ducky boy

Driving out to Long Island today and some very odd things began to happen. Sitting in heavy traffic, in sweltering heat, I noticed that accelerating in through the gears, starting in 1st, was pretty scary. The car lurched and never ramped up in rpms. It felt as if the transmission was not engaging fully (6 spd. manual, by the way). When I'd shift up it would eventually engage, but when I came to a stop (for traffic) the car stalled two times. I made it to my destination and wrote it off to bad driving on my part (did anyone say denial that something was wrong?). I just got back from Sweden where I was driving a Volvo V50 with a 5-speed gearbox and figured I wasn't used to my S4 with UUC short shift. Anyway, at the end of the day while driving back to the city the same business started all over. I limped back to the city, staying on local roads and only using the LIE for the last few miles. The car drove okay, (I'm exaggerating about limping back), but it was definitely not normal. It dawned on me when I got through the Midtown tunnel that my TBB might be cracked, and sure enough I didn't hear the distinctive turbo whine while accelerating.

Here's my question (sorry for the long run up), would a cracked TBB cause the car to behave in a manner consistent with transmission problems? The feeling of slippage, or not being able to get the full rpm out of gear. I know it renders the car underpowered, and I can definitely confirm that the car didn't have the usual punch.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated, and sorry if you've waded through this long post only to hear a very familiar question.

On the off chance that it is a cracked TBB, is it okay to drive? ?The dealership that I'd like to take it to is around 50 miles from Manhattan.

zhenya

TBB to only be noticeable under boost, which I doubt you were in while limping. It would have to be a huge hole to affect it under light driving. Take a look and see!

ducky boy

Prior to today, I would hear a pleasant whine while accelerating, which I alwyas attributed to normal characteristic of driving a turbo engine. After the car started driving poorly, I noticed a complete absence of the whine. Thoughts?

daves4

BIG tear on the TBB, around 3" long. Even went as far as to get the tranny looked at, but it was the TBB.

Teh Goldie

I replaced my TBB this weekend, $32 part (www.clairparts.com), 10 mins of work, local Audi STEALERSHIP wanted $551, and after I provided them the CLAIR partnumber, $132...WTF.... not kidding you..

Anyways, what I noted under higher boost, about 10 PSI, a pretty audible wooost noise. Checked out the TBB visually, and seemed to be the problem. Yeah, I drive a tip too.....