Just checking in
 

Hello good people,

I was active here in 2017 when several people on here super-nice to me, so this post is mainly for those who remember me and wonder where I went.

At the time I also had a vendor account here for my company, Old Car Life Extension Systems, Inc. as a vendor of used Audi parts, with a focus especially on the ZF 5HP-24A transmissions. I've been missing in action off AudiWorld (since I stopped being able to afford the monthly be-a-vendor fee) but I didn't mean to vanish personally too, though it's a fine line and I don't wanna cross it thus alienating the AudiWorld vendor management folks but it's also hard for me to pretend I'm a non-vendor so I don't really know how to behave properly, and so I've been quiet, except for tonight when I'm saying "hello" again.

Anyway, I'm alive and well. I've been working hard on trying to make my business profitable, and I'm health and happy. I've also bought several more D2 A8 cars, including a 2000 A8L and a 2000 A8 non-L. so that plus seven other D2 A8 cars ... I'm evidently addicted.

I've been immersed in understanding the ZF 5HP-24A transmissions in these cars well. They are complex with many subtleties but after messing with them for 3 years, I think I have a pretty good handle on them. I have a University degree in Accounting and Auditing, and I have learned more about these transmissions by working on them and reading up on them, and getting advice from industry gurus, than I ever learned while getting my nerdy girl degree.

Aside from what I've done to try to keep my little fleet of C5 A6 4.2 and D2 A8 cars functional, so far my little team has done transmission swaps at no charge for three customers who've bought used or rebuilt transmissions from me. My biz is not a licensed repair shop so I can't charge for the remove and replace work on their cars legally so I don't, but I'm hoping to make some sort of deal soon with a local shop so they might do the work and charge a reasonable fee. It turns out that selling used or rebuilt transmissions doesn't do the customer much good if they can't find anyone to install them. So in the same way as Henry Ford ended up in the rubber-tree plantation businesses too, to make sure customers will have tires for the cars he made, so I've been trying to solve the problems in a wide sense.

Removing and replacing these transmissions is A LOT of work but my team and I also leaned a much; so far having completed work on a 1997 A8 and a 2003 S8 -- it hardly gets more extreme than that in the D2 context. It was an honor to work on the S8; an amazing vehicle.

I also discovered Burning Man (see picture of me in a poncho), which was life-changing.

... and that's the news from me. I hope you're all doing well. The other picture is from 2018 too..

~Tanya



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Thanks for checking in, Always nice to see another ZF rebuilder on the forum. Hope all is well.

-Richard

Awww yay, thank you! All is indeed well, if that includes feeling somewhat overwhelmed. :-)

~Tanya

Great to hear from you again! I've taken your advice to heart (well, most of the time) to "just follow the instructions, dummy" (my words, not yours!), to avoid all the cursing, skinned knuckles, etc. (Though there are some jobs when the instructions really do seem a little extreme,and I go after those with more of a "seat of the pants" technique.) I was amazed at how easily the front bumper comes off, and how easy it is then to get to stuff.

Burning Man, eh? I've been thinking about going to that event for years now, and just saw a photo essay on it. Far out! It may be a little too far out for me, though, and I live on the east coast. It's cool to hear from someone who has gone.

Good luck with all your cars. You are definitely addicted!

Pete.

Hello Pete,

When I was 5 years old and really intimidated to walk into the school building on my very first day of school, another little girl took my hand, told me it was going to be OK, and led me into the building. It meant a lot to me.

That's how I feel about the help you gave me when I was just starting out on this journey. I was really struggling and you were super helpful with your pictures, information and support. Thank you again. It meant a lot to me.

I recently bought a subscription to the partlink24 website too which helps me better yet understand the official ways based on studying diagrams and part numbers, and I also activated my web-based Bentley subscription, so I have a lot of material and I'm learning. My two helpers at my shop seem happy too. Really, all's well with my situation. I'm not making any money yet but I will eventually as I get more efficient.

Like you with the front bumper, I'm often delighted at how easy these cars are to work on once one understand the trick to it. They are certainly far from intuitive.

This last weekend I bought my first S8, and I tried to limp it home in 4th gear, but the previous owner had, it seemed, already burned out the B clutch driving it like that so I ended up making it the first 100 miles and then it slipped beyond hope. I have AAA premium membership so I called them, and I got to enjoy an unexpected stay in a Hilton, which was all okay with me. So now the pretty car is at my shop awaiting a transmission rebuild. I told my customer who'd bought an S8 transmission from me "hey, I have one as well now" and he was super-nice and happy for me, so I must be doing something right, at least. Happy customers first, money later. Much later, evidently -- but that's OK.

Thank you for the nice message!

~Tanya

yeah welcome back, any help dealing with our fudged up auto transmissions is most welcome ... :)

You and your Team have already helped me on my transmission and I'm grateful for an outfit to be available to do so! These are excellent cars when properly maintained and used and it cannot be down without a proper "community" of which you hold a large helping hand to. Thank you and keep up the great work and availability!

Wow! Thank you ... :-)

Thank you, Kevin :-)