Hi,.

My gf has an audi a4 1.8t quattro awd and she just had a mechanic at a german auto place work on it. The sound it was making before was like the turbo was going out but the coolant light came on. The mechanic said the water pump is bad and you
need a new timing belt.
Being stressed she went for both. Now we went 2 days after the work was completed, up 190 miles from home and the transmission blew out.
Is this normal? It seems like a setup. I've only owned US cars so I have no idea what is up. We found parts in the engine bay as if a gasket was not replaced and some half white
circle that looks like a plug to something (its split down the middle).

If you have had any similar problems please let me know.
Thanks,
Cyn

 

If you could, please post pictures of what's everything and be more specific about what's wrong with the tranny.

Where the problem parts are located, any noises, smells, color of the parts, what exacatly is happening.

If you can, get the car scanned. Autozone does it for free (although I heard they charge a fee now). The dealer will charge about $100. Your best bet is to find someone loacal with a VAG-COM. Here's a link to a listing of owners- http://www.steve-hall.com/cgi-bin/VAG-Locator.pl Most people will scan it for beer or a donation. A quick look shows 3 people in SLO.

Be sure to post back here!

 

I will get pictures of the 2 pieces tonight.

The transmission doesn't make any noise. But, the car HUD does not register that the shifter has been moved to any gears. There was tranny fluid all under the car as if it leaked all over. The HUD shows all the states highlighted (PRNDS). The tip tronic does nothing and does not sound like a change in gear is being done.

The car starts fine. But wont engage into gear. Shifting into reverse the rear lights come on. The tranny shifts but again no wheel movement. I though it may be a CV boot or something but couldn't see a source of the leak.

I'll be sure to post pics of the parts we found in the engine bay. One looks like a sikle shaped gasket (or like a parring knife shape). The tow truck driver thought it was part of the throttle linkage but I dont see how. It looks like a thin piece of metal.

Thanks.

 

What color is the tranny fluid? Do you you see any holes in the tranny?

In any case, fluid on the ground is no good.

 

The fluid is dark. I did not see any holes. The transmission pan was just wet as well as the lower A arms and the some of the CV boot on the passenger side.

 

"if during the t.belt and water pump replacement, did they have the radiator out of the car and if they did, that means they had the transmission cooler lines disconneted. One could therefore wonder, did they put the transmission cooler lines back on tight? "

I got an email response from one of the people on that list you sent me.

Thanks for the info. I'll post pics of the parts tonight.

 

The transmission fluid cooler is part of the radiator. Sounds like maybe they didn't connect the line back from the radiator and your fluid is leaking out. This would connect at the lower part of the radiator on the passenger side.

 

Thank you everyone for their information and input.

I got word today they are reimbursing me for the tow and repairing the now missing coupling on the trans cooler.

Thanks again for the information.

Truely greatful for this forum.

-Daniel

 

Updating...

Tranny blew out car smoked up real good 17 miles from home.

Mechanic is now being contacted. We are demanding a brand new transmission due to faulty repair.

 

The trans will not work if it's low on fluid. You might just need to do a trans flush & get it at the proper level.