Tiptronic transmission

[schusters4]

Calling all Stage 3 and Stage 3- Tips. I have a transmission issue and I need your input on. My full Stage 3 Tip is running into some transmission oil leaks. It seems as though the transmission leak is linked to the "transmission oil pump" (which is not a pump at all but a gasket) has a slow leak in it. This is nothing huge but I replaced the torque converter and the valve body with the Level 10 upgrade. I figured that these two upgrades will prevent any transmission failure with the increased HP and TQ. The shifting is firm through all the gears on acceleration, but only downshifting into first does it give a rough shift (that reminds you that you're driving a high performance vehicle).

I have two questions for my Audizine public. One: has anyone experienced a failed transmission oil pump? BTW Audi just replaces the whole transmission. Are there any other options? Second, what kind of transmission shops can handle an upgraded Audi automatic transmission? Level 10? IPT? Wicked Motorsports? 3Zero3? Need some input. I’m shipping my transmission out to the east coast next week from Portland, OR (the west coast) and I need a reputable transmission shop that’ll hook up a Stage 3 S4 Tiptronic. Obviously the geographic area is no obstacle for me I just want the best shop to take care of my situation. thank you!!

[JohnnyG]

I've installed a pump once.... it is something that any good tranny shop can do.... If you send it to one of your performance shops see about a full tear down...upgraded clutches ect. If available. The trans is out anyway. I like to hear what options they give you as
I am running a tip at the moment. Do you like the t/c and v/b. What did they cost, parts only. thanks

[dannyn424]

i have a bad trans pump leak and now im getting a tc upgrade and pump rebuild kit... i think my amsoil ate away at my gunky seal............
its gonna cost $$$.......

[schusters4]

I'd have to double check my invoices, but I believe the TC and VB came to around $1300. I've been very happy with the upgrade just this little issue i wanted to fix before it turned into something worse

[goohead]

Just get a full rebuild, my asp st 3 tip just blew out 4th and 5th cause of clutch pack e, a guy I been talking to had the same issue on his. Stage 3 allroad from vast, and did a full rebuild. If you did your tc and valvebosy yourself maybe try the rebuilD yourself.

Fyi I bought a wms TC which ended up being a 517 trans TC. So if your think about wms cross them off the list. 517 is owned by sam previous of lv10. So far the TC is holding up real well, no codes. And I run amsoil too, the atf won't eat through your seal, the seal is just going bad

[schusters4]

I heard a lot of good things about Sam. He was the first person I spoke with at level 10 I'm sure his product is tuned better for an Audi other than the level 10 TC and VB I'm running. Sam seemed to be Level 10's Audi go-to guy.

[AudiRacerS4]

you shouldn't be down shifting into first. I'm running the full IPT trans kit on my car and love it

[SeattleS4]

Have you considered Matrix Integrated in Portland?

How about 2Bennett?

[Cole]

you shouldn't be down shifting into first.

Care to elaborate on why not?

[schusters4]

Matrix is the only shop I go to. They do great work and I've developed a great realtionship with them. However they don't have the resources for transmission work. The reason for this post is that I know there are a few stage 3 tip S4's out there and I wanted to get their $0.02 on any shops that do transmission upgrades for Audi Tiptronic system. I wish there were better choices closer to where I live but unfortunately, I'm limited to shipping my transmission out to a shop I know relatively nothing about. Plus it adds on an extra two weeks of down time and extra $$$. Thanks for all the info BTW

[JohnnyG]

Calling all Stage 3 and Stage 3- Tips. I have a transmission issue and I need your input on. My full Stage 3 Tip is running into some transmission oil leaks. It seems as though the transmission leak is linked to the "transmission oil pump" (which is not a pump at all but a gasket) has a slow leak in it. This is nothing huge but I replaced the torque converter and the valve body with the Level 10 upgrade. I figured that these two upgrades will prevent any transmission failure with the increased HP and TQ. The shifting is firm through all the gears on acceleration, but only downshifting into first does it give a rough shift (that reminds you that you're driving a high performance vehicle).

I have two questions for my Audizine public. One: has anyone experienced a failed transmission oil pump? BTW Audi just replaces the whole transmission. Are there any other options? Second, what kind of transmission shops can handle an upgraded Audi automatic transmission? Level 10? IPT? Wicked Motorsports? 3Zero3? Need some input. I’m shipping my transmission out to the east coast next week from Portland, OR (the west coast) and I need a reputable transmission shop that’ll hook up a Stage 3 S4 Tiptronic. Obviously the geographic area is no obstacle for me I just want the best shop to take care of my situation. thank you!!

hey I was thinking how do you know the pump is leaking? Which seal? There is one where the t/c slides into the pump (but u probably did that one when the t/c was out and if you didn't it may be your problem and is a real easy fix) .... or the seal around the pump housing where it slides into the rest of the gearbox? Sorry for the question, if it is obvious, but I've never seen a stock one leak there. Maybe its all that extra power?

[schusters4]

hey I was thinking how do you know the pump is leaking? Which seal? There is one where the t/c slides into the pump (but u probably did that one when the t/c was out and if you didn't it may be your problem and is a real easy fix) .... or the seal around the pump housing where it slides into the rest of the gearbox? Sorry for the question, if it is obvious, but I've never seen a stock one leak there. Maybe its all that extra power?

Honestly I wish I knew. The car is currently at the shop getting taken apart to find out what's going on. I have neither the tools or the know-how to tackle an issue like this. I have about as much knowledge about the inner functions of a car as Mikey does about the OCC chopper bikes. After many conversations with those who do know about the components of the transmission. It sounds like this particular "pump" should have been replaced when the TC and VB were installed. I will find out more tomorrow though.
I believe this particular leak is not very common. Rather the part in question is subject to failure regardless of HP, as many Audi technicans have seen this issue before with stock A4 and S4's. It's more an issue of the part being straight up faulty to begin with. I'll post my findings so all other Tip owners can be aware.

[JohnnyG]

bump, any news?

[schusters4]

It's the transmission oil pump. They just wear out over time. I was told that around 100k they start loosing their seal. It probably would have been a good idea to replace it while the TC and VB where out the first time.

[johnkent1212]

you shouldn't be down shifting into first. I'm running the full IPT trans kit on my car and love it

How many miles have you had it?

[Gigi]

It's the transmission oil pump. They just wear out over time. I was told that around 100k they start loosing their seal. It probably would have been a good idea to replace it while the TC and VB where out the first time.

How much $ did they say it'd cost?

[buttermobile]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jyNc4zHGdgA

[schusters4]

How much $ did they say it'd cost?

A dollar figure? I don't know. fortunately the warranty company is taking care of this. I can speculate it being around $2500, or so. I did get a hold of my shop to find out what their expert opinion was of the situation and they gave me this

They did see one interesting thing on the transmission that they wanted us to look at once it arrived back here. It’s something they’ve seen on the Dinan BMW supercharged cars, but haven’t seen yet on any 2.7T tip’s as they don’t upgrade the torque converters and valve bodies like Level10 does; they just rebuild factory (stock) transmissions so stock trannies are all they see. Att’d are two pics of the front (#9423) and back (#9422m) of a Mercedes tranny oil pump (we have a client with an S600 V12 bi-turbo with one that’s leaking) which looks a bit similar to yours. Like on the BMW, there are two dowel pins, one on each side, which keep the tranny from basically rotating around on itself. Kurt was saying that on your tranny he could see the pump basically torquing/shifting to one side (as simulated with the green arrow on #9422m, from the car’s power). This is what caused the fluid leak—the fact that it was torquing to one side, therefore the fluid bypassing it a bit. The fix for the BMW guys was that some company was machining different dowel pins so that there essentially wasn’t as much flex. I hope this makes some sense---I’ll try to take some more pics when your tranny arrives back here to explain further. But, Kurt was mentioning that it’s not a matter of it the tranny oil pump will leak again from torquing again, but rather when.

So. lesson learned fellow Stage 3 Tip owners. Our transmission cannot handle the power/torque of the RS4 K04 upgrade. It seems as though we have a weakness in the "dowel pins". That's F-ing weak.

[Skydive@AI]

Level10 is scamtastic. Avoid them like the plague. Several years ago, my B5 S4 was the second one to receive one of their "everything on it" transmission rebuilds in preparation for Stage III. (I was the first to go full Stage III with a Tip, courtesy of APR.) In any case, the transmission made two trips to Level10 because they managed to mangle the center shaft seal the first time out. After that, I successfully put about eight thousand miles on the trans with Stage III, but it would commonly over-rev and go into limp mode under full power.

Eventually, I ended up with TiAL R650 turbos, and not unexpectedly, the transmission wet the bed after a couple of hundred miles. When I began searching for options again, I made contact with Sam of 517 Transmission, (now on his own, after having been my contact at Level10). He explained that my $5500 Level10 job had in fact consisted of a few OE replacement clutchpacks, a hacked torque converter stator, and a few Home Depot washers used to shim valve body springs.

Eventually I ended up sending the transmission to Sam. He has torn it down and confirmed that everything was in fact stock, and badly worn. All of the clutchpacks are either badly worn or completely gone, pressure plates are warped, and the valve body was in fact just shimmed.

He is rebuilding the transmission again now, and using true performance materials, and proper machine work. He has agreed to document the process with photographs and allow observers of my choice.

Thank you Sam. No thank you, Level10.

-Michael.

[Reich]

Level10 is scamtastic. Avoid them like the plague. Several years ago, my B5 S4 was the second one to receive one of their "everything on it: transmission rebuilds in preparation for Stage III. (I was the first to go full Stage III with a Tip, courtesy of APR.) In any case, the transmission made two trips to Level10 because they managed to mangle the center shaft seal the first time out. After that, I successfully put about eight thousand miles on the trans with Stage III, but it would commonly over-rev and go into limp mode under full power.

Eventually, I ended up with TiAL R650 turbos, and not unexpectedly, the transmission wet the bed after a couple of hundred miles. When I began searching for options again, I made contact with Sam of 517 Transmission, (now on his own, after having been my contact at Level10). He explained that my $5500 Level10 job had in fact consisted of a few OE replacement clutchpacks, a hacked torque converter stator, and a few Home Depot washers used to shim valve body springs.

Eventually I ended up sending the transmission to Sam. He has torn it down and confirmed that everything was in fact stock, and badly worn. All of the clutchpacks are either badly worn or completely gone, pressure plates are warped, and the valve body was in fact just shimmed.

He is rebuilding the transmission again now, and using true performance materials, and proper machine work. He has agreed to document the process with photographs and allow observers of my choice.

Thank you Sam. No thank you, Level10.

-Michael.

Hey Micheal How are you doing? Wondering how long can i expect with My tranny oil pump? I actually have 61k miles and did t/c and valve body from ipt. And again please keep us tune with your tranny upgrade. We never know what could hapen in the next years right? Especially with my setup which is almost like yours.

[indie.ianjones]

hey, I have a '98 A4 2.8 I bought it a couple of weeks ago and just realized that the (+) doesn't work on the manual override for upshifting... the minus works and downshifts just fine, but the plus doesn't upshift for some reason. the automatic drive setting upshifts just fine and downshifts just as well. It's just this manual override that I can't seem to figure out.

[awtst3.a6]

zombie thread

[achase1]

It's the transmission oil pump. They just wear out over time. I was told that around 100k they start loosing their seal. It probably would have been a good idea to replace it while the TC and VB where out the first time.

Did you ever get the pump repaired? Does the mechanic buy a rebuilt or new pump or just use a pump rebuild kit? i was just told that the pump is bad on my audi.

thanks, andy

[AUDI_JAY]

I got to bump sams work over at 517 since the upgraded TC and Valvebody the car has been running like a champ.