I am the third owner of a 2002 A4 1.8T Quattro Avant (B6) with over 180,000km on the engine. Purchased the car after the previous owner paid over $4500 at the stealership for miscellaneous repairs/replacements and I think he'd had enough. Luckily for me all the parts were under warranty which I ended up utilizing having to get the same dealer to refit the coolant reservoir and gaskets properly to stop all the coolant leaks. Outside of that I have had to do the passenger side axle as well as some other misc basic stuff like thermostat and crankshaft sensor.

It's always idled rough, I put that down to the Two failed engine mounts I know I have but the latest issue is more worrying. About Four weeks ago I took it for an oil change and also had the coolant flushed/changed and power steering topped up. A week later I started getting an occasional rough downshift, a jolt as the car jumped down from 3/4 gear to 2nd/1st. This continued on so I took it to my mechanic (not Audi but slightly more trustworthy..) he and I had suspicions of the transmission going bad so, they changed the fluid, it was dark but no metal or dirt in the fluid. For good measure they also checked the front diff (empty!....) and middle (low) and for some reason never checked the rear (I needed my car to get home so I suspect they rushed) they filled up the diffs and tranny fluid and off I went. The problem persists and dare I say it! is getting worse.

Now, I know it's all good and well theorizing on a forum but perhaps this is a familiar story, maybe this is a common issue, is my tranny shot? Is it the torque converter? Both seem to be a big job with a large bill neither of which I relish at this point in my life. No codes, temperature is fine but mileage doesn't seem to be as good. An unrelated issue I am sure but steering seems to be off too lately.

Any help or suggestions is appreciated, next stop is Blitzkrieg Auto (Well respected Audi mechanic here in Vancouver, BC) for a VagCom scan and diagnostic but looking for some quick words of wisdom.

 

Nothin eh?...

 

My transmission has had what I think is rough down shifts as well. During the winter months when things are cold it would kind of pop into second with a bit of a jolt and then be fine and a warm up. But during the summer months I've had no problems with up-shifts. Using the tip tronic I've found no problems what so ever. The trans fluid was replaced a little over 9 months ago. As for the down shifts, I get more of a "bang", as if while braking hard the momentum causes the gears to slide into each other a little abruptly. The shift occurs through 3rd-2d I think, possibly 2-1, but only once. I've spoken to my mechanic about it, and he just gave me a worried face urging me to drive her nicely. The only other thing I'm noticing with the tranny is what I would describe as "distance" somewhere in the drive train. If I abruptly accelerate I get a similar kind of "bang" as if the gears are running into one another abruptly. Smooth accretion on the gas peddle leaves no problem because I can tell when the contact is being made so i don't cause the bang. I can "play" with the same kind of "distance" if running the tip tronic in a low gear at slightly higher tmp and chug on the gas peddle. This however is can be controlled by how I drive the car is a lot less worrying than the bang caused by autonomically downshifting during hard breaking. If anyone has any suggestions on why my transmission feels like this that would be helpful.Kinda just feels like she older and getting bait loose down there if you know what I mean.

 

That worried face you saw was your reflection in the mechanics face...It is likely your Transmission as it was mine - faulty clutch wheels in the tranny that would have cost more to repair or replace than my car was worth, traded it in and got out before spending another dime on it...good luck.