PaulW

I went out to my car this morning and started it, pulled away slowly, and after traveling ten feet or so, the transmission (couldn't tell what it was then) was cavitating severely. It sounded like metal popcorn popping in a metal container. I opened the door and listened, but it then stopped after about five seconds. I believe the tranny got the required oil at this point.

It sounded like something was stuck in my fan belt. I then drove away very slowly, then thought, I better look under the car! After about 100 feet, I left it in park, looked under the car and could see oil dripping on the exhaust pipes right at the front seat location.

I parked it immediately and I will have it fixed ASAP! Via flatbed, that is.

One tell tale sign was that a couple of weeks ago when driving on the highway, being in 5th gear, letting off the gas completely, as in slowing down for traffic, then giving it gas again, it would "fall" out of gear when I would let up (go to 1200-1500 RPM) and then reengage when I gave it gas (back to 2000 RPM or so). It would keep doing this as long as I was coasting at highway speeds as when letting up in heavy traffic.

I bet the tranny was low on oil (had been leaking for a while) and this was the first symptom. I was going to inspect that seal the next time I did my oil change. And I have the oil and filter in the trunk! Just haven't got to it.

Hopefully everything will be okay after I have the seal replaced.

BTW, drove the car yesterday and last night with no problems whatsoever.

pw

lhmagma

Couple of questions if you don't mind:

1) Was this the first time for your car? If not, when (mileage) was the first (or second) gasket replaced?

2) How may miles do you have on your car?

ryoung

I guess you confirmed that there's no idiot light for tranny fluid low level :-(

PaulW

...and my car has 62K miles on it. I don't think it's so much the miles as the age, or at least both are important factors.

Gonna pick up the rental this afternoon and if my local mechanic can't do the repair right away, I'll have to have the dealer do it...well, at least I get a warranty with them! I guess if it was sitting in a garage, I would do it myself, but forget that!

pw

Xialater

Sorry to hear about it, especially since we've all been discussing this issue lately......sucks that you're our guinnea pig to see what they say when they look at the transmission to see if there was any real damage.....Hope all goes well, and I'll keep my fingers crossed for you

Best

Hem

skiracer

Paul- sorry to hear about the tranny leak- I sounds like you stopped driving it before any significant damage could occur. My '97 A8 4.2Q has 78K miles on the odometer now, and as far as I know the tranny rear seal has never been touched. Also, the timing belt and water pump are the original units. Based on the recent discussions on this board, I will need to drop around $2K on these repairs very soon to avert any potential major problems. But $2K now beats the alternative later! Keep us up to date on the progress (and final cost if you don't mind) of your tranny seal replacement and filter/fluid change. Good luck!

hisport

Paul:

A good number of folks have emailed me about the A8Q final drive seal replacement procedure I posted a while ago. Quite a few with the idea that this is an ATF seal.

The final drive seal holds in transfer case gear oil, not auto trans fluid (ATF). The gear oil can only be checked via a sight plug under the car. The transmission ATF level requires a VAG COM link, I believe.

Your driving symptoms are classic low fluid (ATF) signs, though the metallic noises you heard are worrying. A cavitating AT front pump generally sounds more like a bad (or leaking) power steering pump.

So, please advise where your trans is leaking. I will research in my Bently/Ross Tech stuff (as soon as it gets here), and post a check/fix procedure.

Tks,

John

PaulW

...I read your post on replacing the seal, I haven't gotten under the car to really look at it, just saw it leaking when the car was running after it made the noise.

Interesting note, it was leaking at maybe a teaspoon every 2-5 seconds I guess (only saw it for a couple of seconds) but after I parked my car I see that there is no pool of oil, or any oil for that matter. So I would have to assume that it is a fluid under pressure when the engine is running.

Of course it's sitting on the street in front of my girlfriend's place. I brought my ross-tech software down there, to find that the battery on my aging laptop didn't even have enough holding power to run the computer 5 minutes to get the codes. My new laptop which has XP can't talk to Com1 right now. So I'll charge the old battery and try again tomorrow. You really need to jack the car up to see under there.

I think that I'll just have it brought somewhere and let somebody else worry about it. But I never have trust in others, especially the dealer. They just don't seem knowledgable. Hard to believe.

pw

PaulW

I pulled codes before I brought it to the dealer, no codes on the tranny (I even remembered to press the brake before I pulled them to ensure you don't get the brake switch code).

I ended up bringing it over to Laurel Audi in Westmont, IL. I know a lot of people there and told the service advisor that I want the best price I can get, and if I'm satisified I'll bring my car back (never brought it to anyone before). We'll see how far that gets me....I'm sure the bill will be huge, $350 is what I understand an independent would charge.

I'm having them replace the torn CV joint boot in the front, and had the Mobil 1 and oil filter in the trunk, how much do you think they'll charge for labor for the oil change?

I didn't start the engine to get it over there and put a sign on the dash stating not to start the car until the tranny is filled. Told the service advisor that about five times. I think he got it.

I'm so **** about anyone else working on my car!

Will post updates...

pw

hisport

Paul:

Tks for your note.

The final drive seal ain't holding in auto trans fluid (ATF; see prev post)

If there's still oil in your garage, place a paper towel on it. Red: ATF. Brown/yellow: Gear oil

Please let me know what your mechanic finds