Over-heated Transmission? I'm not buying it..

['10S4]

I posted this two days ago in a different thread...

"I'm out driving and I get the transmission malfunction safe to drive warning... then it happens five minutes later... and five minutes later the warning comes again and the car goes out of gear and into neutral, it then "catches" and I get home. I have a 2010 S4, with the DSG, 36K miles.

From the collective experience of the community, does it sound like I'm going to need a new transmission? In advance, thanks!"

Now, the rest of the story... The dealer tells me these fault codes were triggered by the Transmission over heating. Here's where it gets weird- Audi has told the dealership that they have only seen these tranny shut downs when cars are being tracked, or being driven really aggressively. I was cruising along at 45 mph on a cool evening when this happened.

The dealer verified that temp sensors are both working, and, that the fluid was perfect- as new, they said.

They are driving the car today to try and replicate the problem. If they can't replicate it, they will be giving my car back this afternoon.

Any thoughts from the collective wisdom here? In advance, thanks!

[BLACKS4-10]

Hope it isn't as serious as it sounds but if they should find something wrong it should be covered under warranty.Being that you have 36K on the odo,has the car ever been tracked or routinely ridden *hard*?.

[2011_S4]

I had something similar a few months ago...warning would come on and go off until one day I backed out of a driveway and lost all ability to get into any gear. IIRC, it ended up being faulty wiring to the circuit board on the DSG causing it to trip out and shut down completely. I'd have to check my service records for more detail. They ended up re-stringing the whole wire and I've had no problems since. I believe I had close to 12,000 miles on it when it happened. No talk of overheating though either. Just a surge on the faulty wire.

['10S4]

Hope it isn't as serious as it sounds but if they should find something wrong it should be covered under warranty.Being that you have 36K on the odo,has the car ever been tracked or routinely ridden *hard*?.
I'm embarrassed to admit that I am a commuter. Up until recently I owned a Boxster S that was the recipient of any driving that I would consider "hard". I do have a lot of warranty left (I bought the car from a collegue at work when it had 11k miles and we had Audi Cerify it for the extended warranty)and I'm fairly confident that the event will replicate itself at some point during the next couple of years and Audi will replace the transmission at that point.

I do feel good that the tech observed that the fluid was pristine. According to him, that isnt the case with any serious transmission issues that they have seen.

Oddly enough, with the computer riding shotgun today, the tech was unable to get the trans temp anywhere near overheating. Weird!

As an aside, the A3 TDI loaner was great. 40 plus mpg on my commute this morning!

['10S4]

Well- it did it again and the dealer is replacing the Transmission Control Mudule. There are thr
ee silver linings- first- warranty! Second, great 2011 A4 Avant loaner, Third, my dealer could not be more helpful.

[atombomb33]

Great to hear they are taking care of you and not giving you the run-around. I just read this thread for the first time and your first post sounded like it was the TCM. I've seen similar issues happen with other dual-clutch cars (MkV R32, Evo X, GTR, M3). A new TCM and you'll be good as new.