elpanson

Thanks. I got a copy of the tranny job off the net and I am at the part after you remove the drive axles and getting to the starter next.

I built my own engine mount out of two 2x4's drilled together as one and a section of 4x4 on each side held together by brackets. Using hooks and ratchet straps to hold it up.

It's been a hot day, I have a canopy set up but still hotter than hades. I had to run to the parts store for the damn 12 point bit.

Are the torque converter bolts a regular 15mm socket? The guide says SW 15 MATRA V/175? Is there a trick to get them off? Been reading where they are on good and hard to remove.

Prospeeder

converter bolts should be T55. Never had a problem removing them. just dont let the socket tilt or slip. I use a longer extension and a long ratchet, and brace it against the block, it keep the socket straight.

Chadsluck

First I got the entire car elevated about a foot off the ground with blocks under the rear tires and two Jack stands under the front, beneath the doors. Second, I pulled the nose of the car off and braced the engine with a jack, then pulled the engine cradle bolts. As I lowered the engine, cradle and trans (slowly!), this revealing exactly what MUST be removed for the removal. (My AllData says 22.3 hours r&r to replace engine and I had the old one out in 4 hours!) There are three major points where the bulk of the engine harness connects, at the ecu, over the passenger head-on firewall and beneath power steering reservoir. There are two bolts that u need to remove in order to free exhaust from car, the other four hangers will need to be relieved eventually... watch your hoses and a/c lines closely! (It IS possible to keep a/c system in tact without loosing Freon!). Once you get motor down about six inches, remove the three axles. Remove side shield from trans and disconnect shift linkage.. disconnect O2 sensors, wires should be able to come down IN VIEW with cradle lowered. (Remove those bolts for the cradle also...obviously). Alternator and a/c compressor need to be removed in order to remove motor mount bolts and a few other things. I took my starter off when I had the motor and trans on a stand out of the car! Any other questions, feel free to ask.

Osmosis

I too will be doing this hela transmission removal to replace my torque converter. I found this on youtube, not sure if it helps, but I figured since we are in a similar boat.. here ya go this is for a 05 TDI VW

elpanson

Thanks osmosis, these videos are hard to find. The guy has motivated me more to do this but now I probably need to raise the car even more, big'*** tranny! Also, getting a proper engine support is better than my jimmy rigged wooden beam so off to Harbor Freight I go!

Osmosis

Elpanson,

Man, after reading on removal of the transmission, I"m considering just pulling both engine and transmission.....or just changing the oil every few months and just driving the car I'm not sure what my next move is, but diligently searching for some good info on removing the engine and transmission together. Hoping to find some DIY instructions regarding this job Still considering all options, even just dropping the trans. What makes me think I should pull both is that I have O2 sensor Bank 2 codes and I need to rebuild the turbos due to oil consumption. What a PITA! rant over

elpanson

I figured there is less crap to undo or break if I go the drop tranny route and space is a pita if I used a cherry picker.

I am a newbie at working on the A6 but kinda figured out the major steps needed to drop the tranny (i write this to help me not forget!):

-jack the vehicle high enough to work under/remove tranny
-remove tires and cv shafts on both sides
-support engine with engine support bracket (HF $63 after coupon)
-put engine into service mode to remove alternator to remove starter (requires removing front end)
-after this just follow the video directions
-remove subframe to have more clearance/easier removal of tranny
-remove TQ bolts, tranny wiring and finally tranny from engine bolts

I am hoping my leaking issue is the front seal!!

Anyhow, between friends and family coming and going I can finally dedicate myself to doing this...and it starts raining today! Well, at least I won an auction for a used State vehicle last week (2005 Ford explorer) for $2400 to make parts runs easier.

Osmosis

Elpanson,

Where are you @ with your project? I have the entire front end off my car with alternator off and starter is disconnected....but I can't get it out from the tiny space between the block and motor mount. Not happy with this so far.

Not trying to "hi jack" Elpanson's thread, just thought I would add some questions of mine to this thread since we are basically doing the same job. Elpanson is pulling his transmission down & out, I"m pulling the engine since I need to rebuild the engine/turbo's and converter. I see why people opt to remove both the transmission and engine at the same time.

So, How do you get the vehicle into "service mode". I"M trying to pull my engine and what a PITA. It was ok, slow going since I'm marking every sensor with paint pen markings and taking pic's so I can put it back together correctly. I removed my alternator and I busted the pig tail connection to it The starter is disconnected but I can not get it past the motor mount. If I did not need to rebuild the turbos and engine, I would opt to just drop the transmission. I'm learning to hate this car

Also, since we both have automatic's, where do we need to disconnect the transmission if we pull the transmission out? I know the drive line but where else other than the shifter linkage?

The damn Bently is pretty useless for a lot of service information, might as well purchased a Chilton

Elpanson, hope your job is going smoother than mine

elpanson

Osmosis, no worries since this type of collaboration lets us brainstorm ideas.

I have been just looking at the damn thing since I got a cold then a friggin lower back injury that has made me unable to work on the car. On top of that the Old lady is tired of looking at the "junky car" in the driveway. I might start up soon though.

Anyhow, I am also going to pull the engine /tranny as one since I tried to get to certain bolts and clearance was just a bitch, dropped that idea of coming out the bottom and got me a cherry picker off craigslist. Bentley is just a guide worth crap since there are many details left out like wrench sizes, make sure you have a 16mm wrench btw.

Here is a front removal guide for the A4, AudiWorld Tech Articles but used all sorts of references, just forgot which ones. Make sure you have a drip pan/bucket for the coolant that will leak when you disconnect the hoses and when removing the a/c condenser you can just swing it to the side as opposed to removing it or disconnecting the lines.

ps, the friggin disconnects for the lights and such are also a bitch so be careful when disconnecting, like Chinese algebra! I might start up again so we can track our progress and brainstorm ideas together. I dont want to just forget about it and end up dumping the car, (old lady would be happy though!). Any other questions dont hesitate to ask, I am learning as I go also.

Osmosis

Elpanson,

What part of the country do ya live in? If your gonna pull the transmission....could rebuild it with a kit if necessary or not. I considered doing mine, but it shifts amazing...even with a bad converter. I'm gonna flush mine and leave it in, just swap the converter out.

Turns out, took me some time to remove the alternator and starter. To get the starter out, I had to disconnect the discharge pipe and lower positive battery cable out...Then I was able to remove starter. Getting a wrench on the back side of the starter, trans bolt to starter was almost impossible, I almost stripped it. I ended up getting a 16 mm socket and an off set box wrench....you know the type they have a 45 deg bend on each end aprox 1 inch each end. I used that to get some leverage and I was finally able to get it off.

German engineering my ***! Yes, nice car, but they .....engineered it by shoving all that **** into as little space as possible Never again! I'm almost ready to go back out, remove torque converter bolts, then put the engine hoist together. Almost done...gonna do a leak down test here in a few.

As far as lower back problems, I'll pm ya some videos with some good exercises. Hurt my back last year and ya just have to be ...CONSISTENT with the exercises and they work..eventually. An inversion table also does wonders. I use mine 2 minutes every day when I wake up.

C