CH888

Hey all,

I have a 2000 A4 1.8TQ Tip, stock. I recently discovered a problem when driving the car for a long period of time (at least 1.5 - 2 hours).

Here's what went down:
I was cruising on the highway at about 115km/h in auto mode. I did a hard acceleration to pass. The car drops into 4th, revs up to about mid 3000RPM and then the car would just "clunk" or "jerk" back and forth, not allowing me to accelerate past that point. Smooth, slow acceleration does not cause a problem. It only seems to occur when I hard accelerate.

To reproduce the problem, I went into Tip mode. Started to cruise at about the same speed (~115km/h), then dropped down into 4th, hard accelerated and the same situation occured. The car "clunked" or "jerked" repeatedly until I let off the accelerator. Once again, slow, steady acceleration is fine. Only aggressive acceleration seems to cause the problem.

This has only happened to me when the car has been running for a while and is pretty hot.

I had a friend vag it but no error codes were produced.

Brought it into the dealer and they couldn't find anything, as I would suspect.

I've been digging around on the forum and have found maybe a couple postings with similar symptoms but with no concrete answers.

Could it perhaps be the Torque Convertor locking and unlocking in some sort of vicious cycle that's causing the "clunking"?

Any help would be really appreciated. I've been digging around the old threads for a while now but haven't been able to come up with any solid answers.

Thanks guys.

2000 A4 1.8T Quattro, TipTronic, Sport.

Typist Formerly Known as (skene)

Get transmission fluid replaced.

PDX-Boy[hermit mode]

1) What altitude is your car at?
2) How many miles does the car have?
3) Do you feel jerked from the back or from the front?
4) Have you been getting the same gas milage over the past month-two months?
5) Do you hear any grinding?

I suspect that it might be engine related only because the torque converter I believe anyways only has problems under tractions/turning conditions that are extreme/continious.

CH888

Hey, holy, thanks for the quick replies to all.

1) What altitude is your car at?
A: I live in Toronto so it's pretty much just sea level if that's what your asking?

2) How many miles does the car have?
A: There's approx. 76,000km on it now.

3) Do you feel jerked from the back or from the front?
A: The jerk feels like it's coming from the back.

4) Have you been getting the same gas milage
A: I thought I was imagining things, but I believe the gas milleage is a little worse than before. But that may just be me being a bit paranoid since I just bought the car a month ago and notice every single little thing with the car =)

5) Do you hear any grinding?
A: No, I don't hear any grinding at all..

Thanks.

PDX-Boy[hermit mode]

Start with getting a full tranny flush. You can do it at your local repair shop or take it into Audi if you want to. Make sure they inspect all the hoses along with it. (Sometimes kninks in the hoses causes the lack of fluid... just FYI)

2ndly, Reason why I asked about your level (which is sea level, much like Portland, Oregon) is because sometimes the MAF/O2 sensor like to play tricks on the engine/transmission when providing air to the engine WOT. However, since it sounds like you've VAG'ed it, and no fault codes come up, then those two issues should be fine. However, if you start to notice that you're dropping 50-100 miles (80-160km) on your trip tach, I would possibly check the O2 sensor.

As far as the torque convertor, if it's feeling like it's chugging from the back, it could possibly be that, but I can't speculate what's wrong with that. I mean, if you've had the dealership ride it, VAG it, and still can't find anything wrong, it's hard to put blame to the t-convertor. I'd speculate that it <i> may </i> be the Quattro drivetrain but that's pushing it just based on what you've said.

3rdly, you've got 76,000km (roughly 42,000 miles) or so on your car. Now the warrenty on this pup is till 50,000 IIRC and I would say that if trying a complete transmission flush, and the O2 sensor don't work, then Audi has some car tradding ahead of them.

Keep us informed.

CH888

Thanks for all the advice. Appreciate it. I'll keep you guys posted for sure.

Thanks!

CH888

Thanks Skene, I'll keep you guys posted on what happens.

Fifth Screw

I had a seal go on mine at 30k.

CH888

Hey, thanks for the tip. But if the rear differential is leaking, wouldn't I have a problem in all driving conditions? Not just after running the car for an hour or two and performing hard accelerations in 4th gear?