Transmission woes - The inevitable second transmission failure!
 

99 A8 D2 193K - My transmission was replace ($5600) in 2010 (insurance paid for it, don't ask!) and yesterday I attempted to reverse out of my driveway and noticed jerkiness. Of course I did what any good D2 owner does, just jumped into the backup car (bloody Subaru) and went on my merry way.

It appears to show the jerkiness (engages then disengages) in both drive and reverse. I've not attempt to drive more that a couple of feet. Not looked at codes, I don't have a fancy code reader just a regular bluetooth one. No pool of tranny fluid on ground like before. Don't see any leaking oil from the rear main seal - this leaked a year after they put the transmission in and was fixed. They did say the car has a rear main seal leak so perhaps this cause the transmission fluid to be depleted and all I need is to top it up :) (if indeed the transmission fluid can leak in this manner) Underneath of the car is so full of oil it's hard to see if any is the red stuff - I've had oil leaks since I got her in 2006 just need to add 1/4 qt or less ever 1000/1550 miles so not too serious.

Is it time to take her to that special junkyard in the sky?

Valiant effort. Keeping an 18 year old sophisticated AWD car going is not an easy task. Well done good sir!

Take a photo of her and share before you send her on to the junkyard in the sky.

Is a D3 in your future?

I'd pull some codes and check the fluid level before you do anything rash.

A lot of transmission rebuilds do not address the root cause of failures. Google the Transgo Valve replacement for the 5hp24.
The rear seal leak does not leak ATF but rather gear oil from the gearbox where the front and rear drives split off, center differential. Of course you could also have an ATF leak somewhere else.

-Joel.

I'm looking for a quick / lazy fix here. Can I perhaps just buy a couple of quarts of the magic fluid and rig up the whole audipages pump, tube thingy, get the box up to temp and attempt to add some more fluid? Yes, yes I should do the entire procedure but she's got other issues and I need an excuse to buy another D2, she's been well worth the $100 per month (in my estimation) for the past 10 year.

If it's low on fluid yes you can add fluid. However I think you'd see a slow shift 3-4 first if that were the case. I guess you won't know if it's low until you check the fluid level.

Rather than bending up a metal or plastic hard pipe I usually just use a pump with the output tubing crammed a ways in the inverted well and more or less held in place with some paper towel, leaving space for it to start dripping out when it's full. A trigger oil can like from Walmart, Home Depot or Harbor Freight could also be adapted and might have other uses around the house.

i did not notice any strange shifting issues prior to the car acting up in the driveway. I have literally just driven it 10ft back and forwards.

Ok let me see if my understanding is order there. Car need to to be jacked up level. Transmission need to be at a certain temp so the fluid is in tranny and won’t spill out when I open it? Open up “filler” plug (not drain plug) and with my home made contraption add oil. Go through gears till reverse and some will spill out. Filler plug back on and test.

Is there a quick way to check level without adding oil?

I am usually more concerned about it getting too hot rather than being too cold. It'll push a little ATF out the top vent if overfilled. I do not know if you can reliably check the level without adding some fluid, maybe with some sort of small borescope camera? Or make a very slender J shaped sampling tube, hook it over the inverted well, put your thumb over the other end and remove it carefully. Far easier IMO to pump in some ATF and see if it streams right back out.

As Joel, notes, colder is better. The key thing you don't say here is that the car must be running before you pull the plug! Get the car set up and level, let it sit overnight, fire it up, pull the plug, pump until the fluid flows back up. If you have a way of monitoring temp, cap the trans when temp hits 35 or so degrees. I think running it through the gears is probably a waste of time given that you are just topping it up; if this was a fluid and filter change, a trip through the gears would be a good idea.

i would at least run it through R N D before topping it up to ensure that surplus oil has been pumped into the gearbox before opening the filler plug. Enough would leak down overnight to give a false reading.