Safety Recall 21H7 / Oil Strainer- 2013-2017 Audi A8, S6, S7, S8, & 2014-2017 RS7

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March 23, 2022 NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 22V178000

Blocked Turbocharger Oil Strainer

Worn bearings can cause the turbine wheel to contact the turbocharger housing or cause the shaft to break, causing an engine stall and increasing the risk of a crash.

 

NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V178

Manufacturer Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Components ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

Potential Number of Units Affected 26,053

 

Summary

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2013-2017 A8, S6 Sedan, S7, S8, and 2014-2017 RS7 vehicles. The turbocharger oil supply strainer can become blocked, causing wear to the bearings due to lack of lubrication.

 

Remedy

Dealers will replace the oil strainer and perform an oil change, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed August 4, 2022. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Audi’s number for this recall is 21H7.

 

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

Country Beginning Model Year Ending Model Year Vehicle Vehicle Count
USA 2013 2017 A8 7,874
USA 2014 2017 RS7 3,305
USA 2013 2017 S6 SEDAN 6,385
USA 2013 2017 S7 5,040
USA 2013 2017 S8 3,449
CAN 2013 2017 A8 326
CAN 2014 2017 RS7 808
CAN 2013 2017 S6 SEDAN 567

 

Problem Description

The oil strainer within the oil supply for the turbocharger might become blocked by oil/carbon deposits contained in the engine oil. A blocked oil strainer within the oil supply for the turbocharger leads to a lack of lubrication of the turbocharger bearings. This causes wear on the bearings and, as a result, the turbine wheel of the turbocharger may contact the housing, or the turbocharger shaft can break. This could lead to a lack of power or even stalling, which could increase the risk of a crash.

 

Corrective Action

The oil strainer within the oil supply for the turbochargers will be replaced and an oil change will be performed. A tester routine on the scan tool will check and document the correct performance of the boost pressure system.

 

Precautions

A defect on the turbochargers and boost pressure system can lead to different warning messages such as the EPC, MIL, or oil warning light being displayed. In addition, the customer may notice indications like extended cranking, rough idling or lack of power. Owners experiencing these conditions are advised to contact an authorized Audi dealer to have the vehicle diagnosed/repaired.

 

Code Visibility

On or about August 04, 2022, the campaign code will be applied to affected vehicles.

 

Owner Notification

Owner notification will take place in August 2022. Owner letter examples are included in this bulletin for your reference.

 

Repair Overview

Replace oil strainer.

 


Chronology of Defect

May 31, 2014: As part of regular field monitoring and quality assurance processes, analysis of claimed field parts was started by Audi and the supplier of the turbocharger. The claims could not be directly connected to the turbocharger as the root cause. Field monitoring continued.

August 2014 – January 2017: Investigation regarding root cause and failure resolution process initiated based on additional turbo charger failures in the field. Start of the development and testing of process for an optimized oil strainer including release procedure on test benches and by endurance runs. At that point there was no indication that a turbo charger failure may cause an engine stall while driving and the topic was handled as a regular quality topic. Analysis revealed that, depending on the conditions in which the vehicle is used, deposits may accumulate in the engine oil system and over time these may clog up the oil strainer, which could lead to an insufficient supply of oil to the turbochargers. A new oil strainer with a larger mesh size was developed for the oil supply for both turbochargers.

February-April 2017: Technical Service Bulletin regarding turbocharger replacement, including replacing the oil strainer, was issued to address engine performance and other quality issues on vehicles in the field. On March 30, 2017 an optimized oil strainer with increased mesh size was introduced in production as a result of the quality improvement processes. In addition, Audi issued a parts-related special notice to remove obsolete oil strainer from parts inventory.

Field monitoring continued.

July 18, 2019: Upon request of NHTSA, Audi AG presented the field situation, indicator types, and field monitoring process to NHTSA.  Analysis and monitoring of field cases worldwide did not indicate a likelihood of stalling upon a turbo charger failure due to a clogged oil strainer.

May 13, 2020: Upon request of NHTSA, Audi AG presented the updated field situation.  Field monitoring continued.

March 29, 2021: NHTSA ODI opened up investigation PE21-009.

April 2, 2021: NHTSA ODI sent an Information Request letter related to PE21-009.

May 28, 2021 and June 08, 2021: Submission to NHTSA of responses to PE21-009 Information Request letter. Durability test initiated with high load driving cycle and defined stopping times in an attempt to reproduce the customer claims. Comprehensive data evaluation and assessment of VOQ and customer complaints regarding customer experience. During internal testing on test bench and track to reproduce the defect and vehicle behavior a turbo charger failure did not result in an engine stall while driving.

June – August 2021: Additional analysis and testing did not show stalling conditions without prior indications. The tests have shown that due to a turbocharger failure, the engine may run rough, experience reduced performance, idle poorly and may show long cranking times. There are also certain DTCs that may occur and will illuminate the EPC and/or the MIL.

September 08, 2021: Updated Technical Service Bulletin was published including a special customer survey to gather detailed information on customer experience and collect blocked oil strainer for further analyses.

September 21, 2021: The topic was presented at the quarterly meeting between NHTSA and VWGoA. The presentation included results of durability testing in a car running 20,000 km with a clogged oil strainer and not experiencing turbocharger failure.

November 12, 2021: Audi AG presented the current status of technical and field analyses to NHTSA including data logger and video documentation of different driving situation in relation to a turbocharger failure on the vehicle. Furthermore, the steps of disassembling the relevant engine parts and the analyses of those were presented and explained.

December 09, 2021: Audi AG presented the current status of evaluation and results of the customer survey that was started in September to NHTSA.

February 22, 2022: A warranty extension for 10 years / 120,000 miles was launched to address and improve customer experience.

March 10, 2022: The topic was presented and discussed again in a meeting with ODI leadership. During that meeting NHTSA voiced concerns that unusual behavior such as rough idle, reduced performance, long cranking times or warning lights indicating a turbo charger failure may not be sufficient to warn the driver.

March 16, 2022: The Audi Product Safety Committee decides a voluntary worldwide safety recall.

Between April 2017 and the date of determination, Audi received 1,889 claims and 47 field reports in the U.S. related to oil strainer replacement.

 


24 Affected Products

Vehicles

MAKE MODEL YEAR
AUDI A8 2013-2017
AUDI RS7 2014-2017
AUDI S6 2013-2017
AUDI S7 2013-2017
AUDI S8 2013-2017

 


11 Associated Documents

Recall Acknowledgement

RCAK-22V178-9203.pdf 644.995KB

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Defect Notice 573 Report

RCLRPT-22V178-6818.PDF 218.342KB

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Chronology

RMISC-22V178-9222.pdf 210.276KB

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Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc) – AUDI Date: March 29, 2022 Advance Notice – Safety Recall 21H7 / Oil Strainer

RCMN-22V178-3311.pdf 844.228KB

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ISSUED Interim Owner Notification Letter(Part 577) – PRI

RIONL-22V178-9557.pdf 626.48KB

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ISSUED Interim Owner Notification Letter(Part 577)

RIONL-22V178-0825.pdf 320.616KB

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Remedy Instructions and TSB

RCRIT-22V178-1437.pdf 4473.046KB

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Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc) – AUDI Date: August 03, 2022 Repair Available – Safety Recall 21H7 / Oil Strainer

RCMN-22V178-8691.pdf 221.605KB

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ISSUED Owner Notification Letter(Part 577)

RCONL-22V178-3136.pdf 155.059KB

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Recall Quarterly Report #1, 2022-3

RCLQRT-22V178-2631.PDF 211.143KB

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Recall Quarterly Report #2, 2022-4

RCLQRT-22V178-5998.PDF 211.256KB

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Latest Recalls Documents

For the Latest and Most Recent Recalls Information Visit the link below…

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs/documentList.xhtml?docId=22V178&docType=RCL

 


1 Associated Investigation

Engine Stall – Turbo Failure
NHTSA ID: PE21009
Dated opened: March 29, 2021

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has received 58 complaints and a number of field reports for 2013-2016MY Audi vehicle models A8, S6, S7, S8 & RS7. The subject vehicles are equipped with a 4.0L, twin-turbocharged engine. The complaints allege that the vehicle stalls suddenly with no prior warning while driving on the highway or in city traffic. Several of the complaints alleged an inability to restart.

The complaints allege that the vehicle stall is due to a turbocharger failure. Several complaints attribute the failure to oil starvation of the turbocharger due to clogging of the oil strainer. The location of the oil strainer in the turbocharger oil supply line is in the inner valley of the engine. It is not easily accessible, making service difficult.

VW has issued several versions of the Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) 2044640. This TSB instructs technicians on the procedure to replace the turbocharger once it has failed or is about to fail. The TSB states that poor oil supply to the turbocharger can cause turbocharger failure. The different versions of the TSB address the scope of affected vehicles and parts and software changes.

ODI is opening this Preliminary Evaluation (PE) to determine the scope and severity of the potential problem as well as to fully assess the potential safety related issues.

The ODI reports cited above is available to review online at NHTSA.gov under the identification numbers:11404665, 11404426, 11404348, 11403430, 11403268, 11399435, 11397821, 11396241 11394763, 11391037, 11388662, 11387166, 11386620, 11377446, 11363283, 11355614, 11354107 11344193, 11342497, 11342360, 11340302, 11339228, 11325065, 11324908, 11324163, 11322714 11322168, 11321144, 11318477, 11306754, 11279429, 11279408, 11270534, 11268109, 11256706 11252723, 11246579, 11234853, 11234714, 11231582, 11231013, 11230589, 11229484, 11222281 11218822, 11218749, 11217604, 11209458, 11209168, 11209142, 11208147, 11197149, 11191243 11179883, 11175842, 11170776, 11164032, 11152418


 

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