4.2 Zag

Long time lurker, first time poster. I did some searching but could not find what I was looking for so decided to try myself.

Ive got a 2004 A6 4.2 quattro, 88k miles. automatic.

2 days ago I noticed some slipping in 2nd gear. Occasionally from a stop the rpm's will rev up before the engine clunks hard into gear. I got it in quick to Advanced Auto, who I love, and they gave me the bad news. They say I need a new transmission. Quoted me around $6500, but said that they do not do tranny work. They also said A6 transmissions are notoriously hard to repair.

Im interested in getting the work done but am new to the Bay and have no idea where to take it or what a reasonable price would be. Does anybody have experience replacing theirs or at least a suggestion on where to take it?

MP4.2+6.0

On a 2000 A6 4.2. I called around and searched. Long time Audi owner and Bay Area resident, but still hard to find the right shop.

Went to Mike's Transmission in San Jose.

463 Blossom Hill Rd Ste K
San Jose, CA 95123
(408) 629-4205

Might seem like a random choice, but I got the name by calling one of the ZF distributors. (ZF makes the tranny--a 5HP24A for reference). He suggested Mike's. I had not heard of them before, but went down w/ the car (barely drivable) and could see they had relevant experience.

Mike in turn installed a ZF factory rebuilt tranny--mine just suddenly broke internally and couldn't take much power in any gear without clunking and going into SAFE mode. Took a while to get the tranny; ZF have a plant in the Midwest that supplies them. Warrantied for 3 years by ZF. As I recall it was in the $4500 range total--tranny and installation, fluids and all (came factory filled apparently). Also included the torque converter rebuilt as well.

You could well need a rebuild, but you could also try a fluid and filter change. The fluid is a couple hundred $$ by itself, so a bit expensive to try. Can sort out rough shifting though, and by mid 2000 the tranny was already improved over the one I have.

4.2 Zag

Thanks for the advice, I will give them a call. Somebody else recommended Peter Schmid in Burlingame,also a ZF guy. I will call both places on Monday.

When did you have the work done? Any troubles afterward?

In about 3 hours of city driving my car has only slipped 4 times. It seems to have the most trouble on inclines, which I suppose is a problem in SF, but still able to drive if I need it.

Advanced told me it was failing internally and they could not do any of the work. I have not had to deal with tranny problems before so Im pretty much feeling my way through. I'll be sure to post how everything goes.

MP4.2+6.0

IIRC Peter Schmid is the actual name of the guy, and he is some kind of distributor tied to ZF. Apparently the path taken by the shop I used to get the tranny. Not sure if they do installs or what.

Work done last June. Zero issues w it since. Car had about 100K miles at the time.

If you have only occasional slipping, really consider a fluid and filter change first. Look for a product called LubeGard Red as part of it too, or search for it on the web. A few hours and several hundred dollars, vs. thousands of $$ and a few weeks down.

As you will likely find out if you press, my sense is the tranny was built to order. Not from my core, but from another. Took a couple of weeks to get (and ultimately a call to ZF)--delay not really explainable unless it was only built up when the order was made. Wasn't the shop's issue to be clear, but rather the distributor and/or ZF. But, once installed the product was great. As I said, 3 year warranty as well backed up by the tranny manufacturer itself.

If you want to know more about the tranny, search old posts on the D2 A8 board. Same tranny was used in that car, and there are some guys on that board (like TozoM8) who had gotten into actually rebuilding it. Little info on the C5 (A6) board back when I paid more attention to that board anyway, other than maybe the fluid change, and if you look there be careful to realize the turbo and non-turbo V6's use a different tranny. Need to look at the C5 V8's and the D2 V8's (all D2 A8's in the U.S. were 4.2's) to get apples to apples.

4.2 Zag

So I called a few places and all of them said they would take a look at the car for me and if I needed a rebuild they would obtain the transmission from Peter Schmid, dba MZF inc in Burlingame.

I called up MZF and they said they could supply the tranny and the labor. They quoted me $3k+ tax for the tranny and 13 hours of labor at $120/hr for a total of $4700 with 2 year warranty. They said to bring it in and they would take a look to see what they thought.

Upon arriving I met Dirk and he and I went for a drive. It slipped whenever he laid on the gas before finally going into fail safe mode. He explained that I probably have a cracked A drum, but there could be more damage inside. He could replace the drum for $3500, 6 month warranty. I thought long and hard and talked it over with Dirk before deciding to bite the bullet and go for the new transmission with the warranty. It will be there a few days and I will post impressions when I get it back.

PDXA4

Good luck with the replacement...

This thread has good information for local source of help with transmission issues...It's expensive so a job that needs to be done right...

4.2 Zag

I have had the car back for a week now and I have to say it feels better than ever. I have put it to the test without pushing it too far and it has a nice zip that I feel has been missing for some time.

While I got the car back 3 days later than they initially said, MZF kept me in the loop as to what was going on. Total bill was $4837. Expensive job, but Im in this car for the long haul and it needed to be done. The 2 year unlimited mileage warranty is a great feature as well.

So far I have to completely endorse MZF Bayer. Professional work and fair prices. After 1 week there are no glaring problems and I will of course update this if anything were to arise. Right now I feel that my baby is back and better than ever.

MP4.2+6.0

Good to hear you are back on the road and satisfied! Price sounds in the same zone as mine, and agreed ZF backing it up gives a feeling of comfort. Remember to do your short term follow up check, assuming it was like mine--free and didn't require a fluid change (which there was some initial confusion about).