DIY: CVT TCM replacement

[esamc2]

lol a 5 speed swap is still a thought. i wish i did more research before i purchased the car, went to look at one car and just came across the deal and did a quick smartphone research and make the purchase as it was super cheap. now i know why it was so cheap lol.



i have a lot of aftermarket/cosmetic stuff sitting in the house, so thats the main reason i dont want to dump it lol. i had a vision and im THIS close to finishing, IF the car ran right lol. no point of having a car that looks good, but cant leave the driveway

by the way, this is what the car does when the PRND is solid.

If you are planning on dumping the car why not give a last try by sending the TCM back for repair.. It does have a lifetime warranty.. May be that will help?

[y0itzflip]

Sorry that was a typo. It did solve my problem.. I have about 300miles on it with all kinds of driving including pushing it through Hills and it is holding up just fine. Hope it stays that way..

hopefully, mine didnt start acting up until after my second tank of gas. so maybe about 5-600 miles

[y0itzflip]

If you are planning on dumping the car why not give a last try by sending the TCM back for repair.. It does have a lifetime warranty.. May be that will help?

because if im going do go through all that work again, i might as well just do the manual swap and avoid future headaches lol (which i may still do). my main issue is the labor/downtime. im just over the car being down.

[audireme]

A bit off the topic, if someone is removing the TCU, I would go further and remove the valve body and the second cover to change the inner filter. The filter is around $60. I just opened mine and the bottom of the filter was coated with fine, black mud. The external filter is the one that costs $350, but apparently made by Cohline. FCP sells Cohline around $180. Also, behind the valve body (held in by three screws), are six seals (five smaller and one larger) that are good to replace and not expensive either. Once I'm done, I'll post some photos.

[audireme]

[y0itzflip]

good info. I didn't dig that deep into the tranny as its already sensitive and wasn't much info on going further. FYI I helped somebody change their tcm since I've done mine and theirs has been fine ever since.

[brandonbruyette]

Too add to the confusion of what's going on with my car I drove 240 & change miles today on the highway. Cruise control works great up and down hills, no limp mode even on big hills. Car ran great. Once I got "home" and into the city and stop lights and had to not use cruise anymore, boom, limp mode during the letting my foot off the gas deal. Spoke more with Audi USA and then strongly recommend paying Audi $140 to diagnose the car again.

Probably going to bring the car to a dealership and not tell them the cars past until they pull it up. Would like to hear them say the same thing without being told the TCM was done less then 12 months ago and less then 5,000 miles ago.

[diagnosticator]

Reached out to Audi America directly who basically told me that because all the techs have looked again at servicing the TCM and found that the entire transmission is "the issue", they won't touch it and because all Audi dealers are owned separately, they couldn't force Audi Minneapolis to replace the TCM free of charge again. Kind of sounds like a crock of crap to me.

You replaced your TCM and solved your problems, or did NOT solve your problems? "Its all good not after TCM replacement" throws me off a bit.

Tell Audi USA or the dealer, to clearly explain how replacing the transmission with a new one is going to address the faults shown by the DTCs stored. They must be able to justify the replacement of the trans instead of making up a story that provides no justification as a technical matter, that has no established known technical facts to support a diagnosis of "the trans is the issue", what is the DTCs for that? That is not a diagnosis it is nothing but Bull Shit from the mouths of the ignorant and confused group of idiots at the dealer. For the dealer to say "all the techs looked again at servicing the TCM, and found the transmission "is the issue", says nothing at all. A group of circus clowns would come up with the same answer. Audi must be able to explain how the trans "is the issue" and not the faulty parts malfunctions documented by the diagnostics scan. If the diagnostics is not trustworthy, and cannot indicate the true and accurate causes of the malfunctions occurring then how did the geniuses at the dealer figure out that all the parts except the components identified by the DTCs stored in the TCM fault memory, are causing the problem? Demand an explanation supported by established technical facts, why the existing DTCs cannot be addressed without replacing the trans with a new one. Audi is supposed to be staffed by technical experts. Instead, they are unable to determine the problem, cannot explain how the transmission replacement will fix the existing problem except by the obvious fact the the same parts are included in a new trans assembly. Unprofessional incompetent technical work like this, deserves to be fired, not used to support ripping off the customers. Demand accountability for what the dealer says. Who at the dealer is going to be the one who takes responsibility for this absurd nonsense? Ask!

I hope my rant inspires you to challenge the BS the dealer and Audi USA told you. If more of us did this routinely then the dealers would be held to a higher standard eventually.

[AlohaAudi]

QUOTE=y0itzflip;10984800]still waiting to get the TCM back in order to put it back together. i only put the trnasmission cover on to keep any debris out since im doing this in my driveway. mostly putting it back together is gonna be the exact opposite. most of the bolts only fit in one place, luckily, so itll be hard to mess that up. i heard you need vagcom to properly fill the transmission. i have the cable but the laptop died not too long ago so i havent been able to use it. trying to see if i can find a cheap laptop on craigslist to keep dedicated to vagcom usage.

oh and dont forget to order a new gasket for the transmission. the part number 01J301475N

its 8-10 dollars most places online. but then they charge shipping, so it ends up coming to 20 if you order online. im going to try my dealer because i cant justify paying such high shipping for an inexpensive part.


i will be posting here once i get the TCM back should be early next week. again i couldnt really find much info besides "buy a manual" or simply no replies. just post up if u have any questions, ill help with what i can.[/QUOTE]

This extensive thread on a DIY effort to replace a faulty CVT Transmission Control Module inspired me to give it a shot, given my 2003 Audi A6 is exhibiting all the hallmark symptoms - intermittently going into reverse, flashing gear indicator lights. To my surprise, I jacked the car and as you can see in the pic, I don't have a transmission support bracket/mount blocking my access to the rear cover. It's just not there. There are clearly bolt holes on the lower rear transmission that match what was in the DIY pictorial, but there doesn't seem to be a set of mount points on either side. Am I missing my bracket, or is it possible my Audi never came with one? Sorry image is upside down, darn TinyPic wouldn't allow me to save and upload right side up.


http://i64.tinypic.com/sqkocn.jpg

[y0itzflip]

only thing I could think is maybe it was touched before and somebody didn't reinstall the mount/bracket. it is an a6 so it may be different...but I don't see why it wouldn't have a read mount.

and lol I have the same issue with tiny pic sometimes.

[ausman79]

Hi guys... Valuable info from everyone...really appreciate it.

Here's my situation, let me know if you have any feedback. I have a 2003 A6 CVT that started having the flashing PRND and reverse issues a few years back. In December of 2013, I had the TCM pulled out by a shop and sent to BBA Reman. They repaired it and sent it back within a week and the shop installed it. That resovled the Reverse issue and the car had been driving fine for almost two years. A few months ago, it started having random issues with transmission not engaging or sputtering. When I used to come to a stop sign and then accelerate, I could hear the engine rev but it does not engage. PRNT lights up inverted (not flashing like before). The car would eventually pick up speed and then be fine.

Now, it does not engage at all, in drive or reverse. I found a leak of ATF from where the plug of the TCM is coming out of the rear case. I'm hoping it's just a matter of low fluid. Thoughts?

Here's what I'm thinking of doing:
1-take out the TCM and send it back to BBA-Reman to confirm it is working (Lifetime warranty)
2-replace filters
3-put new seals
4-replace ATF

Anything else you guys would recommend or is there no point? It only has 117K miles.

esamc2- is yours still running okay? Any advice?

[customa4]

There was a TSB for bucking from a standstill on the CVT. Basically the requirement was to rebuild the transmission. I'll see if I can find it.

Edit: Here ya go. Click

Read through it and perform the tests, which I don't think you can at this point because the car isn't driving. There's some information there that might help you out.

[ausman79]

A bit off the topic, if someone is removing the TCU, I would go further and remove the valve body and the second cover to change the inner filter. The filter is around $60. I just opened mine and the bottom of the filter was coated with fine, black mud. The external filter is the one that costs $350, but apparently made by Cohline. FCP sells Cohline around $180. Also, behind the valve body (held in by three screws), are six seals (five smaller and one larger) that are good to replace and not expensive either. Once I'm done, I'll post some photos.

Do you have the part numbers or suggestions where to purchase them from? Filters and seals.

[audireme]

I got all of them between genuineaudiparts.com, ecstuning, and my local dealer. I don't have part numbers with me right now, but if you can't find them, let me know. I'm flying across the pond tomorrow, so I may not get back till mid January. Btw, the transmission works great now, very responsive, no hesitation at all when switching from D to R, or any other way

[Lao]

Hi, all!

Does anyone know a good mechanic around 28078 (Huntersville, NC) that would be able to get the TCM off my Audi? I've been quoted 850$ for labor.

[esamc2]

Hi guys... Valuable info from everyone...really appreciate it.

Here's my situation, let me know if you have any feedback. I have a 2003 A6 CVT that started having the flashing PRND and reverse issues a few years back. In December of 2013, I had the TCM pulled out by a shop and sent to BBA Reman. They repaired it and sent it back within a week and the shop installed it. That resovled the Reverse issue and the car had been driving fine for almost two years. A few months ago, it started having random issues with transmission not engaging or sputtering. When I used to come to a stop sign and then accelerate, I could hear the engine rev but it does not engage. PRNT lights up inverted (not flashing like before). The car would eventually pick up speed and then be fine.

Now, it does not engage at all, in drive or reverse. I found a leak of ATF from where the plug of the TCM is coming out of the rear case. I'm hoping it's just a matter of low fluid. Thoughts?

Here's what I'm thinking of doing:
1-take out the TCM and send it back to BBA-Reman to confirm it is working (Lifetime warranty)
2-replace filters
3-put new seals
4-replace ATF

Anything else you guys would recommend or is there no point? It only has 117K miles.

esamc2- is yours still running okay? Any advice?

Running Strong! no problems whatsoever... Good luck

[y0itzflip]

been driving the car the last few months. havent really taken it more then 10-15 mile (per way) trips. as im still worried lol. however on these short trips, the car has beeen fine.

[dmirocha]

Here's the write up that I made that I never fully completed. I haven't uploaded pictures but here's the text.

Things you'll need:
*Vag-Com- If you cannot monitor the transmission temperatures, do not attempt to change your fluid. It is critical to the operation of your transmission that the oil is at a certain temperature when the level is being checked. These transmissions are very sensitive and overfilling or under-filling can cause problems for you. Problems will be avoided if you follow instructions and monitor the temperature.

*Fluid Pump-You will need a fluid pump to put the fluid into the transmission. The fill plug and the drain plug are both on the bottom of the transmission so you will be pumping the fluid from the bottle up into the transmission. I paid about $12 from Advanced Auto Parts for a "Performance Tool Quart & Gallon Pump". It comes with some some hose that attaches to the pump to be able to go up into the transmission. It was perfect for the job.

*Multi-Point Bit-3357- This tool can be purchased from metalnerd.com and it's a little more than half the way down the page here. On there site it is labeled as Part MN2567 - Gear Box Drain Bit. It can be purchased for $25. Someone else might have a another idea for removing this plug like some vice grips but you will not be able to get the proper torque spec when re-installing if you choose this method.

*At least 5 liters of CVT fluid. NOT REGULAR ATF. Regular ATF and CVT fluid are different, you need to have CVT fluid. I picked up 6 liters to be safe but you will only need 5 liters if you follow the instructions. I paid roughly $13.50 a liter and my local dealer told me they had 12 liters in stock. So let's just say about rroughly $70 for 5 liters of OEM fluid.
Part # is G 052 180 A2

*Something to get the car level. Whether it be on a lift, jackstands, or ramps and jackstands. In my case what was available to me was a frame machine so that's what I used. Just try and make sure you get the car as level as possible for filling and checking fluid level.

*Oil pan to catch the fluid.


Step 1.)Get your car level.

Step 2.)Use your mult-point bit 3357 to remove the drain plug and get rid of the oil
Do not run the engine with the fluid drained from the system or tow the car.

Step 3.)Put the drain plug back in. The torque spec on this plug is 24 Nm.

Step 4.)Remove the fill/inspection plug to fill up with fluid.

Step 5.)Fill with 4.5 to 5 liters of CVT fluid. Put the fill/inspection plug back in before continuing. The torque spec is 30 Nm.
In my case it took about 4.5 to 4.75 before it would not take anymore fluid.

Step 6.)With the car in Park, start the car and let it idle.
ONLY 2005+ cars, rev the engine briefly to at least 2,500 RPMs to bleed the air out of the ATF pump.

Step 7.)Hold the brake pedal and shift through the gears PRNDS and leave in each gear for at least 2 seconds with the engine idling.

Step 8.)Put the car back in Park and let it idle.

Step 9.)Start up VCDS and go to [02-Auto Trans][Meas Blocks-08] Group 10 and hit Go! In the third box over you will see the Transmission Fluid Temp.

Step 10.)You want the temperature to be at 35* when checking the fluid. If the temp is too low, you will overfill and if the temp is to high you will under-fill.

Step 11.)When the temperature has reached 35* get under the car and remove the fill/inspection plug. When you remove the plug some of the fluid will spill out, under a quarter cup of fluid should come out. If the fluid continues to come out before reaching 40* then you're all done and you can put the plug back in. It is recommended that you replace this plug at this point. Again, the torque spec is 30 Nm.
Do no let the temp get up to 45* or too much fluid will get out when you remove the plug and you will not get a good reading on the level.

In step 11, is the car still running at idle? If so, I remove the fill plug at 35*, let it drip/drain until the temp reaches 40*, then replace the fill plug and then that's it? Sounds so easy! If only the VAG COM was easy to figure out.