Transmission problems (tiptronic)

[meistah]

For the past couple weeks my car has been shifting horribly. When I start the car and drive in "D" the first shift is brutal, first off it's not the TC, I know what that feels like and its after it locks.
It's intermittent, and usually seems to get better after the car warms up. So I attributed it at first to the colder weather.... However it's happening everyday, it's never run like this before.

For example, I was driving around all day today. Once when I was turning a corner and accelerating it felt like it dropped the gear and the rpm's spiked to about 4500k from 2k very roughly, then it caught itself and drove normally... Another time I was turning a tight corner going about 30km/h and it seemed to stutter 3 times from 1-2nd and felt like it almost stalled.... I don't enjoy looking like a 16yr old kid who's learning to drive stick!

Just did all the coilpacks and plugs a few weeks ago, no CEL's, so it seems unlikely to be that. Transmission was flushed a month or two ago. I tried driving in sport mode, it felt marginally better but I still had the tranny horribly stutter in lower gears. I then tried it in tip, still felt very clunky going from 1-2nd.

I read up on this before posting, I know some people had similar problems, and a common solution was replacing mounts, coilpacks, spark plugs, etc... I had my shop check all my mounts when I had the tranny flushed and they said they were ok. Probably going to take it in to get looked at, just wanted a few more ideas if possible.

[AudiA4Turbo22]

Do you by chance have a coolant leak?

[bigblue]

Well, I am having almost the same kind of sensation but not anywhere near as severe. And it'll almost slip if I try to accelerate too quickly as the tc locks up. But you notice a difference in sport mode because the valve body pressure is raised slightly. I was talking to two different audi service managers and some techs as well and they all said that with higher mileage the valve body can get kind of sticky if you don't change the fluid... which in your case doesnt make sense since you had it changed...

Flushing can be kind of harsh on any automatic transmission as it more excess pressure on all the seals and moves particles around. The way the dealership does it is they put it on rollers and drain the fluid an change the filter and gasket and then they run it through all the gears with clean fluid until the tc dumps its last bit of nastiness out. They're going to be doing mine next week...

Also as the mounts get weaker and weaker you'll get a whole lot more slop as the tranny shits which isn't good for it at all. But it'll definitely intensify what your feeling. For example, one of my friends car has like 60k on it and the tranny mount was messed up... some like years of it just pulling and pulling to that one side the tranny decided to shit the bed. He just had a new tranny and mounts installed and the car runs like a million bucks.

With all that said, the service managers are both dealerships both said that the tip tranny is very strong and they never see them go bad... at least at their dealerships. I know some people on here know that to be the exact opposite ^^^^^^ But whatever. I'd buy some new tranny mounts for the car and go from there.

I know this sounds strange but with my car I think I have a vac leak somewhere but not enough to mess with boost. Because when I run the a/c the tranny shifts a whole lot better... Good luck man, oh an btw how many miles on your car?

[meistah]

Theres a bunch of white crap underneath the coolant reservoir, but its been there for the last couple months before this problem, so I didnt think anything of it... posting pics of it regardless. Looks like theres stress marks or something on the reservoir too, didnt feel a leak coming from it though.

The car was fine after I had the flush done, I checked my receipt and it was 3 months ago, so it doesnt seem related to that.. it wasn't like it got worse right after, it just started happening out of the blue a couple weeks ago.
I have 110kms... or 68k miles as you americans put it maybe I'll take it back and have them check the mounts again.
Now if it's the mounts I know the aftermarket ones are alot less expensive, but people are always complaining about it making more vibration. This is my DD not my race car, I want it to be comfortable...

[bigblue]

When he said coolant leak he meant your rear coolant housing on the back of the motor. It leaks onto the tranny and ruins in. The only reason I knew mine was bad was because I saw a lil bit of coolant residue on the bottom the the tranny pan so I found kirk's post about it and had the dealership replace mine under warranty. The mounts arent that expensive... you can get both oem mounts for $45 with free shipping at mjm autohaus. That was I was planning on getting next week. But I may end up spending the $75 each for 034 mounts

[meistah]

Ahh, that makes more sense.... faaawk I hope my tranny isnt shot!!! crossing my fingers that its just the mounts. Good enough, I'll take a look into it. Thanks for the info!

[bigblue]

upon looking at your pics it looks like you have a 3.0? I'm unsure if there is a place for coolant to leak on the back of that motor... but its always worth a look.

[meistah]

yea its a 3.0, sorry shoulda mentioned that. Logically it makes sense that the mounts are part of the problem. Could you link the ones on mjm? the website keeps timing out for me

[bigblue]

Heres the link, but before you go an order them, lets see the outcome of my tranny mount thread... I read a couple times that b5 v6 mounts fit b6 1.8 an v6 autos...

http://www.mjmautohaus.com/catalog/p...oducts_id=3493

[meistah]

Hmm, on another note, as I park the car on dirt I cant see if its leaking anything, so I put some cardboard under it and checked it an hour later.... theres 2 leaks, one seems pretty big considering it was only an hour, and the other is really tiny... might have something to do with it... ill find out in the next couple days

[bigblue]

Jack it up and put a jackstand or whatevers available to you under it. Remove the jack an then get under there and look

[AustinQuattro]

I've been having similar problems. In Drive, stepping on the gas gives a slow, smooth acceleration that feels like I'm driving a manual with my foot still on the clutch. When I put it in Tiptronic and shift myself, it does much better, with minimal slippage. After a while, the valve bodies get what's called "varnish" in them, and it affects their ability to hold pressure correctly and to shift properly. I have 119k on my 1.8T & tiptronic, and I have only owned it since 94k, so I don't know how it was maintained before I got it. But, I do think it's likely that there is some varnish in there.

If you ask the dealership, most of the service advisers will tell you that the transmission fluid is "lifetime" fluid and if you change it, you're risking the "goo" and "stuff" that's holding everything together coming free and tearing up the inside of your transmission. My take is that if the flush makes that happen, I'd rather find out while the car is being flushed than when I'm on a road trip! I'm making a road trip in a couple days, so I'm getting the tranny flushed tomorrow. Wish me luck.

ALSO--I found a boost leak which was affecting the shifting too it seems...or at least the acceleration. I changed the pancake valve and it got better, but there is still some leaking from a little aluminum canister (looks like a vacuum canister) that only the tiptronics seem to have. Need to figure that out as well.

[bigblue]

Oh that pump makes up extra vacuum when it reads low... if you pump your brakes fast while in park you can hear it turn on... I've read that if you push air through the pump it will leak as its not a sealed unit because it sucks air in and makes more vacuum for the system. There was a thread about this like a month ago but I can't remember what the original topic was that brought it up.

[meistah]

Took it in today, confirmed the coolant tank was leaking, replaced that, no more leaks.... drove away and it still drove like ass, died twice on the way home! felt almost like a 5 speed stalling.... regardless taking it back tomorrow for a second look.

[diagnosticator]

Hmm, on another note, as I park the car on dirt I cant see if its leaking anything, so I put some cardboard under it and checked it an hour later.... theres 2 leaks, one seems pretty big considering it was only an hour, and the other is really tiny... might have something to do with it... ill find out in the next couple days

If the transmission is leaking ATF, (It's not red colored in our Audis, it's natural oil color,) It is likely the fluid level is to low and that will cause the harsh shifts and other symptoms you described. For example, when turning a corner and the trans felt like it dropped a gear and the RPMs flared, that happens with low fluid as the fluid in the pan sloshes to the side during cornering, and the trans pump sucks air, resulting in the trans fluid pressure dropping below the required minimum pressure during the turn. The trans works entirely on having fluid pressure or it stops operating and can't transmit drive torque without fluid pressure.

[meistah]

If the transmission is leaking ATF, (It's not red colored in our Audis, it's natural oil color,) It is likely the fluid level is to low and that will cause the harsh shifts and other symptoms you described. For example, when turning a corner and the trans felt like it dropped a gear and the RPMs flared, that happens with low fluid as the fluid in the pan sloshes to the side during cornering, and the trans pump sucks air, resulting in the trans fluid pressure dropping below the required minimum pressure during the turn. The trans works entirely on having fluid pressure or it stops operating and can't transmit drive torque without fluid pressure.

That makes perfect sense, and was what I discussed with my mechanic yesterday (there was some confusion at the shop they thought I was just getting my coolant reservoir replaced)... Dropped it off again before work, we'll see what happens!

[meistah]

***update***
Transmission isn't leaking or low on ATF apparently.... They are keeping it over the weekend to do some testing, I'll know by tuesday or wednesday.

For now I'll just be slumming it on public transportation :(

[bigblue]

Hmm thats weird... Mines going in for a filter an gasket change and a flush on thursday. Then I'm going to save up for my new 034 mounts. Unlike you however I can still drive my cabriolet... unless it rains thursday.

[meistah]

Forgot to update this thread... My mechanic did a leakdown and compression test, checked the headgasket, blah blah. Regapped the sparkplugs and then drove it to and from work for a day, worked perfectly fine (maybe regapping the plugs did the trick?) Hella weird, but they didn't charge me for it, so that's good.
Now I'm just back to getting a CEL every 3 weeks, which sadly I'm accepting as NORMAL now.

*wishes he spent a bit more and bought the Acura TL instead*

[Audized]

Now I'm just back to getting a CEL every 3 weeks, which sadly I'm accepting as NORMAL now.

You should find out what codes your car's throwing.

[bigblue]

Go to a parts store and borrow their code reader... or buy one... then tell us the codes your getting man!

[meistah]

I posted in the regional forums and a local audi board asking if anyone has one I could borrow..... I was thinking about buying one but I'd like to think I won't need one often enough to justify purchasing it.

[bigblue]

They're like $100... I keep one in the trunk of my car and in my girls car... and we have a huge snap on one in the garage at the house. Even if you just use it every so often... its still better than borrowing one or paying someone to tell you what it says.

[mjfrizz]

you can get a cheapy at autozone

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...er=603853_0_0_

[meistah]

Thanks guys, I'll try to find one locally (don't think we have autozone in canada) and post codes.