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Engine & cooling

Audi A8 Engine problems by year

91 complaints filed with NHTSA about the Audi A8's engine & cooling. Stalling, loss of power, oil consumption, overheating, head gaskets, timing chains and engine failure.

Engine complaints by model year

YearEngine complaintsCrashesInjuriesRecalls
20210001
20200001
20190001
20170001
20160001
201518001
201412001
201337002
20124001
201110001
20100001
20091000
20081000
20051000
20031000
20021000
20012000
19992000
19981000

Engine recalls

Latest A8 engine complaints

2015 Audi A8Transmission & drivetrainEngine & coolingFuel system

Had car towed to dealer for recall was there 4 months was told they didn't want to work on in now they have had it towed off there lot with out telling me

Filed Incident Power train · Engine · Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 11774336
2013 Audi A8Engine & cooling

Engine totaled because of oil starvation I'm guessing or maybe an oil pump failure oil starvation caused Pistons to rub inside of head cost of engine and work is more than the vehicles cost so that means car is totaled

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11732258
2013 Audi A8Engine & cooling

The pcv oil separator has failed and is making a whistling sound. From researching this issue it is widely known and an investigation shows it is caused in relation to a recall for the oil strainer that was done on this vehicle. I called audi dealership and they said this is not an open recall, however it seems this is exactly what caused it.

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11692779
2011 Audi A8Engine & cooling

The coolant is leaking out and onto engine. My safety was at Risk due to the car overheating and smoking. This is a on going problem that many AUDI's had a recall for except mines. Yes the vehicle was inspected and the warning that came up was "coolant level low turn off engine"

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11688719
2014 Audi A8Engine & coolingFuel system

Car went dead on the hwy without any warning. Dealer has the vehicle for a month now and says there is metal shavings in fuel and need more than 15000/- in repairs to replace fuel pump, 6 fuel injectors fuel line and fuel rail. Metal shavings come from fuel pump Failure there should be micro filters in line to stop them from entering the fuel line and injector with sudden death.

Filed Incident Engine · Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 11676666
2013 Audi A8Engine & cooling

Driving up an inclined road at night. Car engine started to sputter and jerk and lost power. Was able to get to the side of the road out of traffic at the top of the hill? I was able to coast down the hill to a gas station. Carl would not drive without Jerking or accelerate, add check engine, light on and flashing. With the smell of burning from the engine, compartment waited two hours for a tow truck towed it home, the following day, I had to take off of work. I checked all the spark plugs to find multiple spark...

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plugs completely soaked in oil, took an Uber to parts store to buy new spark plugs. At this point I had found out about the recall for the same problem. On the same engine. In all of audi's cars, except for the A8 line was excluded, do not know the reason why it's the same engine in multiple vehicles that were listed in the recall for the piston rings. My other Audi a 6 has over 200000 miles and does not have this issue. Get these low tension piston ring failures that have been recalled. On the issue with all of audi's in this year

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11667840
2015 Audi A8Engine & cooling

Yet another beautiful Audi 3.0tfsi with the rocker arm failure ... how is there not a class action lawsuit already ? I have a knock in my valve train and I just bought this car two days ago .... Audi should be liable to fix this because I didn't know nothing about this and with a quick search it's alike a epidemic of the same problem..

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11634247
2013 Audi A8Engine & cooling

The contact owns a 2013 Audi A8. The contact stated that while her son was driving at highway speeds, the warning lights on the instrument panel flashed as the vehicle shut off. The contact's son managed to pull over despite the failure. The vehicle was initially towed to one dealer; however, the dealer failed to service the vehicle promptly. The vehicle was then towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed with a defective ECM(Electronic Control Module) that needed to be replaced. The vehicle remained in the dealer's...

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possession for a month before the vehicle was repaired. Despite the repair, the contact was notified that the failure persisted and was then informed that a defective engine cylinder now needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The vehicle remained in the dealer's possession and had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000.

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11625496
2014 Audi A8Engine & cooling

I was driving along on the highway, at normal speeds. When my engine started surging, causing me to speed up and slow down rapidly. Putting the safety of others behind and in front of me in danger. No check engine or any light of that nature turned on. then after another mile or so my engine sputtered then just died. I had to pull to the left side of the road since there way a semi truck to my right and it was rush hour here on [[redacted]] in Denver, CO. I don't know what the issue was but I was worried if the...

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people behind me could easily get out from behind me as I almost caused a rear end collision. I'm taking my A8 into the mechanic this coming Monday to find out exactly what was wrong. But engines shouldn't just die out on you on the highway. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11618250
2013 Audi A8SteeringEngine & coolingFuel system

Audi, A8L 2013, also has the stuck piston. Rings end oil blow by like the other Volkswagen, defected engines of the same year yesterday while driving my car ended up stalling on a road with traffic behind me going up a hill because too much oil I'd burnt in the cylinders, causing the spark plugs to become completely coated in oil and the cars. Electronic system registered multiple misfires, multiple cylinders. Are misfired and multiple other safety epc codes, causing the vehicle to not be able to drive more than 5...

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miles an hour, stuttering. Which also caused the engine to almost stall, losing power steering. If this was on the highway this could have been exceptionally bad. I request the Audi AH. L and 8 series to be added to the current recall. For the A6Q5A4 A seven with the exact same problem

Filed Incident Steering · Engine · Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 11610338
2013 Audi A8Engine & cooling

Unknown at this moment service vist is next week. The problem is a know piston ring issues on other years of same engine with massive oil consumption 1 qt a week with minimal driving less then 100 miles. Spent 3k on pvc and coolant pump that are a known issue of totaling engine but burning oil non stop and risk or seized engine if on highway

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11589083
2013 Audi A8Electrical systemBrakesEngine & cooling

Me and my son were traveling on a business road trip from my home in Lincoln, CA to do business at several companies and end up at a customer located in Anaheim, CA. We started on [[redacted]] in Roseville, CA highway Interstate [[redacted]] traveling towards Anaheim with stops along the way. We were coming down [[redacted]] on the southside of the grapevine at the speed limit of 70 MPH, when the engine began to stall, and the steering also began to lock up. We began losing control of the vehicle and engine...

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power was failing and stalling. In addition, the stall was impacting the car battery. We had difficulty steering the car and controlling the direction of the car and getting the car to the side of the road. Once we were at the side of the road, we looked up the closest Audi dealership, fortunately we were 3.9 miles away from Audi Dealership in Van Nuys, CA. Once on the side of the road the vehicle initially would not restart the engine stalling had drained the battery. We waited on the side of the road for approx.. 40 minutes and were able to restart the car and drive with much difficulty to the Keys Audi Van Nuys dealership. We were able to barely get into the dealership parking lot when the car completely stalled, we went in and met with the service manager. We explained what had happened, and with the service teams help we pushed the vehicle into a bay to get reviewed. I have purchased eight (8) Audi's over the past years for me and my wife. The service manager promised to review the problem. Typically, Audi service will give you a vehicle to drive but the had no vehicles available, so they told us they would take us to a rental car company and cover the cost of the vehicle except for the insurance on rental car, which we had to pickup at a rate of $ 35.00 per day. As we were on a work trip we had to hustle to our customers as we had a meeting scheduled for 2:30 PM at Manna Beverage in Anaheim, CA. We went to our meeting and then returned to the Audi Dealership in Van Nuys. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Incident Electrical system · Service brakes · EngineNHTSA 11573971
2013 Audi A8SteeringTransmission & drivetrainEngine & cooling

Me and my son were traveling on a business road trip from my home in Lincoln, CA to do business at several companies and end up at a customer located in Anaheim, CA. We started on [[redacted]] traveling towards Anaheim with stops along the way. We were coming down highway [[redacted]] on the southside of the grapevine at the speed limit of 70 MPH, when the engine began to stall, and the steering also began to lock up. We began losing control of the vehicle and engine power was failing and stalling. In addition,...

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the stall was impacting the car battery. We had difficulty steering the car and controlling the direction of the car and getting the car to the side of the road. Once we were at the side of the road, we looked up the closest Audi dealership, fortunately we were 3.9 miles away from Audi Dealership in Van Nuys, CA. Once on the side of the road the vehicle initially would not restart the engine stalling had drained the battery. We waited on the side of the road for approx.. 40 minutes and were able to restart the car and drive with much difficulty to the Keys Audi Van Nuys dealership. We were able to barely get into the dealership parking lot when the car completely stalled, we went in and met with the service manager. We explained what had happened, and with the service teams help we pushed the vehicle into a bay to get reviewed. I have purchased eight (8) Audi's over the past years for me and my wife. The service manager promised to review the problem. Typically, Audi service will give you a vehicle to drive but the had no vehicles available, so they told us they would take us to a rental car company and cover the cost of the vehicle except for the insurance on rental car, which we had to pickup at a rate of $ 35.00 per day. As we were on a work trip we had to hustle to our customers as we had a meeting scheduled for 2:30 PM at Manna Beverage in Anaheim, CA. We went to our meeting and then returned to the Audi Dealership in Van Nuys. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Incident Steering · Power train · EngineNHTSA 11573806
2013 Audi A8Engine & cooling

The contact owns a 2013 Audi A8. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V178000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the contact had scheduled three separate appointments with a dealer and was cancelled after each scheduled appointment. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

Filed Incident Engine and engine coolingNHTSA 11562242
2011 Audi A8Transmission & drivetrainElectrical systemEngine & cooling

ECU starting to malfunction as a coolant leak valve is leaking into it. There is a recall for these models but not for my specific car but I do believe my car is affected because my car has a coolant leak that I personally can't find and my car was just worked on by Audi Indianapolis and they did not see any coolant leaks either. It was mentioned to me by another Audi A8 owner and it's making sense to me as the way everything began to fail on my car until I detached the battery and attached it back it worked fine...

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but sometimes the ECU will begin to fail for Adaptive Cruise Control randomly, then it will work again. These are symptoms of coolant leaking and affecting the ECU, and I can't afford to pay for that to be fixed because it would cost more than what the car is worth but I would like to see if my car was affected by this recall because i genuinely believe this is what is happening

Filed Incident Power train · Electrical system · EngineNHTSA 11558252

Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked daily. Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data

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