RoadVitals

2012 Audi A6 Powertrain (other) Problems

Owner-reported complaints naming the powertrain system, filed with NHTSA

Data refreshed

Powertrain (other) reportsComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
8
Latest May 27, 2022
Share of all reportsThis category as a share of every owner report on file for this model year. One report can name more than one component, so the categories overlap.
14%
of 59 total
Crash or fire reportedReports in this category whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. The reporter's own answer on the NHTSA form, not a verified finding.
0
Injuries or deaths reportedTotals the submitters entered on their own reports in this category. Not verified by NHTSA and not a casualty statistic.
0

What this page shows

Powertrain reports that are not specifically the engine or transmission — driveshafts, axles, transfer cases and differentials. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2012 Audi A6 submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 8 reports on file name it.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Owner reports naming powertrain

Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed

ElectricalPowertrain (other)
Filed May 27, 2022

This needs to be heavily looked into. I see countless reports online and on NHTSA about "coolant" leaking onto components/wiring. Whatever it is, is definitely frying the electrical system. My info screen will state: "Transmission Malfunction: You can continue driving" and it'll go away a minute later, them beep again with the same message- then beep again- then go away- then come back again. etc etc etc. I recently a year or so ago got some coolant leak that was dripping on transmission wires below. I've seen this complaint too many times. Audi needs to investigate this issue and if this is a countless issue we need to be issued a proper TSB / recall. Here's some links to best help direct this issue: https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a6-c7-platform-discussion-194/obdii-code-p2753-anyone-2886141/page2/ https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a6-c7-platform-discussion-194/transmission-fluid-cooler-control-circuit-error-2886938/ https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a6-c7-platform-discussion-194/help-p2753-issue-2999672/ The codes I get occasionally are: TCU Code: 12448 and OBDII Code: P2753

NHTSA ID
11466406
Incident
May 19, 2021
Powertrain (other)
Filed Mar 23, 2020

SHIFTS ROUGH FROM START THROUGH FIRST SET OF GEARS. FROM A STANDSTILL, UNDER NORMAL TRAFFIC CONDITIONS, NO MATTER WHAT SETTING THE CAR IS IN, THE TRANSMISSION HUNTS FOR THE CORRECT GEAR AND ROUGHLY SHIFTS FROM 1-2 OR 2-3. THIS ISSUE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SETTLED BY THE CVT CLASS ACTION BUT AUDI IS REFUSING TO REPAIR/REPLACE. I HAVE COMPLAINED ABOUT THIS ISSUE SINCE 05-06/2014 AND FOR 9 TIMES SINCE UNTIL CPO WARRANTY AND EXTENDED WARRANTY LAPSED, NOW THEY FEEL THE PROBLEM WHEN BEFORE THEY COULD NOT AND DETERMINE THE TRANSMISSION NEEDS REPLACEMENT FOR $12,000.

NHTSA ID
11319084
Incident
May 6, 2014
Mileage
20,031 mi
Powertrain (other)
Filed Mar 5, 2020

COOLANT MIGRATION INTO THE WIRING HARNESS. THIS CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO SHUT DOWN ON THE INTERSTATE CREATING UNSAFE CONDITION. DEALER STATED THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE WITH A COOLANT VALVE FAILING. CREATES FIRE HAZARD BY ALLOWING COOLANT INTO THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM WHICH CAN THEN DESTROY THE ECU ON THE VEHICLE

NHTSA ID
11316250
Incident
Oct 7, 2019
Mileage
98,000 mi
Powertrain (other)
Filed Aug 17, 2019

I JUST HAD CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WHICH APERANTLY IS A BAD MECHATRONIC DEVICE. THANK GOD NOTHING BAD HAPPENED DURING DRIVING, HOWEVER WHEN I TALKED TO AUDI CORPORATE AND WAS TOLD IT WAS NOT ACOMMON PROBLEM AND THEY DONT WANT TO FIX IT. THE CAR IS 60K AND ALWAYS WAS TAKEN CARE IN DEALERSHIP SHOPS, ON TIME. USED ONLY 30 MILES A DAY AND ALWAYS KEPT INDORR BOTH AT MY WORK AND AT HOME. WHEN READING ONLINE ABOUT THIS PROBLEM I LEARNT THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM, AND AUDI APPARENTLY NOT TRYING TO COVER OR SOLVE IT. I AM ATTACHING DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM FROM A WEBSITE (HTTPS://WWW.ECUTESTING.COM/COMMON-FAULTS/AUDI/AUDI-S-TRONIC-0B5-GEARBOX-MECHATRONIC-PROBLEM/) "THIS S-TRONIC TRANSMISSION UNIT FITTED TO HIGH PERFORMANCE AUDI'S, WITH THE 0B5 DL501 DIRECT SHIFT GEARBOX (DSG), IS A VERY COMMON FAILING MECHATRONIC CONTROL UNIT. INTERNAL COMPONENT BREAKDOWN OF THE S-TRONIC MECHATRONIC CONTROL UNIT WILL CAUSE A MULTITUDE OF SYMPTOMS ON THE VEHICLE BEGINNING WITH THE ILLUMINATION OF THE EPC (ELECTRONIC POWER CONTROL) AND PRNDS WARNING LIGHTS. THE RUNNING SYMPTOMS THAT A FAULT WITHIN THIS MECHATRONIC...AS THE S-TRONIC/0B5 GEARBOX MECHATRONICS FAILURE ADVANCES, THESE SYMPTOMS PROGRESS FURTHER INTO CRITICAL TRANSMISSION FAILURE: STICKING IN GEAR, DEACTIVATION OF HALF OF THE GEARS, NO REVERSE OR GEARS ABOVE FIRST. TYPICALLY, WHEN DEALING WITH THESE AUDI S-TRONIC GEARBOX PROBLEMS, MAIN DEALERSHIPS AND SPECIALISTS WILL SEEK TO PURCHASE AN EXPENSIVE REPLACEMENT OR REPAIR KIT DIRECT FROM THE MANUFACTURER, WHICH WILL ALSO INCUR CODING FEES. THE GLARING PROBLEM WITH THIS METHOD IS THAT THE MANUFACTURER OF THIS MECHATRONIC CONTROL UNIT HAS NOT YET RESOLVED THE ROOT CAUSE OF FAILURE AT FACTORY LEVEL, MEANING THAT ALL REPLACEMENTS AND REPAIR KIT COMPONENTS STILL HAVE THE UNDERLYING DEFECTS THAT WILL CAUSE MALFUNCTION, USUALLY OUTSIDE THE SHORT ONE-YEAR MANUFACTURER WARRANTY."

NHTSA ID
11244691
Incident
Aug 1, 2019
Mileage
63,000 mi
ElectricalPowertrain (other)
Filed May 10, 2019

ON MY CAR, THERE IS AN INTERNAL TRANSMISSION COOLANT VALUE THAT IS PART OF THE COOLING SYSTEM AND OBVIOUSLY, THAT COMPONENT ALSO HELPS KEEP THE TRANSMISSION TEMPERATURE IN CHECK. THE ISSUE WITH THIS DEFECTIVE PART IS THE VALVE MALFUNCTIONS CAUSING COOLANT TO PENETRATE THE TRANSMISSION CONTROL MODULE AND FROM THERE INTO THE WIRING HARNESS. WHEN THIS HAPPENS, IT IS A CATASTROPHIC MALFUNCTION OF THOSE COMPONENTS AND A POTENTIAL FIRE HAZARD. WATER AND ELECTRICAL DO NOT MIX WELL. PICTURES ARE ATTACHED. THE ROOT OF MY ISSUE IS THAT THERE IS NO WAY TO DETECT THAT THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE AUTOMOBILE UNTIL THIS MAJOR MALFUNCTION HAPPENS. IF THAT WERE NOT THE CASE, THE CONSUMER COULD AT LEAST HAVE THE CHANCE TO HAVE THE CAR SERVICED PREVENTING THIS HUGE EXPENSE AND POTENTIAL FIRE HAZARD. I HAVE AN EMAIL FROM THE SERVICE MANAGER ADMITTING THIS IS THE CASE. IN MY CASE. THE CAR RAN FINE. THEN JUST WENT HAYWIRE. THE SERVICE MANAGER SAID COOLANT GOT INTO THE CONTROL MODULE AND 'FRIED' THE MODULE AND WIRE HARNESS. THE PICTURES THAT ARE ATTACHED ARE FROM THE SAME INSTANCE I FOUND ONLINE AND NOT PICTURES FROM MY CAR. THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS ISSUE WITH THIS CAR. AUDI HAS TURNED ME DOWN TWICE TO FIX THIS POTENTIALLY COMBUSTIBLE PROBLEM. VERY SCARY.

NHTSA ID
11206823
Incident
Apr 18, 2019
Mileage
80,000 mi
ElectricalEnginePowertrain (other)
Filed Dec 17, 2015

O-RING FAILURE IN 2012 A6 3.0 CAUSED THE TRANSMISSION TO INTERNALLY LEAK FLUID CAUSING THE ELECTONIC SYSTEM TO GO BAD. ALL OF THE FOLLOWING LIGHTS CAME ON WHEN ISSUE STARTED. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, GEARBOX, MIL TRAC CONTROL, MIL EPC, LIGHT AIRBAG MIL HI-SPEED COOLING FAN MIL TIRE PRESSURE WARNING LIGHT THE TRANSMISSION WOULD NOT SHIFT, MAJOR LACK OF POWER TO ENGINE. PARKING BRAKE WOULD ALSO ACTIVATE BY ITSELF. INSTRUMENT PANEL LIGHT UP LIKE A X-MAS, WHEN I PULLED OVER THE CAR SHUT OFF AND WOULD NOT TURN BACK ON.

NHTSA ID
10810939
Incident
Jul 13, 2015
Mileage
58,000 mi
Driver assistanceElectricalPowertrain (other)
Filed May 24, 2015

O-RING FAILURE IN 2012 A6 3.0 CAUSED THE TRANSMISSION TO INTERNALLY LEAK FLUID CAUSING THE ELECTONIC SYSTEM TO GO BAD. ALL OF THE FOLLOWING LIGHTS CAME ON WHEN ISSUE STARTED. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT GEARBOX MIL TRAC CONTROL MIL EPC LIGHT AIRBAG MIL HI-SPEED COOLING FAN MIL TIRE PRESSURE WARNING LIGHT THE TRANSMISSION WOULD NOT SHIFT, MAJOR LACK OF POWER TO ENGINE. PARKING BRAKE WOULD ALSO ACTIVATE BY ITSELF.

NHTSA ID
10721255
Incident
May 20, 2015
Mileage
62,000 mi
EnginePowertrain (other)
Filed Jul 23, 2012

THE VEHICLE IS HAVING UNINTENDED EPISODES OF ACCELERATION. THEY OCCUR WHILE STOPPED OR AT REDUCED SPEEDS SUCH AS PULLING TO A STOP OR PARKING.

NHTSA ID
10467486
Incident
Dec 1, 2011
Mileage
5,000 mi

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.

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Elsewhere on this vehicle

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .