2011 Audi S4: jerking or lurching

Filed Apr 9, 2021 · Transmission · 70,177 miles · MO

Car has developed a transmission problem in the mechatronic unit. Car gives a gearbox malfunction display in the car. Reverse will not working and the car will repeatedly go into neutral at any speed. Sometimes then it will jerk back into gear very violently.

Filed Mar 26, 2018 · 110,000 miles · IL · 1 injury

My car is having jerky shifting whenever the vehicle is driver, especially once the engine gets hot. I have had felt the car jerk forward a countless amount of times and have gotten whiplash a couple times where I've been in pain. Transmission on my audi s4 is giving the same issues as many others have encountered on audizine.com and audiworld.com, with the same symptoms. Audi needs to rectify this issue and do a recall on all b8/b8.5 s4 vehicles!

Filed Feb 8, 2018 · Transmission · 40,612 miles · CA

My 2011 s4 started getting the "transmission malfunction continue driving" light at about 40,612 miles. At the same time my vehicle would jerk when stopping and acceleration. When shifting down the gears make a clunking noise specially from 3rd and 2nd gear. I was able to use my extended warranty that I bought because audi didn't want to cover my vehicle. Audi service advisors recommend changing the mechatronic and circuit board but my warranty only authorized the circuit board. My vehicle still jerks when stopping as it downshifts and when I accelerate from a stop.

Filed Apr 10, 2017 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 10 miles · MA

Gearbox malfunction warning and the TPMS malfunction came on at same time. Continued to drive in limp mode for about 1 mile and the car shut completely off. Start the car back up and still showing warnings. Get it home and attempt to put into reverse and the car won't engage. I just happened to start the car again and all lights were gone. Car went into all gears, drove fine, and got it to the dealer. Two hours later I get in to go to the store and as soon as I shift into d, the TPMS and gearbox malfunction light flash up telling me I have no reverse and I'm still good to drive. So I decide to drive down the street and see what the issue is. As soon as the car went to shift from 1st to 2nd it skipped, revved in neutral for about 2 seconds then dropped hard into 3rd gear. The next morning I went to drive the car and drove around the neighborhood with no problem - no error message, no faulty shifting, no jerking or anything. So I decided to run to the store about 4 miles away and see how it help up. I made it to the store and halfway back before boom - it happened again. Car will start in 1st gear fine, went shifting into 2nd it slips into neutral for about 2-3sec then drops abruptly into 3rd, when you have enough speed it does the same thing trying to shift into 4th - skips and drops into 5th, same thing into 6th - slips out of 5th and drops hard into 7th. Slowing down was not a huge problem as long as you have plenty of room to take it easy. If you slowed to fast the gears wouldn't keep up and it would jerk very hard. This is a serious matter since it is a system factory failure with the dsg unit simple as that. Reason why I am contacting this agency as the car shut off on me while you were driving it in the middle of the highway and I could have been hit/killed the first time it happened.

Filed Dec 29, 2016 · Transmission · 71,000 miles · NC

Dec 5 2016, while pulling out of my driveway in route to a scheduled service appointment at audi of asheville, my 2011 audi s4 lurched and several warnings came up including "dsg failure, no reverse, TPMS warning", followed by "you may continue to drive". Within 5 miles and at a speed of approx 35 MPH the vehicle suffered a catastrophic loss of drive and came to a stop in a two lane road, the engine was still running, but no connection with the rest of the drive-train was evident. I believe the "mechatronics" control unit failed causing total loss of drive and uncontrolled, unsynced gear changes. I was approx 5 miles from being on an interstate with a 6% grade. Vehicle is one owner, ordered and serviced exclusively by audi, 70000 miles, not abused. Requires complete transmission replacement, with the noted exception of the transmission there was nothing mechanically wrong with the rest of the vehicle.

Filed Aug 22, 2016 · Transmission · 69,000 miles · CO

At about 49k miles the car would sometimes lurch backwards when in reverse or going from reverse to park. Took into mechanic. No diagnostic codes showed up. Around 60k miles the car overheated. Audi stated it needed a new thermostat which was around $1000. Drove the car across country from ca to co. Around 62k miles car went into limp mode and would not get out of 1st or 2nd gear. "gearbox malfunction" warning came on. Stated not to go into reverse. Drove home slowly. Next morning all warning lights were off. Took to mechanic. No problems could be found. May 2016 at 69k miles car went into limp mode again. Couldn't get rpms up. Reset codes using diagnostic tool. Drove from utah to co. Car went into limp mode probably 40 times on I-70. Car would lurch forward. Made it to dealer (prestige in lakewood, co). Mechatronics found to be faulty and car in need of entirely new transmission. Cost $12,000. Dealership 'paid' $8000. I paid $4000. This seems to be a common problem with this make/model/year.

Filed Sep 16, 2015 · Transmission · 65,000 miles · CA

Rough/clunking shifting in stop and go traffic. Car will lurch forward, or lack power when accelerating.

Filed Jan 7, 2015 · Engine, Transmission · 87,453 miles · GA

I was accelerating, after leaving a restaurant, into traffic. I received the "dsg malfunction light" and suddenly at about 20mph my lurched forward and failed to respond to the throttle and shut off in traffic. Car restarted after about 30 seconds but definitely not something that should go without notice. If I was on the interstate and throttle went out situation could have been much worse.