2019 Audi A6

The factory-installed mechanical water pump module suffered a severe internal seal and housing failure. This allowed pressurized engine coolant to migrate directly into the engine's vacuum control system and vacuum lines, damaging crucial emissions and vacuum tubing. This defect poses a severe safety risk as coolant entering the vacuum grid can cause sudden loss of engine power, erratic braking assist, and localized engine overheating while operating the vehicle at highway speeds.

My 2019 Audi A6 was diagnosed with catastrophic internal engine failure on May 9, 2026 at Audi of Newton, Newton, NJ, at 93,645 miles. The vehicle required a full engine rebuild performed by REV Auto NJ at a cost of $12,000. The failure involved metal debris found in the engine oil, consistent with the documented EA839 3.0L V6 TFSI rocker arm needle bearing failure or piston skirt failure affecting this engine family. The EA839 engine used in this vehicle has a documented history of design defects: (1) Rocker arm needle bearings in early production engines were undersized and prone to disintegration, releasing metal debris into the oil supply and destroying camshaft lobes, balance shafts, and pistons. Audi silently revised the rocker arm part number three times (06M109417H -> 06M109417L -> 0P2109417), with the final revision featuring bearings twice the size of the originals - evidence of a known design defect. No recall was issued. (2) Audi of America issued a Piston Skirt Limited Warranty Extension in 2025 to 8 years/80,000 miles for EA839 piston failures. Independent engineering analysis by 034Motorsport, backed by laboratory testing, confirms that the EA839 piston design creates failure paths even under stock, unmodified conditions. Audi of America has not issued a safety recall for this engine failure pattern despite multiple documented failures across the A6, A7, A8, S4, S5, SQ5, Q7, and Q8 platforms sharing this engine. The failure mode - metal debris circulating through the lubrication system - poses a risk of sudden, complete engine loss while driving at highway speeds, creating an unreasonable safety risk to vehicle occupants and other motorists. I am requesting that NHTSA investigate the EA839 3.0T engine for a potential safety-related defect and consider whether a recall is warranted across the affected model population. I have incurred $12,000 in repair costs for a defect that evidence strongly suggests is a design flaw, not a maintenance issue.

I recently brought my 2019 A6 to Nyack Audi for an unrelated repair, after performing their complimentary inspection the service advisor told me my water pump was leaking coolant into the vacuum hose system; and the pump, PCV valve, sensors, solenoids and vacuum hose system need to be replaced, costing $6,186. My A6 was out of warranty at that point, so Audi would not pay for the $6,186 in repairs. Engine coolant purportedly leaks into the vacuum system and other electrical components, causing contamination of the vacuum system. Leaking coolant will cause an overheated engine and possible FAILURE of the (EA839)engine and even the turbocharger . Today I did some online research line research and discovered a class action lawsuit involving their 1.8 & 2.0 engine water pumps which failed prematurely for the same reason. A major class-action settlement (Zhao v. Volkswagen Group of America) was approved covering certain 2014–2021 Audi vehicles equipped with 1.8L and 2.0L engines. And now, there is a class action involving the 2.9 & 3.0 V6 engines; “the lawsuit alleges the water pumps are defective in Audi's 2.9-liter and 3.0-liter EA839 V-6s; these engines were available in nearly every Audi model on sale from the 2018 to 2024 model years. The lawsuit—Larr, et al., v. Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., et al. —has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey”. Apparently, Audi has know about this issue since at least 2018 and done nothing to try and resolve it. Please put the pressure of the federal government on Audi to settle the lawsuit, DO THE RIGHT THING and cover the cost of repairs. Also find a solution to prevent this from happening to other Audi owners. I can’t afford $6,186 for a repair, nor go purchase a different vehicle…..Rock & a hard place. Please help. Thank you .

Complete shut down of all electrical associated components while driving on highway Loss of power steering loss of braking loss of ability to accelerate transmission failure loss of lane detection, loss of car detection. Diagnosed as , faulty alternator recall repaired and continuation of same electrical failures despite six additional repairs Multiple failures of all electrical components on highway road and side roads

Yellow battery indicator light came on while driving car in 35 degree weather after a week of sitting in garage (holidays). I pulled over, read the manual and it said this could cause battery light to illuminate. I called the dealership service to ask them, they said possible reason. I decided to drive across city to dealership, 25 minutes away. On HOV lane, red warning lights flashing to pull over then 5 seconds later everything went black. No electrical, no engine, car died. VERY DANGEROUS!! Read later that this has been happening on Audi A6 (& other models) for 2+ years. Towed to dealership and they have had 1.5 weeks and still not fixed.

The car gave me electrical malfunction warning while driving on the highway, then all the screens turned black, and the car completely shut down while driving. The steering was still working, although heavier than usual, and the breaking also worked. The car slow down to a complete stop at the shoulder of the highway. This was very concerning, and thankfully happened close on exit with a shoulder at the side in which I was able to park the car.

Electrical fault dash warnings (steering, transmission, braking and many other things too numerous to mention came on while driving the car and it went into limp mode and forced the car to stop and would not restart. The car had to be towed to the dealership where they diagnosed the problem to be the "alternator" which is more accurately what is known as the "belt starter generator" BSG. The BSG runs the start stop feature of the car and charges the mild hybrid 48v battery system that runs many of the critical features of the vehicle. They do not have the part in stock and do not know how long it will take to get in. I understand that there is NOT an upgraded part available that will fix this issue, only the same part that they are continuing to put on all of the V6 engine models since 2019 to today. The A6,7 and A8 and Q5,7 and Q8 models in particular are being affected. This is an extremely dangerous problem that has not been remedied by Audi/VW to this point and the NHTSA should issue a recall.