# 21E7 UPDATE – Turbocharger (NVLW)



## mattchow (Jan 12, 2010)

This Update has been proactively released to prevent the following condition from occurring in the vehicle:
On Audi A3 vehicles manufactured within a specific period the turbocharger may fail causing the MIL to illuminate.
This Update is in effect until removed.
Vehicle must meet all of the following criteria:
Procedure is valid only for vehicles that show the 21E7 code in the Elsa Campaign/Action Information screen on the day of repair.
Vehicle must be within the New Vehicle Limited Warranty.
Procedure must be performed within the allotted time frame stated in this Technical Service Bulletin.
Procedure must be performed on applicable vehicles in dealer inventory prior to sale.
Technical Background
On Audi A3 vehicles manufactured within a specific period the turbocharger may fail causing the MIL to illuminate.

:facepalm:


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

**** happens.


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## mike3141 (Feb 16, 1999)

There's nothing you can do to proactively fix the problem. As the OP states it's only valid if you've actually got a live 21E7 MIL code.


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## mattchow (Jan 12, 2010)

itr_1211 said:


> is there a tsb #? any specific vehicle range? christ mine was one of the first ones here :facepalm:


I'm trying to figure out more myself. My dealership hasn't gotten the update. I'm also wondering about date ranges since it says to perform the update on dealer stock.


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## mattchow (Jan 12, 2010)

Well, looks like it affects everyone. 

***



[email protected] said:


> VAG issued a new campaign this morning replacing all of the old turbocharger part numbers because turbos were failing from the factory on unmodified cars. This includes turbos that haven't failed yet, so they are simply being proactive and replacing the turbo before there's an issue.
> 
> Here's one of the document released this morning:
> 
> ...


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## nicoli35 (Jun 30, 2014)

Thanks for the info - just emailed our Audi Service rep.


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## sevenVT (Aug 18, 2004)

Do A4's not get recalls or TSB's?


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## tekmo (Nov 30, 2013)

itr_1211 said:


> I'm sure they do but a turbo and mil sounds pretty serious


I think i saw you driving by on 16th and yonge, going north on Saturday.


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## link1305 (Jun 27, 2014)

Mine is scheduled to be built next week, would hope they use the correct part for it


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## high_octaneGTI (Nov 10, 2007)

Well ****


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## johndeere2520 (May 21, 2014)

Just went to the garage to check my turbo number and its 06K145702R. Snapped a pic of the part number with my iPhone, by sliding it down between the firewall and turbo. Took a few tries but worked well. I haven't had any issues with the car yet, turned 2000 miles the other day. Thanks for the TSB notice and will keep it in mind if anything happens. 











Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## mike3141 (Feb 16, 1999)

sevenVT said:


> Do A4's not get recalls or TSB's?


A4's have a different 2.0T engine and probably a different turbo.


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## Heretic:GTI (Feb 17, 2011)

Appears mine is good.... Unless they come out with another revision.


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## tekmo (Nov 30, 2013)

My turbo # ends with a "B"..

Here is what i got from my Audi service manager:

"*We are aware of this. Audi has put an extended warranty on the turbo’s for 10 years up to 1092,000km’s; whichever occurs first. It is not a recall but a warranty extension.*"


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## Orangetree (May 11, 2014)




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## sevenVT (Aug 18, 2004)

Sounds like an "if fail, then replace with x" if the car is already off the lot.

I'm at 3000~ and haven't had any issues, then again haven't bothered checking my number yet considering there's nothing to be done about it without a failure.


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## Orangetree (May 11, 2014)

This language suggests that they are fixing them before they fail: "This Update has been proactively released to prevent the following condition from occurring in the vehicle." Take note of the words "proactively released" and "prevent." But, where you may be right is if "Procedure must be performed on applicable vehicles in dealer inventory prior to sale" means that my car, which is in my inventory, not the dealer's, must break to get the new turbo. I have a call in with my salsman and will report back when he gets back to me.


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## Orangetree (May 11, 2014)

I just spoke with my salesman, who spoke with one of his service writers. There is nothing popping up for the vin of my car, and "the turbo on [my] car is fine." I told him it was perhaps not fine, as it is number 06K 145 702 R, which is in the bulletin as a problem.turbo. He responded, "you'll be fine if it breaks, as you will still have 180 hp to drive it to our dealership." I laughed (this is pretty absurd) and told him I'd see him then. Ugh.


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## ChrisFu (Jun 9, 2012)

Orangetree said:


> I just spoke with my salesman, who spoke with one of his service writers. There is nothing popping up for the vin of my car, and "the turbo on [my] car is fine." I told him it was perhaps not fine, as it is number 06K 145 702 R, which is in the bulletin as a problem.turbo. He responded, "you'll be fine if it breaks, as you will still have 180 hp to drive it to our dealership." I laughed (this is pretty absurd) and told him I'd see him then. Ugh.


Wow, I would not back down so easily. I cant believe the dealers reaction to this.


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## nicoli35 (Jun 30, 2014)

My service rep also did not have anything for my VIN but did a search on 21E7 and found the update. Told me to check back in a week or so, it hasn't distributed to them yet.


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## sevenVT (Aug 18, 2004)

Orangetree said:


> I just spoke with my salesman, who spoke with one of his service writers. There is nothing popping up for the vin of my car, and "the turbo on [my] car is fine." I told him it was perhaps not fine, as it is number 06K 145 702 R, which is in the bulletin as a problem.turbo. He responded, "you'll be fine if it breaks, as you will still have 180 hp to drive it to our dealership." I laughed (this is pretty absurd) and told him I'd see him then. Ugh.



Yes, but probably logical to them depending on the rate of failure of those turbos. If they want to replace all those turbos now, they issue a recall, not a TSB.

Just because we know of the TSB doesn't mean Audi has invited us to go get our turbos replaced, nor does the TSB indicate a rate of failure. They are probably issuing TSB to avoid a later recall on unsold cars, and then expecting rate of failure to be low enough they can take the few who do throw a code, and replace under the warranty.


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## A3_yuppie (Jun 5, 2006)

Heretic:GTI said:


> Appears mine is good.... Unless they come out with another revision.


What is your build date? And will you please post a picture to illustrate how exactly you were able to take this picture? Thank you.


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## Orangetree (May 11, 2014)

Try sticking your phone to the left of the intake pipe with the camera down and facing towards the passenger side of the car. Just record a video on your phone until you find the spot.


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## ProjectA3 (Aug 12, 2005)

my service manager told me that they will replace turbos of cars on the road once they actively cause an MIL with the error code. not before and that the car would still run to be able to drive to a dealership if the turbo did fail.

Let Audi do their thing and if it happens to yours give them the time to fix it. You'll get a loaner car and an extended part warranty in return.
Im at 4600 miles and not issue yet and running APR software for 2 weeks.


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## ChrisFu (Jun 9, 2012)

ProjectA3 said:


> my service manager told me that they will replace turbos of cars on the road once they actively cause an MIL with the error code. not before and that the car would still run to be able to drive to a dealership if the turbo did fail.
> 
> Let Audi do their thing and if it happens to yours give them the time to fix it. You'll get a loaner car and an extended part warranty in return.
> Im at 4600 miles and not issue yet and running APR software for 2 weeks.


Anyone with a tune and TD1 flag is going to get a big FU from Audi if their turbo goes tits up, regardless if it was a factory defect or not.


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## mattchow (Jan 12, 2010)

ChrisFu said:


> Anyone with a tune and TD1 flag is going to get a big FU from Audi if their turbo goes tits up, regardless if it was a factory defect or not.


So you can say with 100% confidence that a car running APR software that flashes back to stock and takes it in for service while flashed back to stock will throw a TD1 code?


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## mattchow (Jan 12, 2010)

On another note, has anyone taken their A3 in, has the service advisor input their vin via elsaweb and had the campaign/tsb pop up? I haven't seen/heard a single instance of this yet. Makes me believe the tsb is out there put hasn't been pushed out to active A3/Vin's yet. 

I don't care if it's what your service guy heard or said, definitive answer is when your vin is entered into elsaweb and something either pops up or not. Elsaweb doesn't distinguish between if your turbo is blown or not, purely by vin.

I'm waiting for 1. Vin match in Elsa 2. Tell me if it's a fix asap or fix when mil and turbo failure 3. Apr comes out with a turbo kit and **** all anyway lol.


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## high_octaneGTI (Nov 10, 2007)

Looks like mine is good!

I believe I placed my order for the a3 in march/ early April


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## [email protected] (Jul 29, 2008)

mattchow said:


> So you can say with 100% confidence that a car running APR software that flashes back to stock and takes it in for service while flashed back to stock will throw a TD1 code?


If you're flashed back to stock, there's no TD1 code. We've confirmed this multiple times already on the new Simos 18.x ECU.


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## [email protected] (Jul 29, 2008)

Look at all these revisions:

1.8T Transverse Engine
(Low output engines – Example: Golf / A3 / Leon / Octavia):

06K 145 701 J - Revision 1
06K 145 701 L - Revision 2
06K 145 701 M - Revision 3
06K 145 701 N - Revision 4
06K 145 701 S - Revision 5
06K 145 713 E - Revision 6
06K 145 713 F – Revision 7

1.8T Longitudinal Engine
(Example A4 / A5 / Q5):

06L 145 701 C - Revision 1
06L 145 701 D - Revision 2
06L 145 701 E - Revision 3
06L 145 701 F - Revision 4
06L 145 701 G - Revision 5
06L 145 701 H - Revision 6
06L 145 701 J - Revision 7

2.0T Transverse Engine
(Low output engines – Example: GTI / A3 / Leon / Octavia / S1):

06K 145 702 K - Revision 1
06K 145 702 Q - Revision 2
06K 145 702 R - Revision 3
06K 145 702 T - Revision 4

2.0T Longitudinal Engine
(Example A4 / A5 / Q5):

06L 145 702 D - Revision 1
06L 145 702 F - Revision 2
06L 145 702 P - Revision 3
06L 145 702 M - Revision 4
06L 145 702 R - Revision 5

2.0T Transverse Engine
(High output engines – Example Golf R / S3 / Leon Cupra):

06K 145 702 J - Revision 1
06K 145 702 N - Revision 2
06K 145 722 A - Revision 3

With that said the K04-64 came out in ~2004, is on over 10 different vehicles and still produced today. Part number is still the same. Hopefully these new revisions are the final fix. Seems that way so far!


BTW, FWIW our development vehicle is also a revision R and running strong so far. Has countless dynos, tracked extensively, drag raced, etc, all in blazing hot alabama weather. It seems the main problem child is the K and Q revision from overseas. The R does have problems, but not as extensively it would seem. I haven't hear of a revision T issue yet, and if Audi went out on a limb to replace every turbo sitting on the lot, unfailed, they must believe the problem is fixed. Time will tell.


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## Travis Grundke (May 26, 1999)

Not surprised at all that Audi of America / Canada placed an extended warranty on this in lieu of a mandatory recall. The bad news is, there may be those out there with a problem. The good news is: it will most likely be covered.

AoA has become very responsive with these extended coverage items for common failure items, which I applaud.

Of course, this also will affect any 2.0TFSI VAG product, so I suspect this will include the new GTI and Seat Leon as well.


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

[email protected] said:


> Look at all these revisions:
> 
> 1.8T Transverse Engine
> (Low output engines – Example: Golf / A3 / Leon / Octavia):
> ...


:screwy:

You'd think this is VW's first foray into turbo cars. Yikes.


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## [email protected] (Jul 29, 2008)

Dan Halen said:


> :screwy:
> 
> You'd think this is VW's first foray into turbo cars. Yikes.


IHI makes the part. Probably tried to save some money on a majorly mass produced part. Didn't work out so well.


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## TRLSTYLE (Sep 27, 2004)

Le sigh
Just under 5,000 miles, goes in for first service next week. 

image hosting over 2mb


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## SleepyHeadN20 (Jul 7, 2014)

[email protected] said:


> Look at all these revisions:
> 
> 1.8T Transverse Engine
> (Low output engines – Example: Golf / A3 / Leon / Octavia):
> ...


This is my first Audi (a3 2.0t, @ 1500 miles right now). I like my car, but I'm a little concern about this TSB.

1) How worry should I be about this turbocharger? Should I just wait for the MIL light, whenever that happen ,and hope Audi would replace even if the original factory warranty expired?

2) I haven't checked my part # yet, but I thought 702 T is the replacement; why is it listed as revision 4?


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

SleepyHeadN20 said:


> This is my first Audi (a3 2.0t, @ 1500 miles right now). I like my car, but I'm a little concern about this TSB.
> 
> 1) How worry should I be about this turbocharger? Should I just wait for the MIL light, whenever that happen ,and hope Audi would replace even if the original factory warranty expired?
> 
> 2) I haven't checked my part # yet, but I thought 702 T is the replacement; why is it listed as revision 4?


It's the fourth distinct part for the A3 2.0T; they've made three changes to the part that warranted a PN bump. This ain't a GM ignition switch, here. 

... at some point, they may determine that -T has a deficiency and may increment to -U or -X or something. The absence of L-P and S may or may not mean anything. It's not likely that they're parts for other applications; they probably were just internally moth-balled during the revision phases.


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## ChrisFu (Jun 9, 2012)

Dan Halen said:


> It's the fourth distinct part for the A3 2.0T; they've made three changes to the part that warranted a PN bump. This ain't a GM ignition switch, here.
> 
> ... at some point, they may determine that -T has a deficiency and may increment to -U or -X or something. The absence of L-P and S may or may not mean anything. It's not likely that they're parts for other applications; they probably were just internally moth-balled during the revision phases.


Through my career experience its usually standard engineering practice to skip the letters I, O, Q, S, X, and Z when calling out datums, drawing view names, and revision letters. (Some places omit the Q from that list)

Looks like the rest were honored by Audi, though the missing L, M, N, & P are puzzling.


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

ChrisFu said:


> Through my career experience its usually standard engineering practice to skip the letters I, O, Q, S, X, and Z when calling out datums, drawing view names, and revision letters. (Some places omit the Q from that list)
> 
> Looks like the rest were honored by Audi, though the missing L, M, N, & P are puzzling.


Nerd.


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## gotfast11 (Sep 4, 2009)

My car was built last month, 7/14, arrived at dealer two weeks ago and I have the latest revision (t) so I'm guessing it's only going to affect the early builds.


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## A3_yuppie (Jun 5, 2006)

gotfast11 said:


> My car was built last month, 7/14, arrived at dealer two weeks ago and I have the latest revision (t) so I'm guessing it's only going to affect the early builds.


That's good to know; as mine has not even arrived I guess mine should be safe.


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## sevenVT (Aug 18, 2004)

A3_yuppie said:


> That's good to know; as mine has not even arrived I guess mine should be safe.


As stated in the TSB, if you haven't taken delivery of the vehicle, its the onus of the dealership to replace the turbo before sale, while in inventory.

At this point anyone who doesn't already own an A3 or hasn't taken delivery and purchases it new not used, will probably not see anything but the T model or newer on their turbo.


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## tagsvags (Nov 25, 2005)

Great news Audi is taking care of there customers, to bad that VW is not stepping up.


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## booze- (Nov 20, 2014)

Here in Germany, the N revision of the turbo in my R (June 2014) makes an annoying rattle-noise which can't be fixed with 'the special clip'. And I'm not the only one. German forums are full of people who complain about strange rattle-noises which sound like having a coin box in the motor compartment.

And what do you think is VW doing? They don't care. It's a comfort problem - repairs are forbidden.

The N-revision is built in the Leon Cupra, Golf R, Audi S3, TTS... :thumbdown:

In october, they released a new revision - we'll see if that will solve the comfort-problem


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## tekmo (Nov 30, 2013)

booze- said:


> Here in Germany, the N revision of the turbo in my R (June 2014) makes an annoying rattle-noise which can't be fixed with 'the special clip'. And I'm not the only one. German forums are full of people who complain about strange rattle-noises which sound like having a coin box in the motor compartment.
> 
> And what do you think is VW doing? They don't care. It's a comfort problem - repairs are forbidden.
> 
> ...


I have that noise on my A3 here in Canada and Audi is labeling it as a characteristic of the car. It is not loud, but noticeable at 1500 - 2500rpm if you start paying attention.


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