Really? you think is tranny related too?

So you think the driving problems & starting problems could be two different problems?

I appreciate all of you guys input, just want to see if this is an common issue w/ audi's since the audi a4 b5 model is notorious for reliabilitly issues.

 

sounds like somthin with fuel filter pump somthin along those lines not a machanic but my grandfather is and if u are running lean the ecu would kno and higher rpms would make u run leaner and shift almost like in limp mode also make it hard to start jus guessing

 

as for your tranny shifting early...
i once replaced the head gasket on the grand am and when done it ran fine but it would shift really early no matter how hard the gas was pressed. threw a code and brought it to checkers. the code was a tps failure, so i checked it out. turns out i forgot to plug it back in. after that it shifted fine. just goes to show that an electrical problem or something of that sort could cause your shifting problems. i know audi ≠ grand am, but principle holds true.

 

At work right now, but once i get home all things mentioned in this thread will be checked, and tryed.

 

i had a very similar problem in my older 2.8 but mine was a manual and it turned out being a cam position sensor so that might be something worth looking into but as almost everyone else has said it sounds like the tranny fluid needs to be checked

 

obviously, because they dont have dipsticks, the only way to get to the fluid is thru the fill and drain plugs which are not very easy to get to.


you need to find out how to replicate this, what conditions make it hesitate and what conditions make it drive normally. does engine temp matter? is it hard to start only when warm or only when cold? what does the tach do when its in neutral and you rev it? what if you put it in low gear (not Drive) forcing it to stay there, does it still stop at 2k RPMs?

does it feel like the engine itself is hesitating or the transmission is just not shifting correctly and putting too much load on the engine? every once in a while the TCU gets fried for whatever reason, though it happens only slightly more often then the ECU getting fried- which is rare.

 

The fuel relay should only work for up to 30 seconds or so to pressurize the system before it's cranked. Once it won't start, grab a fuel pressure gauge and see what it's reading at the rail.

This sounds like a load or trans issue. The MAF is the load sensor for the trans. Have you tired swapping it out?

Last, when was the last time you replaced your fuel filter?

 

To me this is a very obvious fuel pump problem.

A dying fuel pump has a tendancy to work fine one minute then not the next. My buddy drove his SRT-4 for 3 days with a dying fuel pump sometimes it wouldn't act up all day then in the morning it would barely keep him at an idle and not let him rev very high at all. Its occasionally totally stopped working, in which case he would prime it (key on key off) over and over till it started.


If this was a tranny problem it would be a actual mechanical failure. Mechanical failures don't fix themselves then come back. If a tranny is shot. Its shot. It would shift start to shift hard as hell. not shift at all. or sometimes hit false neutrals until it totally kills its self and withers every gear into nothing. The tranny is shifting early because it thinks your letting off the gas. The motor is slowing down so it will continue into the next gear. If the tranny was going bad it would preform this way if the car was hesitating or not, it would also have some of the other problems listed ^. This is not a head gasket or any of that.. FUEL pump. This is plain as day for me.

Replace the fuel pump.

 

Wow sure seems like someone crapped in your wheaties today.

Is there even a procedure for checking trans fluid levels in these buggers then?

 

He is right. The 'procedure' for checking the fluid is to open the fill plug hole and stick your finger in it. If you don't feel any tranny fluid (with the car level) then your low and you should fill it until there you can't fill it anymore. To change, simply open the drain hole plug, drain... obviously.. and then re-fill to specified amount of fluid.