Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | |||||
| 0402 | 11/02/2005 | 0503 | 10018217 | Oil leaks from upper engine areas, diagnostic guidelines. *tt | 12/19/2005 |
| 0505 | 10/28/2005 | 10017783 | Coolant leakage around auxiliary coolant pump. coolant light may be illuminated. *tt | 11/30/2005 | |
| 0501 | 04/11/2005 | 10015100 | Fuel injectors unnecessary replacement. *eh | 05/19/2005 | |
| 0502 | 04/11/2005 | 10015097 | Cooling system performance low heater output. *eh | 05/19/2005 | |
| 0501 | 04/19/2005 | 10015101 | Secondary air injection (air) pump motor -v101- is noisy. *tt | 05/19/2005 | |
| 0502 | 04/11/2005 | 10015102 | Fuel injectors unnecessary replacement. *eh | 05/19/2005 | |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - COOLING SYSTEM | |||||
| 0501 | 02/02/2005 | 10019414 | After-run coolant pump -v51- may not operate when the ignition is shut off and the coolant temperature is above 112 degrees c. *tt | 03/14/2006 | |
| 190501 | 02/02/2005 | 10012765 | After-run coolant pump, activating (ib). to include 2005 s4 sedan, avant. *tt | 03/14/2005 | |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | |||||
| TSB-24-08-04 | 02/11/2008 | 10032776 | Audi: mil on (mass airflow sensor dtcs p0101, p0102, p0103, p0112, p0113 in ecm). engine has low performance without significant loss of power or stalling. models s4, s4 cabriolet, allroad, rs6, & r8. *pe | 05/21/2010 | |
| TSB-24-09-16 | 08/07/2009 | 10032291 | Audi: mil on (mass airflow sensor dtcs p0101, p0102, p0103, p0112, p0113 in ecm). engine has low performance without significant loss of power or stalling. dtcs related to the mass air flow sensor and fuel trim faults can be related to ( | 03/01/2010 | |
| 20036582 | 02/26/2007 | 10022142 | Loses power or will not move after stop. *kb | 07/06/2007 | |
| 0601 | 02/08/2006 | 10019458 | Control housing for camshaft adjuster, ensuring shim washer installation when repairing. *tt | 03/15/2006 | |
| 0402 | 08/31/2004 | 10009879 | Valve cover, diagnosing oil leakage from gaskets. *tt | 11/01/2004 | |
| 0402 | 07/21/2005 | 0504 | 10008949 | Engine, intake manifold mounting bolt torque. audi s4,s4 cabriolet, allroad, a6, a8l model year 2004. *mj update. *tt | 09/01/2004 |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE | |||||
| SAC-28F2-REV | 08/01/2010 | 10036497 | Audi: gasoline engine vehicles; inspect, and if necessary, replace ignition coils. vehicles affected by this action may have ignition coils that could malfunction under certain conditions. added final mailing phase-8/10 vin information. | 03/23/2011 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | |||
| 11/18/2008 | 94000 | 1 | |
| Car engine was misfiring - was informed a faulty coil pack was causing the issue. one week later the misfires started again. two more coil packs were replaced. 2 weeks later another misfiring episode. car died at intersection so was towed in for inspection. camshaft adjuster/cam guides had failed. parts were replaced for 5k and then 2 weeks later cylinder 3 failed when valve and piston interacted - car died again on the highway. car engine is going to need total engine replacement. *tr | |||
| 03/13/2009 | 67641 | 1 | |
| I got in my car this past friday to leave for work and then my car starts rumbling and sounds like what can best be described as a muscle car. i only live a mile from my office so i drive my car in. while driving it seems like the car has lost low end power and is still idling with a rumble. when i get to work i pop the hood and notice the entire motor shifting back and forth and my buddy sees my exhaust is moving up and down. so i decide to get it to the local garage that has worked on my car before. he is only about 2 blocks down from my office. when i pull out from my parking lot the car throws a cel and about 500 ft from the garage it starts flashing. so i coast the car into the garage and get the codes read. they're coming up as cyl. 4, 5, 6, and 7 misfires and p0021 cam timing adjust bank 2 not reached. so the mechanic clears the codes and takes the car around the block and once again the cel comes on and this time it says cyl. 1,3,7, and 8 misfiring and the p0021 code for the cam timing and also a new code p1317 bank 2 cam/crank angle sensor wrong combo of ecu's....to make a long story short the car was towed over 100 miles away to the nearest audi dealer and was diagnosed as having a faulty cam tensioner. the whole motor needs to be removed and tore apart and the tensioner replaced. the bill is $6286.18. my car is a 2004 audi s4 with only 67,000 miles on it and i just purchased it about 5 months ago. it is not under warranty. *tr | |||
| 02/22/2008 | 31992 | 1 | |
| 2004 audi s4, build date 09/03 : 1. 24 aug 06- 16,500 miles- a/c stopped working- replaced entire a/c system (compressor, hoses, pipes, drier, restrictor) under warranty. 2. 10 apr 07- 23,253 miles- car won?t start- starter replaced under warranty. pealing shift knob (chrome surround was pealing and the edges were like a razor blade), replaced under warranty. center console latch broken- replaced under warranty. 3. 22 feb 08- 31,992 miles- engine replaced due to faulty valve seat. seat broke allowing valve to be sucked into cylinder and then punched out the side of the block. engine replaced under warranty. 4. 10 sep 08- 37,448 miles- a/c stopped working. high pressure switch replaced under warranty. *tr | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - COOLING SYSTEM - FAN | |||
| 11/07/2004 | 5000 | 15 | |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2004 audi s4. when the weather was cold and the contact took his foot off of the accelerator, the vehicle would not slow down. the dealer could not duplicate the problem. the current mileage was about 75,000 miles and the failure mileage was less than 5,000 miles. updated 01/24/08. *lj the brake lights would come on and go off. the rear view mirror fell off. the cooling fan would stay on at all times. the dealer replaced a faulty fan module. updated | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | |||
| 11/25/2009 | 103000 | 1 | |
| Engine failure going 45mph due to broken valve spring. faulty part documented in 5/2005 usa today but audi will not repair. *tr | |||
| 11/29/2009 | 70000 | 2 | |
| See the nhtsa odi complaints: 10267048, 10263937, 10262201, 10261864, 10261281, and 10294798. my second experience with the catastrophic engine failure of the cam chain tensioner components was in nov of 2009 on the bank 1 cam. fault code set point not reached (over-retarded). with misfires to all cylinders on bank 1 - less than one year from the same failure on bank 2 (see nhtsa odi complaint #10294798). there was approximately 70,000 miles on the odometer. as i mentioned before, although the s4 is a low volume car the 4.2l engine is used in many of their products; and if this complaint venue any indication the engine appears to suffer a high percentage of expensive and dangerous failures. the cost to drop the engine and transmission in order to make the repair was another ~$4,500. *tr | |||
| 12/15/2008 | 54000 | 1 | |
| See the nhtsa odi complaints: 10267048, 10263937, 10262201, 10261864, and 10261281 my first experience with the catastrophic engine failure of the cam chain tensioner components was in dec of 2008 on the bank 2 cam. fault code set point not reached (over-retarded). with misfires to all cylinders on bank 2 - all but rendering the vehicle unable to drive. there was approximately 54,000 miles on the odometer. though out of warranty i contacted audi to no avail. i am sorely disappointed in audi for engineering such shoddy design, and not standing by their product. in fact criswell audi charged $300 for an ecu update that did nothing. although the s4 is a low volume car the 4.2l engine is used in many of their products; and if this complaint venue any indication it appears to suffer a high percentage of expensive and dangerous failures. the cost to drop the engine and transmission in order to make the repair was ~$4,500. *tr | |||
| 04/22/2009 | 44000 | 1 | |
| At 44,000 miles my car has catastrophic failure due to defective parts. it is a safety issue as i stated above because many people experience the engine revving up. the transmission can also be a safety issue because it typically happens under hard braking which all of you know if you are in gear you slow down better if all of a sudden you pop out of gear you car does not have as much holding you back. *tr | |||
| 11/14/2007 | 34000 | 1 | |
| Catastrophic engine failure and seize at 70mph. previous the failure, audi replaced bent valves due to timing chain tensioner failure. less than 300 miles from new heads being installed, the engine failed completely. *tr | |||
| 07/11/2008 | 66000 | 1 | |
| I drive a 2004 audi s4. my car suffered a major failure. the motor failed due to a design by audi and that is unacceptable. the car failed due to these plastic guides that audi uses as timing chain guides. the guides are never supposed to be serviced although when they fail you have to pay at least 4 thousand dollars to get them replaced because the motor needs to be pulled to replace them. they are on the back of the motor so there is no way to know when it is going to happen. when the timing chain tensioner or the guides fail it can and will result in a major motor failure. if the motor needs to be rebuilt it will cost at least $10,000. luckily i had an extended warranty and it was covered, but i would still like to note that this is unacceptable and audi should be doing something because this is not a failure that one would expect on a 4 year old car. *tr | |||
| 02/12/2009 | 41000 | 1 | |
| I have a 2004 audi s4 that had catastrophic failure at only 40,000 miles due to defective parts. the car has a problem where a tensioner i am told allows the motor to rev up even when your foot is not on the gas pedal and it causes damage to the motor. this has happened to many owners, most were under warranty because this part fails at such a low mileage, in some cases under 100 miles. not only does this cause un safe situations for the driver as the engine can have this rev up happen multiple times before the engine fails, it also causes repairs that are very very costly and not worth while. when i took my car to the dealership they also discovered that my transmission is needing to be completely replaced. this is also due to defective metals used in the syncros is what i am told. audi has no desire to correct the problem even though they have admitted none of the problems are due to abuse but rather weak parts. even though i am out of warranty that should not make a difference when they have had so many of the same exact cases repaired to date. my kbb value is 23,500 and the repair cost would be around $17,500. *tr | |||