3.9

definitely annoying
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
30,988 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2016 Audi S6 engine problems

engine problem

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2016 Audi S6 Owner Comments

problem #13

Jan 142024

S6

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Hi - The Crankcase Ventilation Valve Extended Warranty [XXX] covers only ten years or 120k miles. My car has close to 160k miles. According to NHTSA or Audi, -??Audi has determined that, in some vehicles, it is possible for the crankcase ventilation valve to malfunction, causing a whistling noise in the engine compartment and the MIL to illuminate due to the presence of specific fault codes caused by this component. This condition may impact the vehicle tailpipe emissions, and the presence of a MIL-on condition may cause the vehicle to fail an IM (smog) test.-?? This is causing the engine to rev on its own, foul odor, consume more oil and gas, MIL-on, and potentially cause the IM (smog) test to fail regardless of years or miles and a safety issue. Please add this matter to recall rather than extended warranty and is likely related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V178000 which is causing oil separator and coolant pipe issues that need to be covered. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Pennington , NJ, USA

problem #12

Jun 162022

S6

  • miles
While driving with my wife and kids, on the highway, in the rain a warning message was displayed. The warning stated: steering malfunction, please stop the vehicle!. At which point the power steering locked-up & the engine powered down. As a result, I was unable to steer the vehicle. Thankfully, I was able to -??muscle-?? the car off the highway and onto a secondary roadway. Vehicle was towed. With the power steering locking-up and not being able to effectively steer the vehicle this is a HUGE safety issue and needs to be addressed with Audi. This could have ended tragically if it were to happen to a driver who was unable to -??muscle-?? the vehicle to safety.

- Hillsdale , NJ, USA

problem #11

Jul 212022

S6

  • miles
I was driving my car and it stalled out in the middle of an intersection which was totally unsafe and it would barely start. I was able to limp it to safety but it would not run or idle correctly. I had it towed to the local Audi dealership and they diagnosed the issue as being the turbos. The turbos failed and need to be replaced. The obvious known issue with the oil screen starving the turbos and causing collateral damage is well documented hence Audi issued an extended warranty on turbos and the recall on the oil screen however the dealer is refusing to do any repair and has had the vehicle for over a week.

- Appleton, WI, USA

problem #10

Feb 042022

S6

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I am having a transmission malfunction warning light on the dashboard that comes on. The car will not shift gears which is dangerous when driving in streets/highway. This is a known issue with the Audi S6 and related models and a class action lawsuit is in process. Audi is trying to charge few thousands dollars $8000-$12,000 to replace the mechatronic and clutch transmission system which is very prone to failure. Thank you

- Marietta, GA, USA

problem #9

Dec 012021

S6

  • miles
Loss of power on freeway, due to known turbo issue on these cars. Filter for turbo oil clogs, and burns the turbo's without warning causing loss of power. Not to mention it often sends metal into your engines oil and the repair for that is more than the car is worth.

- Fairmont, WV, USA

problem #8

May 062021

S6

  • miles
The Passenger Side Turbo failed. Yes it-??s available for inspection. I was driving and I felt a pop, like a backfire from under the hood. The car lost power instantly and was any under power anymore on the road. It could have been a lot worse if I was on a busy highway but luckily was on a street with do one behind me. It was confirmed it was the turbo failure and the turbo has been inspected. No warning lamps or any prior symptoms before hand. Once it happened it started throwing warning lights for pretty much everything. Limited slip diff, air bags, EPC, TPMS, check engine light and traction control warning lights all went off one after the other.

- Houston , TX, USA

problem #7

Apr 092021

S6

  • 40,246 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

On 09apr2021 I was driving on my way to pick up my dogs from daycare. During my ride the car seemed hesitant with power. When I arrived at the daycare and parked the car essentially seemed like it was choking and at one point completely shut off on it's own. After I picked up my dog I tried starting the car and it took 3 attempts for it to start. On the way home I had to try and keep the car in motion in order to keep the engine on, so every red light was a game. Moving though rush our in the city was very difficult and the care nearly died 3 times. I made it home and the car turned off on it's own, when I parked. I made an appointment with Audi and brought the car in the next morning - on the way in the car died on while in motion approaching a red light on a city street. It inadvertently stopped traffic until I could put the car back in park, and attempt to start the engine twice, before it started again and I was able to drive the rest of the way to the dealership. The dealership diagnosed it as blown turbos.

- Niskayuna, NY, USA

problem #6

Mar 202021

S6

  • 42,600 miles
Oil screen interior of engine (non-serviceable) clogged which prevented turbo chargers from receiving oil. Both turbo chargers failed which causes engine to stall. Was driving at 25 mph on two lane city street. Engine died, power was lost, and steered vehicle to avoid collision with brick mailbox. Brought vehicle to a stop in roadway (no shoulder) but was blocking traffic. Car would not restart. Towed vehicle to Audi dealer who diagnosed turbo failure from clogged oil screen and presented a $12,732.74 quote for labor and replacement turbo chargers. Dealership noted that this is common failure with stock and turned cars and they perform this replacement multiple times a month per Audi tsb. Tuned vehicles are immediately denied warranty despite there more than 131 reported cases on one owners group/volunteer website (https://www.audizine.com/forum/poll.php?pollid=4500&do=showresults). My vehicle received oil change and 40K service from Audi dealership less than 5,000 miles prior to this failure. Oil screen replacement requires 20 hours of labor to tear the engine down to get to the part (non-serviceable) - technical service bulletin 2044640/9 (revised 3 times over 3 years to replace oil screen with upgraded screen - rev G). Have visited with multiple Audi dealerships to obtain competitive quotes and learned that it is a common issue with the 4.0 V8 engine with failures normally occurring at 65K - 85K miles in A8, S4, S6, S7 models and that the repair is normally $11-12K per incident.

- Granger, IN, USA

problem #5

Dec 252019

S6

  • 76,000 miles
Both my turbos failed on my car on christmas day in 2019. I was coming home from dropping off my daughter 90 minutes away. After leaving the highway and starting to move once the light turned green, my car decided to completely stall. I was able to pull over the to shoulder as I was coming to a stop as I was on a one lane road. My car was towed and it was determined that my car had both turbos fail. I received my car back a month later and since then have had a coolant loss issue as well as a surge issue. The coolant loss issue requires me to put 4 ounce of coolant into my car every morning. I reported this issue to my Audi dealership when I got my car back but it hasn't been fixed. I'm unsure if the coolant issue is what caused the turbos to fail, or parts of my turbos propellers went into my engine or someplace else which is causing issues with the car. Furthermore, the car now surges when coming to a stop. The car will surge a foot or two after it's come to a complete stop which is dangerous. Both these issues can be seen on message boards at the following site: Https://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/808057-4-0tt-blown-turbo-poll as you can see it's a bigger problem than just a few cars. They are ranging from 10% to 40% blown turbos depending on the year.

- Toms River, NJ, USA

problem #4

Dec 282020

S6

  • 56,000 miles
Power significantly reduced. Clear loss of boost. Eventual complete engine stall. I was fortunate to have been pulling into a parking spot when the engine cut off uncommanded. The car had to be towed to a repair shop. It was later determined the turbos had failed due to a loss of oil supply. The oil supply is cut off due to the singular turbo oil screen being clogged. Regular oil changes are documented at correct intervals. Audi after the middle of MY2016 installed a revised turbo oil screen to help prevent this from happening. It is a known fault at Audi and should absolutely be a recall to replace the oil screens with the revised versions. It is a major safety issue when the engine can suddenly stop running at any speed.

- Post Falls, ID, USA

problem #3

Mar 052021

S6

  • 81,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I was accelerating with traffic while on an on ramp and merging into busy traffic on the interstate, when suddenly I lost power and my car began to decelerate at a rapid pace. There was no throttle when the gas pedal was being pressed. Seconds after that I lost power to the car. Luckily, I was able to put my hazards and coast through 2 lanes of traffic to the shoulder. During which time, I had no power steering and had to fight to move the wheel. I had the car brought to my Audi mechanic who said it sounds like your turbos blew and that was indeed the case. He said he sees it all the time on the 4.0 tt engines because of Audi poor oil screen design that starves the turbos of oil and leads to the seizing up and breaking.

- Columbus, OH, USA

problem #2

Sep 082020

S6

  • 60,000 miles
Turbo failure at 60,000 miles stationary would not start

- Wilton, CA, USA

problem #1

Apr 042019

S6

  • 47,000 miles
Turbocharger(s) failure due to oil filter screen clogging with contaminants at 47000 miles causing turbocharger bearing failure destroying the turbine and compressor wheels along with compressor housing and exhaust manifolds. Possible engine damage. The vehicle operated while driving on highway. Sudden loss of power at highway speeds while failure occurred inducing loss of engine throttle control. Harsh surging of the engine occured. Once vehicle was pulled over to side of the highway. Engine was unable to maintain idle and unable to be driven.

- Gates Mills, OH, USA

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