S4 2021MY sound actuator or not?

[Dave Thornton]

Hi Dave, I saw another thread on here about position of the sound generator so took a look and I have one in the same place in the door on the passenger side of the scuttle panel there's a fluid reservoir due to packaging but just about managed to get the part number. Should be easy to see if you have the box or wiring loom.

Hi Rich - really useful, thanks, and surprise surprise I have that part in exactly the same place. So maybe I'm only missing the actuator (4HO 907 601 E, £140 and available) that's supposedly somewhere near the rear silencer.

Emailed the dealer principal on Wednesday - heard nothing back. Two further throws of the dice to go - book it in at my local dealer and play dumb; email Audi UK director.

 

[Richn83]

I will see if I can spot the actuator somewhere around the back I tried to have a look last night but couldn't see anything while it was in the garage, if you have all the hardware maybe its a coding thing or simply a fault, but there original position of they didn't fit it for that car is clearly rubbish since you have at least some of the hardware and that hopefully means the wiring loom is all in place which would make any resolution easier for them! Could be worth getting a scan to see if you have any coding related to it, this coding matches up with the part I have under the scuttle panel, so something similar should be coded up on your car and I suspect in the can gateway etc so you can adjust via the MMI, happy to share a VIN if it helps them as well.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address A9: Struct. Borne Sound (J869) Labels: None
Part No SW: 8W0 907 159 L HW: 4K0 907 159
Component: SAS-GEN 2.5 H08 0002
Serial number: 210205203159
ASAM Dataset: EV_SoundActuaGen2AU64X 003010
ROD: EV_SoundActuaGen2AU64X.rod
VCID: 4ACC99DB9C318D6B117-801E

No fault code found.

 

[Frizzley]

I will see if I can spot the actuator somewhere around the back I tried to have a look last night but couldn't see anything while it was in the garage, if you have all the hardware maybe its a coding thing or simply a fault, but there original position of they didn't fit it for that car is clearly rubbish since you have at least some of the hardware and that hopefully means the wiring loom is all in place which would make any resolution easier for them! Could be worth getting a scan to see if you have any coding related to it, this coding matches up with the part I have under the scuttle panel, so something similar should be coded up on your car and I suspect in the can gateway etc so you can adjust via the MMI, happy to share a VIN if it helps them as well.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address A9: Struct. Borne Sound (J869) Labels: None
Part No SW: 8W0 907 159 L HW: 4K0 907 159
Component: SAS-GEN 2.5 H08 0002
Serial number: 210205203159
ASAM Dataset: EV_SoundActuaGen2AU64X 003010
ROD: EV_SoundActuaGen2AU64X.rod
VCID: 4ACC99DB9C318D6B117-801E

No fault code found.

may be wrong but believe it sits above the flat plastic panel on the opposite side to the silencer

 

[Richn83]

I can't help but feel this looks like an actual exhaust flap can't see any speaker being able to fit under the plastic cover on the drivers side I think that's just ad blue tank from what I can see.

I only say it looks like an exhaust flap based on some of the BMW images I've seen with what looks like a bearing on the far side.

That is in front of the rear silencer in the areas around the fuel tanks.

 

[Frizzley]

I can't help but feel this looks like an actual exhaust flap can't see any speaker being able to fit under the plastic cover on the drivers side I think that's just ad blue tank from what I can see.

I only say it looks like an exhaust flap based on some of the BMW images I've seen with what looks like a bearing on the far side.

That is in front of the rear silencer in the areas around the fuel tanks

the noise on mine is definitely louder on the right hand side of the car but after having a good look underneath it’s not obvious where its actually coming from

where abouts on the car are the first two photo showing?

 

[Richn83]

on doing some more reading last night its possible the valve is more related to emission control than sound, low and high pressure EGR but need to find this speaker. Only thing I've seen is on the S6 and SQ5 they have the speaker can on the rear of the exhaust, so need to take a look at the backbox to see if there are any electronics attached, they basically had a blocker on one of the exhaust valves right at the rear muffler, on those cars, but that doesn't fit with the part number Dave has which is aligned with a speaker.

On the SQ5 diagram I have circled the position of the vlave I found and the sound can which is an in exhaust speaker.

 

[Frizzley]

the noise on mine is definitely louder on the right hand side of the car but after having a good look underneath it’s not obvious where its actually coming from

where abouts on the car are the first two photo showing?

Was at the dealership this morning so took the opportunity to ask where is was and was told its actually in the back box!

 

[Richn83]

so should be built into the back box, will take a look at that later then, should be a wire or similar feeding into it somewhere, will see if I can grab a pic of it (any excuse to lie on the floor under my car....)

 

[Frizzley]

so should be built into the back box, will take a look at that later then, should be a wire or similar feeding into it somewhere, will see if I can grab a pic of it (any excuse to lie on the floor under my car....)

I did have a quick look after I got back but couldnt see anything obvious, wiring etc but the space above is really tight. The circular box that’s showing in the SQ5 picture is definitely not there however the back box looks to be much larger than the one on the SQ5. Wonder if the two have been combined?

 

[Richn83]

If they had integrated it you'd assume the pricer cars would have a similar setup.

I can't really tell from this post if they are suggesting they took the left hand back box to pieces and that speaker was inside, if so there should still be some sort of wire attaching which I can't see, but that back box is a similar shape.



Anyone make sense of the part code on the back box?

 

[Richn83]

I've found the speaker, I might have some carbon monoxide poisoning having shoved my head under the rear of the car with the engine running..... But it's in the base of the rear wheel well which makes it very hard to spot!

Hoping you've got one of those Dave then it should be really simple for them to sort!

 

[Frizzley]

Nice result - note to self not to ask local dealer for any info about the car . Ironically it must have been right above my head when I was looking at the exhaust earlier - just stuck my head under the back of the car and saw it instantly. Cant see from the inside though as the hybrid battery sits right above it.

 

[Richn83]

Nice result - note to self not to ask local dealer for any info about the car . Ironically it must have been right above my head when I was looking at the exhaust earlier - just stuck my head under the back of the car and saw it instantly. Cant see from the inside though as the hybrid battery sits right above it.

Exactly the same had to have my head under it to find it, could feel the air moving off it on pronounced, as you say directly under 48v battery so hope Dave has one in place as that would be a pita to retro fit although I expect that will be his dealers job!

 

[Dave Thornton]

Just looked underneath and I have the speaker just like everybody else. Funnily enough it looks like a speaker! Quite how a main dealer and Audi Assist missed this I do not know. So I now think that it's a settings issue, especially as I found this on the AudiWorld forum. So it's a possibility that mine is set to 0% and that it can be changed to 100%? I presume Audi Assist have an OBDeleven or equivalent in their van? (In other news, I've escalated the dealer non-response to UK CEO of Inchcape and got an acknowledgment from his PA).

Originally Posted by caranddriver
Where is the soundaktor function in OBDeleven? I'll have to turn it to zero. I already have it on comfort - all these noise amplification "tricks" are lame in any car. We are lucky its a separate speaker and not pumped through the car stereo like BMW,

1. From the main screen, tap on your car
2. Tap "Control Units"
3. Tap "Structure Borne Sound (A9)"
4. Tap "Adaptation"
5. Tap "Volume of Structure-borne noise actuator"

I haven't gone any further since I've yet to actually change my Soundaktor. I'm currently at 100% but thinking of going to 50% or 0%.

 

[Richn83]

That's great, so your vin showed the two part numbers and that they were fitted as there physically in place, so it's purely coding, but could be multiple systems, soundaktor being one but maybe can gateway to tell everything else you've got one.

Can you see the option in drive select individual for the exhaust sound?

Audi assist will have Audi diagnostics more advanced than obd11 they will be able to get access to code info etc

It does mean that if you luck out with Audi then someone with vcds should be able to get it working for you by coding things up, soundaktor coding I shared above to mirror mine.

 

[Dave Thornton]

I've found the speaker, I might have some carbon monoxide poisoning having shoved my head under the rear of the car with the engine running..... But it's in the base of the rear wheel well which makes it very hard to spot!

Hoping you've got one of those Dave then it should be really simple for them to sort!

Hi Rich - are you 100% sure this is a speaker and not part of the 48v system e.g. a fan? It's just that I recall a few weeks back that I heard a fan running when the engine was off under the boot floor. (The latest is that my local dealer are suggesting that I should be getting internal sound only)

 

[Richn83]

Ive had a few more looks today following Dave's question about the speaker and found the following diagram and control units, looks like the S4 at least has two active sound systems the Soundaktor and a sound generator.

The first is the one we were expecting to see and is common across all the VAG cars and is for internal sound (the actuator is actually next to the control on the firewall at the base of the engine).

Then I also found a part code for Engine Sound generator which is housed in the left rear compartment this I suspect is what drives the speakers in the exhaust on the SQ5 and S6 (the S6 has the same controller), for packaging reasons they are I assumed placed in the rear spare wheel well on the S4 and S5 and vent out through that hole with grill (I found images of third party installs using wheel wheels to install them so its not un-common, I would need to remove the 48V battery or B&O sound system sub to find out if it is there and I'm not ready for that just yet...

 

[Dave Thornton]

Thanks again Rich and I can confirm that I have all of the visible parts you have - 2 on the bulkhead, 1 behind the left boot trim and the vent under the 48v system. I had previously checked fuse 5 and that was OK even though the fusebox and the diagram in the handbook didn't match.

Awaiting 2nd response from local dealer.

 

[Frizzley]

Evening Dave

Have reread this thread from the beginning again. Given it looks like you have been physically been able to identify you have all the kit which is also backed up by the fact you have the sound adjustment option in the mmi, suggests to me there is either an issue with one or more of the components, something has not been connected properly or it’s software / settings issue.

wonder if it’s worth asking the dealer if they’ve not done it already to check for any fault codes. Also in the previous post you mentioned using the the individual mode. On mine the only really noticeable difference is when it’s in dynamic mode, comfort and efficiency are pretty much identical and very quiet.

Have also read on one of the German forums that when restarting after using the individual modes, the car goes back to the balanced rather than dynamic setting although not had tbe chance to validate this yet

 

[Dave Thornton]

Evening Dave

Have reread this thread from the beginning again. Given it looks like you have been physically been able to identify you have all the kit which is also backed up by the fact you have the sound adjustment option in the mmi, suggests to me there is either an issue with one or more of the components, something has not been connected properly or it’s software / settings issue.

wonder if it’s worth asking the dealer if they’ve not done it already to check for any fault codes. Also in the previous post you mentioned using the the individual mode. On mine the only really noticeable difference is when it’s in dynamic mode, comfort and efficiency are pretty much identical and very quiet.

Have also read on one of the German forums that when restarting after using the individual modes, the car goes back to the balanced rather than dynamic setting although not had tbe chance to validate this yet

Hi - there weren't any fault codes back on day 3 as per Audi Assist visit, so I'm leaning towards a setting in the 'service menu'.
My experience of Individual (on S4 and previous Q7) is that it remains in that setting after restarting.

 

[Richn83]

I've been using individual a lot and it holds the exhaust noise setting, all of these systems communicate over can from what I've read so it could be as simple as the can setting to communicate isn't set, if the dealer records show you should only have the internal one then I think the way it works Audi wouldn't have coded everything up to work with it, should be a simple change for them, but computer will just say no..... I will look through my scan data see if I can see the engine sound generator listed, but might need to look at long coding info to make sense of it.

 

[Dave Thornton]

Might be getting somewhere, having escalated to the CEO of the dealer group. They are suggesting that a software update will fix the issue, which I am hopeful of. In the meantime, I've attached images of the current settings.

 

[Richn83]

Sounds like good progress, at least there suggesting they will take some action, my mib3 seems to be on similar software versions but could be all sort of updates they could push be interesting to see what they do, I think they have a process of plugging the car in and getting coding updates and version revisions from a central server, doesn't look like your maps have updated to recent versions.

 

[Dave Thornton]

Happy to report that my local dealer fixed the issue this morning - under the subwoofer in the boot there was a connector to the active exhaust that wasn't connected - simple as that. Now it finally sounds like it should have, 78 days after delivery. Thanks to Rich, Frizzley and others on here who shared info and confirmed by belief that I wasn't being told the truth by the supplying dealer.

Very disappointing that the supplying didn't notice the issue, then denied it was part of the spec, then washed their hands of it and only called back (with no apology) when I escalated to their UK CEO. Audi UK Customer Service (probably outsourced to Capita and using Salesforce case management system) very efficient but ultimately achieved very little other than keep me updated to ensure they hit their SLAs.

Now time to go out for a drive!

 

[Richn83]

Awesome news Dave! Really pleased for you and such a simple fix and good to know it's under the subwoofer too as expected. It does sound good in dynamic when you launch it at a junction, a few people have also got excited on start up of the doors are open from the burble it's a good speaker!

 

[Frizzley]

Great result - enjoy