Audi Q4 Forum

I used my Q4 e-Tron this morning for a 40mile journey, no problem, parked for a couple of hours then got back in to go home. As soon as I pressed the brake pedal an alarm sounded and a red warning panel came up on the dashboard saying something like "Electrical fault, bring the car safely to a halt". I was already stationary. It refused to go into either forward or reverse drive, though it would go into neutral. I turned the electrics off, then on again and tried again - same result. I was contemplating calling the emergency services, but instead got out of the car, locked it then got back in and tried a third time. This time it worked immediately and faultlessly with no fault warning and it took me back home with no further problem. Has anyone experienced a similar event?

This morning my car had an alert “Electrical system fault: Please contact workshop” and there is a yellow triangle with exclamation mark and also a yellow battery symbol. I’ll need to take it to the service centre for repair. What a pain in the butt. I owned an A4 about 15 years ago and it was a real lemon - loads of problems just after warranty expired. Didn’t think I’d buy Audi again after that experience. I know the “Audi build quality” is a marketing myth, but I’m hoping I haven’t been unlucky a second time…

Hi did you ever get to a root cause for this? I’ve just driven back from work 55 miles with this having appeared:

“Electrical system fault: Please contact workshop” and a yellow triangle with exclamation mark and also a yellow battery symbol.

Two things were unusual today
1) I charged the car to 100% which I regularly normally do
2) I restrained the tailgate from opening into a wall which I’ve never done before

Could either of the above be related?

@Mml2435 and @skpudding
My Q4 Sportback 40 has also displayed this fault indication in the last couple of days.
I took it into my nearest Audi dealer and they diagnosed the fault is due to a failure of one of the two battery coolant systems. Their diagnostics will not determine which one and requires the vehicle to be dismantled to identify the faulty component and then order its replacement, which I'm told, could take several weeks.
Will keep you updated on progress.

The fault notices went away after a day. I didn’t remember doing anything in particular to trigger it. It was very cold the morning it started (around freezing) but that’s all I remember. I am not doing anything further for now but will probably take that car to the service centre in the new year to get checked out.

So now my powered tailgate/boot has stopped working and I need to open and close manually with some effort. Not sure if it’s related to the electrical warning I had previously (which has not come back again…. yet). If anyone happens to know if there is a reset or something for the powered tailgate, please let me know. I will need to book in for service in the new year.

Guess what I had the same error this morning and the evening before I restricted the tailgate from opening into something.
Next time I used the car after that drive the error cleared and all was fine.

Hi had the same issue happen. Also tried locking car and unlocking to no avail....Electrical fault reported and workshop message posted. Called Audi Assistance and engineer ran some diagnostics, told me there was a power cell fault reported and it'd need to be returned to the dealer. He arranged for a tow truck to collect my car. Whilst waiting for the tow truck, we tried to push the car back into the parking space - it rolled a few feet whilst in Neutral. When I say in the seat I pressed the brake pedal and it initiated as normal and allowed me to put into into Drive and Reverse. Given the fault it had reported I thought it best to get it checked out....still awaiting word from Dealer. I also suffered a failing control unit a few weeks ago when the car went into power off mode and wouldn't start...asked me to validate my key by pressing it against the contact area but wouldn't recognize my key.
Anyone experienced this fault?

raeburn-smith wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:52 pm

@Mml2435 and @skpudding
My Q4 Sportback 40 has also displayed this fault indication in the last couple of days.
I took it into my nearest Audi dealer and they diagnosed the fault is due to a failure of one of the two battery coolant systems. Their diagnostics will not determine which one and requires the vehicle to be dismantled to identify the faulty component and then order its replacement, which I'm told, could take several weeks.
Will keep you updated on progress.

Hi, looks like I’m facing a similar issue, went in to the dealership today, did they give you any further updates on the fault your car had?

After 2 weeks in the workshop, my Q4 is now fixed, it was one of the battery coolant pumps.