Transmission and MAF interaction
 

Hi, have 1997 Audi A8 (D2) 3.7 FWD w/automatic transmission and recently mechanics did the transmission rebuild work on it. Actually, it ran fine except for one serious problem: on downshift from 5 to 4 it has a very strong impact. We have also a VW 2000 V6 Passat and when MAF on it went bad I drove a couple of days with the MAF unplugged. It drove fine except the strong transmission impact on upshift from 4 to 5. Once I replaced the MAF everything went fine and it shifted smoothly as it should.
I did diagnostics several times and it did not throw any errors related to this problem except for some transmission errors which were cleaned in ECU.
So, my question is: can it be the same problem with my Audi as it was with VW? Can MAF be faulty and cause the rough downshift from 5 to 4?
I would appreciate any ideas on the problem.
Thanks

You had transmission rebuilt or had rebuild work done on it (not sure if that means it was rebuilt completely or what). None-the-less you paid someone to work on the transmission and now there is a problem so you go looking for another problem instead of going back to they guy who did the work and complaining. If someone installed a new heater in you house and it didn't heat right, would you go looking to see if there is a problem with your TV?

Thanks for the reply. However, the work on the transmission was done Ok. I have driven the car after it was done and was perfect except for leaking some oil. After taking down transmission for the second time something apparently went wrong (I doubt about some wiring as I noticed that close to transmission all the wirings were so stiff that begin to break). So, now I have the harness from 4.2 quattro to replace some wires. However, harness that comes from the ECU is different in upper part but seems same in the lower part, especially cables connecting to the transmission. I am in the country where nobody is responsible for anything - this is developing former CIS country.
I have the question: what do you think - do the colors from 4.2 A8 harness connecting to the transmission match those of A8 3.7 of the same year? I noticed that connectors are 2 and look the same.
Thanks

I usually go look at pics on ebay in that case because yes alot of cross over parts good luck brother!