bobbycup

About six months ago my daughter's 97 A4 2.8Q went into transmission safe mode (it's an automatic) and was leaking a lot of fluid so I parked it until I had some time to work on it. After inspection I couldn't visibly see where the leak was so I drained the pan, dropped it, changed the filter and refilled it with fresh fluid. I was hoping that the new seal around the pan would stop the leak. I pumped in about 4 quarts of new fluid until the fill hole overflowed, which is when I started the motor and ran through the gears. Then I pumped two more quarts of fluid in, looked toward the front of the pan and fluid was pouring out. It was coming out between the tranny fluid pan and the oil pan. I also saw a steel strap which was at one point holding something in place, but the strap was just sitting there doing nothing. The strap was directly under where the fluid was leaking out. After looking at the photo I included, I hope someone can give me some idea of where the origin of the leak is. Also, does anyone know what that strap held?

mtroxel

Good news first: the "strap" is the bracket that holds the belly pan in place. I'm assuming you don't have a belly pan? But it has nothing to do with the trans.

Bad news: if it's pouring out of those holes between the bell housing and the motor, it's the main seal (pump seal) on the front of the trans. Once you pull the trans, it takes about 10 minutes and $25 to swap the seal. But pulling that trans is not a Saturday afternoon project. It's a big job, and a Quattro automatic is a big trans!!

bobbycup

Thanks for the advice and the good/bad news. Unfortunately the bad news outweighs the good news by about a million. What is your opinion on replacing the torque converter while the tranny is out? Some questionable local shop just told me that I will need to replace it to be safe. Also, if I do it myself, what are the chances I'll get the job done, only to have it leaking still?

mtroxel

Depends on the condition of the shaft that rides in the seal. Google it, you'll see a lot of discussion about it with pictures.

Decent. But.....sometimes what happens is the pump goes bad, then bangs on the seal. So the seal is sometimes just a symptom of the real problem, a bad pump. If it was mine, I might just grab a used trans and put it in. By the time you have a shop open your tranny, you're doing a full rebuild. That might cost about the value of a 97 A4 Q.

eric213

My car started dropping trans fluid as well. I have an 99 a6, if i was ordering that main seal [pump seal], what would be the part name?

David.Norton

I've found that pulling the engine is easier than the tranny, much less rolling around on the floor with big heavy things (and quattro gearboxes with the final drive and center diff are really heavy). It might take slightly longer, but I feel much better the next day. Anyway, the torque converter is not really a wear item, just the seals, so if it was not giving trouble I'd not change it. Of course I'm cheap, and I don't mind pulling engines, but YMMV.