goldenguinea

Car: 2003 Allroad 2.7t automatic, 108k miles.
OBD2 code: P0741 (Torque converter circuit performance or stuck off)
PRNDS lit solid on dashboard

Summary: Car goes (but jerky) in reverse but does not go in drive. Engine revs, car doesn't move. When I clear the error code, the car moves for a few feet before bucking hard and going back to solid PRNDS, no power to the wheels.

I believe I have read every forum thread relating to this problem. From what I've read, this sounds like catastrophic transmission failure or (far less likely) something simple like low fluid.

In brief, here's the story.

- I noticed one day while driving that the car was bucking slightly while driving around down. I pulled over, checked the OBD2 code, and it was P0741. To date, that is still the only error code I've gotten. That was about three weeks ago.

- I took the car to the local import repair shop. I live in Hawaii, and on this island there is only one independent repair shop that specializes in Audis/VWs. We don't have an Audi or VW dealership on the island. They drove the car around for a while with a computer hooked up. When they came back, they told me all valves and solenoids are definitely fine, the TCM is definitely fine, and that the problem is definitely the TC. They quoted a price of over $3,000 to pull the transmission, rebuild the TC and put it all back together. That was about a week ago.

- They did not put the car on a lift or check the transmission fluid.

- When I got the car back, the problem was noticeably worse. It wasn't occasional bucking anymore -- suddenly the transmission was shifting about 1,000 RPMs higher. I would occasionally get loss of power while driving. I'd lift my foot off the gas, and then the car would "clunk" and continue driving. I'd particularly get loss of power when exiting turns. At first, the car would seem to drive better after warming up. After a few days of that, though, the problem seemed to continue regardless of how long I'd driven.

- Today, the far finally quit moving while I was pulling into a parking spot. I was able to drive the car home by clearing the OBD2 error, which also cleared the solid PRNDS. I had to reset the error twice more to get the car home (about one mile from where I was).

I'm wondering if anyone here has any thoughts on this issue, as I was under the impression that a car with a faulty TC could still move, unless of course the faulty TC went kaboom and sent shrapnel throughout the transmission. Maybe that's happened, but I never experienced any kind of loud noise or grinding or anything like that. Just bucking and loss of power that got progressively worse until the car finally refused to move forward at all (until I cleared the error).

I found a transmission shop that's willing to look at the car in a month. Every other shop I've called has said "Nope, we don't touch sealed transmissions." Should I continue looking for someone -- anyone -- willing to check the fluid for me, or is it more likely that we're looking at catastrophic damage? Since the $3,000+ quoted to me for the TC replacement exceeds the value of the car, I'm obviously not doing that.