Vehicle suffered sudden and total loss of power steering. Had just driven the car 5-10 minutes prior, came out to leave and had a message stating do not drive vehicle, steering defective. At that point the steering wheel felt locked in place and the vehicle was effectively a brick. This issue just happened yesterday and has not been to the dealership yet for diagnosis but I am a former automotive service manager (German specialist) and have connected my car to the VCDS system in order to retrieve the system failure codes. Error code was for the power assist motor. I then did some quick research online and saw dozens of other complaints from owners with the same issue. Thankfully most fail upon start up but I did come across one or two that reported having the issue after turning a corner and suddenly losing all power assist. This is a known issue for Audi and they sent letters to owners around June of 2021 stating that the issue was being covered under a 10 year or 120k mile warranty. That's nice if your vehicle happens to fail while under warranty but now that the time period is it, the burden of repairing this potentially dangerous system defect is on the owner and costs in excess of $4,000 at the dealer. Audi also requires the new unit to be coded to the vehicle via their ODIS system which means owners don't have the option of going to many other sources for a repair. Few shops can afford the monthly fees Audi charges for the ODIS equipment.
2012 Audi A6: sudden loss of power
6 of the 60 complaints about the 2012 Audi A6 describe sudden loss of power.
- owner complaints
- 6
- of this car's complaints
- 10%
- typical mileage
- 75,410
- recalls
- 2
Sudden loss of power by model year
- 20231
- 20213
- 201910
- 20174
- 20163
- 20151
- 20143
- 20126
- 20081
- 20061
- 20042
- 20022
- 20011
- 20002
- 19991
- 19961
- 19951
What owners say
While driving on highway steering system faulted, causing loss of power steering. Rack completely failed. Very very difficult to turn steering wheel. Car only has 124k miles.
Ran obd reader myself and at mechanic and found the following; p0456 evap emission control system (very small leak) | leak detected and p190f00 coolant pump for charge pressure cooler | electrical malfunction in load circuit. Mechanic informed that the vehicle needs a software update regarding the p0456 code as no leak was found. Also that only audi performs this update. Regarding the p190f00 code informed me that there are several recalls regarding this issue as it has been causing some severe symptoms such as engine shaking, loss of power, squealing, whining noise near or at timing belt area at start up, delayed reaction at acceleration ( takes a while to reach desired speeds), temp gauge lowering despite warm up, warming of vehicle taking longer, unable to drive over 30-40mph and RPM won't go above 2000-2500 rpms. Acceleration is not as responsive as it should be.
My mil ( malfunction indicator lamp ) came on, in my audi a6 2012 on 1/21/18. I made an appointment with my audi dealership on 1/31/18. I was informed that my trans coolant valve was leaking into a wiring harness. They replaced my n509 valve and wiring connector. I found a technical service bulletin regarding this problem in my car as well as other audi models. There was a recall for this in audi a8 2010-2013. ( I have included these in the files that I have uploaded.) the affected a8 vehicles have a coolant valve leak allowing coolant to enter the engine control module causing a loss of power or the engine to stall. A vehicle stall increases the risk of a crash. I had my car repaired as my wife drives this car and I certainly did not want the car to stall and possibly have a crash. It seems to me that the audi a6 2012 should also be included in this recall. If any additional information is needed, please contact me.
Collant valve leaked through wiring harness, allowing coolant to enter the engine control module. This LED to a shorting of the module and caused a loss of all power and mobility. This event occurred while the car was in motion on a city street.
While driving on a sunday, the car reported transmission issues but it stated we could continue driving. The following day, there were multiple systems failure warnings. This occurred at 54,000 miles and 49 months since purchase. The car began to lose power but was driven back to the dealership. After a lengthy period of time, the service manager reported that "coolant leak in valve n82, coolant migrated into harness and contaminated transmission control unit, causing no comm in pwrtrain can; tsb2033806/7." this repair required replacement of major components and extensive labor costs. The total cost was $9606 and the dealer/audi voluntarily paid $5391 of the costs
Service bulletins that may apply
- This bulletin provides information when the engine is not runing smoothly; all gas engines.
- This special notice is to inform dealers to return the parts listed if it meets the criteria provided.
- This bulletin provides informaiton when the engine is not running smoothly, misfiring.
- This bulletin provides information on VIN Plates, Safety Certification labels, and the ordering procedures.
- This bulletin provides information regarding UV leak additive for finding oil leaks.
- This bulletin provides informatin when the engine does not run smoothly at idling speeds.
- This bulletin provides information when the MIL is on; DTCs for misfire, air/fuel ratio imbalance, or lean...
- This bulletin provides information when ther is an Engine: start/stop system fault shown and start/stop...
Related recalls
Engine and engine cooling: cooling system
- What is wrong
- Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2013-2017 Audi A5 Cabriolet, A5 Sedan and Audi Q5 vehicles, 2012-2015 Audi A6 vehicles and 2013-2016 Audi A4 Sedan and A4 allroad vehicles. These vehicles, equipped with 2.0l Turbo FSI engines, have an electric coolant pump that can either become blocked with debris from the cooling system causing it to overheat or can short-circuit from moisture within the pump.
- Risk
- A blocked pump or a short-circuited pump can increase the risk of a fire.
- Remedy
- Audi will notify owners, and dealers will replace the pumps, free of charge. The recall began September 14, 2018. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1‑800‑253‑2834. Audi's number's for this recall is 19N3/19N4. Note: This recall is in additional to the coolant pump software update applied as a remedy under recall 17V002.
Recall number 18V229000 · Recall details
Engine and engine cooling: cooling system
- What is wrong
- Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2013-2017 Audi A5, A5 Cabriolet and Q5 vehicles, 2013-2016 Audi Allroad and Audi A4 vehicles and 2012-2015 Audi A6 vehicles. These vehicles, equipped with 2.0l Turbo FSI engines, have an electric coolant pump that can be blocked with debris from the cooling system, resulting in the pump overheating.
- Risk
- If the coolant pump overheats, it can increase the risk of a fire.
- Remedy
- Audi will notify owners, and dealers will update the software so that the power supply to the coolant pump is deactivated if the pump becomes blocked with debris, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin February 20, 2017. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1‑800‑253‑2834. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 19M1.
Recall number 17V002000 · Recall details
Questions about the 2012 Audi A6 loss of power
Is sudden loss of power a common problem on the 2012 Audi A6?
6 of 60 owner complaints about the 2012 Audi A6 (10%) mention sudden loss of power. The model year with the most reports is 2019.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2012 Audi A6?
There are 2 recalls and 267 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 2012 Audi A6
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