Audi has issued a recall on 45,789 vehicles because of a fuel gauge that might be a little too optimistic.
The issue affects the 2019-2021 A6 sedan, the 2020-2021 A6 Allroad, the S6 sedan, and the 2021 RS6 Avant, as well as the 2019-2021 A7, the 2020-2021 S7, and the 2021 RS7, though Audi believes that just 1 percent of the recall population will need repairs.
The trouble comes as a result of tolerance deviations making the distance between the fuel level sender and a ventilation pipe in some vehicles’ gas tanks too small. As a result, the fuel level sender can get stuck on the ventilation pipe, which will effectively render the fuel gauge useless.
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If this happens, the gauge may display an incorrect fuel level to the driver, increasing the odds that they’ll run out of fuel on the road and, potentially, increasing the risk of a crash. So if it suddenly seems like your tank of gas is lasting an implausibly long time, it’s not some miracle from the gas gods sparing you from high fuel prices – your fuel level reader is probably stuck.
Audi is actually issuing a global recall on this issue, so readers in countries outside the U.S. should also be wary of long-lasting gas tanks.
For its part, Audi USA expects to start notifying owners of the issue on May 13. They will be asked to bring their vehicle into a nearby service center where the tank will be examined and, if necessary, a new ventilation pipe and a new, smaller fuel level sender will be installed.
The repairs will be made free of charge and any owners who paid to repair their gas tanks will be reimbursed. Those who own vehicles made after February 2021 need not worry about the issue, since the tank supplier introduced a special quality check in order to prevent the issue from occurring.
