Recall 90S9 Gateway Control Module – 2021-2022 Audi Q5 & SQ5

December 8, 2021 NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 21V947000

Control Module Shutdown Can Reduce Engine Power

A gateway control module shutdown will suddenly reduce engine power, increasing the risk of a crash.

 

NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V947

Manufacturer VolkswageneBay logo Group of America, Inc.

Components STRUCTURE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Potential Number of Units Affected 288,991

 

Summary

VolkswageneBay logo Group of America, Inc. (AudieBay logo) is recalling certain 2021-2022 Q5 Sportback, SQ5 Sportback, 2018-2022 Q5, and SQ5 vehicles. A liquid spill in the rear seat, or water ingress from an insufficient body seam underneath the vehicle may allow liquid to penetrate the gateway control module, causing it to shutdown.

 

Remedy

Dealers will install a protective cover on the gateway control module and seal an underbody seam as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 21, 2022. Owners may contact AudieBay logo customer service at 1-800-253-2834. AudieBay logo’s number for this recall is 90S9.

 

Notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.nhtsa.gov.

 

Check if your Audi has a Recall

 


Affected Vehicles

CountryBeginning Model YearEnding Model YearVehicleVehicle Count
USA20182022Q5251,971
USA20182022SQ537,020
CAN20182022Q541,214
CAN20182022SQ56,932

 

Problem Description

If liquid reaches and enters the gateway control module, mostly due to a liquid spill on the rear seats, it is being switched off as part of the safety concept. In very rare cases (such as when driving through heavy rain or deep water) there may also be water ingress through an insufficient underbody seam. Water/liquid ingress into the gateway control module may lead to various internal errors due to short circuits within the control unit.

The gateway control module has a safety concept in case implausible signals are detected in the control unit. If such implausible signals are detected, the gateway switches off its function in order to avoid unwanted vehicle reactions. The vehicle remains steerable and the brake system is fully operable. The engine goes into emergency mode and remains in operation with reduced power.

Unexpected reduced engine power may create an increased risk of a crash in certain driving situations.

 

Corrective Action

Install a protective cover for the gateway control module which will protect the part from liquid
ingress. In addition, on vehicles produced until end of August 2021, the dealer will also seal the
insufficient underbody seam.

 

Precautions

Several warning messages will appear if the gateway control module shuts down. The error messages occur due to the interrupted communication between several systems. Even though several systems are displaying a malfunction, not all of these systems are impacted. Customers seeing error messages are advised to make arrangements to have the vehicle diagnosed/repaired by an authorized AudieBay logo dealer without delay.

 

Code Visibility

On or about January 18, 2022, the campaign code was applied to affected vehicles.

 

Owner Notification

Owner notification took place in January 2022. Owner letter examples are included in this bulletin for your reference.

 

Repair Overview

Criteria 01

  • Install protective cover over Gateway Control Module.

Criteria 02:

  • Apply sealant around a stud, which is open to the exterior of the vehicle.

 


Chronology of Defect

August 2020: AudieBay logo receives an inquiry from the Chinese authority regarding gateway control module failures due to liquid ingress. At that point the issue was unknown to AudieBay logo so far. Investigation regarding root cause and special circumstances commenced. It was found that all cases in China occurred due to a liquid spill on the rear seat bench.

August 2020 – February 2021: The analysis revealed that in case of a liquid ingress, the gateway control module goes into a failsafe mode as part of the safety concept in order to avoid unwanted vehicle reactions. AudieBay logo performed a safety assessment to evaluate the potential conditions and consequences that could result from a power shutdown of the gateway control module due to liquid ingress. As part of the investigation, a potential solution for the field and in production was tasked, developed and tested. AudieBay logo also conducted a risk assessment which indicated that the risk of a liquid spill leading to a failure of the gateway control module is very low and rare over the lifetime of the vehicle. This was confirmed by the field situation at the time. At the time there were only isolated cases in the North American region and all of them happened after an outside influence, mostly after a beverage spill. AudieBay logo continued to monitor the field worldwide regarding this topic.

March 2021: The North American region reported an increase in customer reports related to a gateway control module failure on Q5 vehicles after a liquid spill.

March 2021 – September 2021: AudieBay logo conducted additional testing regarding the impacts of a liquid ingress and continued to investigate a potential solution to be implemented in production and in the field. Due to single field cases alleging the failure without a liquid spill an additional investigation was initiated to rule out potential additional root causes for liquid ingress.

August 2021: AudieBay logo identified a potential manufacturing issue in the factory in Mexico. Due to a programming error of a glue bead robot, an underbody seam may not have been sealed sufficiently and therefore allow water ingress from underneath in very rare cases when driving through heavy rain or deep puddles. The adjustment to the robot was implemented immediately and analysis continued regarding impact of this additional potential cause for liquid ingress. AudieBay logo also noticed an increased number of VOQs and decided to discuss the topic with NHTSA ODI during the company´s Quarterly Meeting in September 2021. In the meantime NHTSA ODI contacted VWGoA and requested a meeting to discuss the VOQs.

September 16, 2021: Upon request by NHTSA, AudieBay logo presented an overview of the topic and the U.S. market situation to the NHTSA ODI.

October 2021: The AudieBay logo Product Safety Committee decided a service campaign in order to install a protective cover for the gateway control module and to seal the underbody in the area of the insufficient glue bead. AudieBay logo started to prepare the necessary steps for the launch of the service campaign.

November 2021: In addition to NHTSA, meetings with other countries’ safety agencies demonstrated concerns that a shutdown of the gateway control module due to liquid ingress may happen suddenly and the behavior may be perceived as a loss of mobility.

December 01, 2021: The concerns of NHTSA and other safety agencies were presented to the AudieBay logo Product Safety Committee and the existing service action decision was reevaluated. Based on the foregoing, AudieBay logo decided to conduct a voluntary recall to remedy affected vehicles.

Date of determination: December 01, 2021.

AudieBay logo is not aware of any crashes or injuries due to this issue. At the time of determination, AudieBay logo had identified 298 claims for this topic dating from March 12, 2020 – November 30, 2021.

 


10 Affected Products

Vehicles

MAKEMODELYEAR
AUDIeBay logoQ52018-2022
AUDIeBay logoSQ52018-2022

 


18 Associated Documents

Defect Notice 573 Report

RCLRPT-21V947-1766.PDF 217.438KB

 


Recall Acknowledgement

RCAK-21V947-1695.pdf 645.559KB

 


ISSUED Owner Notification Letter(Part 577) – 90S9 Customer Launch

RCONL-21V947-7244.pdf 583.013KB

 


ISSUED Owner Notification Letter(Part 577) – 90S9 Customer Launch PRI

RCONL-21V947-5762.pdf 1150.527KB

 


Chronology

RMISC-21V947-6085.pdf 208.397KB

 


Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc) – AUDIeBay logo Repair Available Safety Recall 90S9 / Gateway Control ModuleDate: January 17, 2022

RCMN-21V947-7739.pdf 780.025KB

 


Remedy Instructions and TSB

RCRIT-21V947-0530.pdf 1510.111KB

 


December 17, 2021 Amended Chronology for AudieBay logo Recall 90S9 Gateway Control Module

RMISC-21V947-4564.pdf 209.338KB

 


Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc) – AUDIeBay logo Advance Notice Safety Recall 90S9 / Gateway Control Module December 17, 2021

RCMN-21V947-8340.pdf 939.215KB

 


Recall 573 Report-Amendment 1

RCLRPT-21V947-2812.PDF 217.51KB

 


Amended Chronology for AudieBay logo Recall 90S9/ NHTSA 21V-947 Gateway Control Module

RMISC-21V947-0543.pdf 211.612KB

 


Amended Chronology

RMISC-21V947-3393.pdf 211.596KB

 


Remedy Instructions and TSB

RCRIT-21V947-8153.pdf 1829.593KB

 


Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc) – AUDIeBay logo Date: March 23, 2022 Campaign Circular Revisions – Safety Recall 69BY / Safety Recall 90S9 / Service Action 90T2

RCMN-21V947-8772.pdf 293.1KB

 


Remedy Instructions and TSB

RCRIT-21V947-0823.pdf 2078.761KB

 


AudieBay logo – Dealer Communication – July 2022

RCMN-21V947-1512.pdf 95.403KB

 


Recall Quarterly Report #2, 2022-2

RCLQRT-21V947-6921.PDF 211.268KB

 


Recall Quarterly Report #3, 2022-3

RCLQRT-21V947-5026.PDF 211.361KB

 


Latest Recalls Documents

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs/documentList.xhtml?docId=21V947&docType=RCL

 


 

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