Please Help! I think my CVT Tranny Might be Blown :(

[audifan22]

Well I was driving home tonight in normal drive mode when all of a sudden I felt the car slip and I have a CVT tranny (85k miles). Got a transmission flush around (70k) The engine light when on immediately (not blinking) but where the P R N D info on the dashboard is it started blinking like crazy. I drove about another mile home at about 35-40 mph. The car also sounds very loud under the hood. I have 2 videos below, click the picture to get to the video. Thanks for any help guys!

http://i520.photobucket.com/albums/w326/Renegade9999/th_VIDEO0014.jpg (http://s520.photobucket.com/albums/w326/Renegade9999/?action=view&current=VIDEO0014.mp4)

http://i520.photobucket.com/albums/w326/Renegade9999/th_VIDEO0013.jpg (http://s520.photobucket.com/albums/w326/Renegade9999/?action=view&current=VIDEO0013.mp4)

[{PMS}fishy]

Video 1 -> That is what the car sounds like. Flashing PRNDS is bad, 85k seems about the time these transmissions explode. It is also possible that it is the TCU which is in the transmission. You are basically screwed either way.

[audifan22]

Just great, what options do I have from here?

[event]

Google "flashy PRNDS", there are tons of threads from way back with the information you're likely looking for. What mods you got?

[audifan22]

Google "flashy PRNDS", there are tons of threads from way back with the information you're likely looking for. What mods you got?

Thanks, looking now, a $7k CVT repair when I'm planning on selling the car in 6 months is the last thing I need :(

[{PMS}fishy]

Just great, what options do I have from here?

Rag in the gas tank?

[registrationwiz]

There is company that can rebuild your TCM for you. They are worldwide. I tried them and it was great. http://www.bba-reman.com

l

[audifan22]

There is company that can rebuild your TCM for you. They are worldwide. I tried them and it was great. http://www.bba-reman.com

l

Thanks but I don't even know what that means. What's a TCM??? This is so disheartening.

[WasGTIguy]

I can't see 7k for CVT repairs. A DSG is less than half of that and more complex.

[audifan22]

Do I need to go to the dealer or indy shop and pay a diagnostic fee or can I get the same diagnostic codes from the obdII reader at advanced auto zone and report back here?

[makav3li]

get the codes and post them here and see if you can get some good info out of the forums, and if ur still not satisfied have a reputable indy shop diagnose it for you. I can almost garuntee that the dealer will take 4 hours to read a vag com and then say it needs to be replaced.

[audifan22]

I just got back from advanced auto parts, it pulled 2 codes, p0722 "output speed sensor circuit- no signal" and p0730 "gear ratio incorrect". This not NOT sound good. I will research it here on the forums now, on a positive note, I obviously babied the car over, but it appeared to drive fine with no slippage.

[audifan22]

So apparently p0722 code means the TCM needs to be replaced, but the p0730 I couldnt find much, I hope the p0730 is just a result of not getting info from the TCM to switch gears correctly. At this point it seems like I need to start making some calls to see how much I can get this done for :(

[audifan22]

I can't get any of the parts department to get me the part # of the TCM that would be in my car based on my VIN number. Does anyone here have access to the part # for the TCM if I PM'ed you my vin, since I was told there are different TCM modules for different VIN's?

[audifan22]

Oh well, had to suck it up I guess, have an appointment set with the dealer for $2k to replace the TCM with bolts gaskets oil etc..with a $62 diagnostic to make sure its the TCM

[mo17k3y85]

keep us posted, love to know the outcome, prices, issues, etc

[audifan22]

Price is $2k, I'll let you know if anything changes, going in tomorrow, should be completed Friday. Not happy at all.

[audiboss]

To the OP, I am very sorry to hear about the loss of your beloved transmission. I had the exact same car with the same failure too. Mine was at 90k miles and my Audi dealer ripped me off and charged me 3k. You are a true son of a bitch if you can get it fixed for only 2k. God bless you, but I suggest you get rid of that Audi soon before your turbo dies. I am a true Audi devote and test drove the new S4 many times but after the horrendous Audi reliability I decided I needed an N/A engine and the only way to go was the BMW M3.

[elwigglero]

To the OP, I am very sorry to hear about the loss of your beloved transmission. I had the exact same car with the same failure too. Mine was at 90k miles and my Audi dealer ripped me off and charged me 3k. You are a true son of a bitch if you can get it fixed for only 2k. God bless you, but I suggest you get rid of that Audi soon before your turbo dies. I am a true Audi devote and test drove the new S4 many times but after the horrendous Audi reliability I decided I needed an N/A engine and the only way to go was the BMW M3.

Nothing to do with Audi.... CVTs by nature fail prematurely and are expensive to fix, so they're being pulled from new models across just about all brands.

[B72.0T]

This shit makes me scared -.-

[b7kevin]

Rag in the gas tank?

hahaha, I <3 my 6MT. Auto's always seem to break down regardless of make or model. At least with a DSG you can swap the guts with performance guts when they finally give.

[audiboss]

Hello OP,

I was wondering if you would be kind enough to update us with the outcome of your TCM. Were you able to get it replaced by one of those Jabroni Audi tech's? They usually do a pretty good job, but every time I go in for service I walk around back to the bay and hand the Jabroni tech a Benjamin Franklin. Such a worthy investment, it's the only way to get quality work done these days. How much did those sluggers charge you? I hope it was under 3 Grand or else they took you buy the nuts. I sure learned from my experience.

[jdigga99]

Price is $2k, I'll let you know if anything changes, going in tomorrow, should be completed Friday. Not happy at all.

This is around how much it cost to replace mine......but mine blew at only 54k miles....





And then the transmission had to be rebuilt last fall at around 78k miles...another $2100...both covered under warranty though. But something to keep in mind.

[audifan22]

Hello OP,

I was wondering if you would be kind enough to update us with the outcome of your TCM. Were you able to get it replaced by one of those Jabroni Audi tech's? They usually do a pretty good job, but every time I go in for service I walk around back to the bay and hand the Jabroni tech a Benjamin Franklin. Such a worthy investment, it's the only way to get quality work done these days. How much did those sluggers charge you? I hope it was under 3 Grand or else they took you buy the nuts. I sure learned from my experience.

Hey, the TCM was the problem, the dealership was great, I ended up paying less than $2k.

[a4b7]

i just had my tcm replaced also...cost me 250..good thing I bought the extended warranty

[caligts]

This whole thread sucks to read if your a CVT owner. I'm spooked that this will happen to mine. I'm at 74k and my car is a lease return I bought from Audi and they have records of changing the CVT fluid already twice but still that TCM issue stinks to high hell! I can call 3 local Audi dealerships here in NorCal and get 3 different answers as their all independent or something? God Speed my fellow CVTr's!

[AudiCruisn]

This whole thread sucks to read if your a CVT owner. I'm spooked that this will happen to mine. I'm at 74k and my car is a lease return I bought from Audi and they have records of changing the CVT fluid already twice but still that TCM issue stinks to high hell! I can call 3 local Audi dealerships here in NorCal and get 3 different answers as their all independent or something? God Speed my fellow CVTr's!

Here's the deal.... I think the CVT gets an overly bad rep. because of the high cost to replace. Also, you never hear from the owners that don't have problems, only the one's that have the problems. Think about how many Audi CVTs are on the road? I have no numbers to back me up, but I'd be willing to bet that the majority of the Audis sold are CVT. Personally, I only know one guy with a CVT. He has a B6, has 120k miles, and has never had one problem. I'd love to see some numbers as to the percentage of failure pre-100k miles. I bet it's well under 1%.

[B72.0T]

Maybe its not that bad guys... of course if you're constantly not ripping on your car.

[{PMS}fishy]

Here's the deal.... I think the CVT gets an overly bad rep. because of the high cost to replace. Also, you never hear from the owners that don't have problems, only the one's that have the problems. Think about how many Audi CVTs are on the road? I have no numbers to back me up, but I'd be willing to bet that the majority of the Audis sold are CVT. Personally, I only know one guy with a CVT. He has a B6, has 120k miles, and has never had one problem. I'd love to see some numbers as to the percentage of failure pre-100k miles. I bet it's well under 1%.

I think the majority of the cars on the road are automatics, not CVTs. They get a bad rep because they deserve it, the ones that fail all fail around the same time. I don't think its a coincidence.

[audifan22]

I was told by corporate audi rep that he's heard lots of complaints about the TCM failure, and who knows in the future they might do reimbursement etc and to keep my receipt, but i think this was just to make me feel like i had a chance of recovering the large costs.

[WasGTIguy]

I have no numbers to back me up, but I'd be willing to bet that the majority of the Audis sold are CVT.


What? Not a chance man. Only the FrontTrak automatic models have a CVT. Quattro models are 6spd torque converter autos.