing497]

I'm sure that's entirely possible, but since putting in Shell V-Power every tank since then, the problem hasn't returned. If it happens again, I'm going to be pretty mad.

[onequick4door]

Unfortunately in Consumer reports besides audi moving up in the reliability ranks, the A3 is ranked the lowest in the brand.

[MPowerThis]

did anyone find a fix for this?

CC

[Rchilling]

Any one end up finding a solution? Been experiencing stalls on warm start ups.

LPFP already changed with no improvement.