jason@s4.org (NS4)

I had a mostly good day at PIR today with the S4, but about mid-day I came in from a session, and when I tried to go into 2nd gear the car wouldn't let me go into gear. I never use 2nd on the track except while getting up to speed when first entering the track, so it's not like I could do anything bad to the transmission.

From then on after every session it was difficult to nearly impossible to get into or out of 1st or 2nd gear, and driving around Portland (and on the way home to Seattle) I basically had to stop using 2nd gear because it was so hard to get into/out of. It's not grinding or anything like that, it's just like it's "sticky" or like trying to push through a really dense liquid.

When I got home I took the UUC 40% shifter out and went back to stock. I can use 2nd gear now, but it still has a different feel to 2nd than the other gears (1st somewhat as well).

I had kind of hoped/thought it might be a problem with the adjustment slipping, but that didn't seem to be the case upon further inspection/testing.

Any ideas? I'll try to have the dealer take a look, but they'll probably come back w/ a comment like Josh had of "feels fine to me". I should note that I'm really gentle with my transmission, so I'm pretty sensitive to how it feels... but w/ the short shifter it wasn't drivable - Leslie drove it for a few minutes as well and can attest to it being "bad".

...Jason

Taner Halicioglu

And this was a few months ago...

-T

drhaller

My problem was 2nd gear mainly.

Does it feel like you are pulling the shifter (into 2nd) through playdoh... as in it moves but oh so slowly? Getting it into second was damn near impossible for me. It would completely bind sometimes too.

I had a new 6-speed tranny installed for this problem... I hear that these days the 1st/2nd synchro's get replaced instead of the whole transmission.

Good news, I have 2200 miles on the new tranny and it feels so much better than the old one ever did in 1st and 2nd... it is not nearly as notchy and finicky.

/dan<ul><li><a href="https://www.audiworld.com/forum/m/s4/msgs/84008.phtml">my earlier posting...</a></li></ul>

jason@s4.org (NS4)

... w/ the stock shifter back in, it's not like playdough, but w/ 40% it is.

Stock it just feels like that initial push into gear, but for the whole length of the throw, no positive engagement feel.

Josh and I did some comparision back to back between our cars, and his is definitely much easier to get into gear than mine (both stock shifters).

I wonder how long to get a new transmission and/or to replace to syncros? Guess I'll find out first thing in the morning... and/or as soon as they can check it out.

...Jason

drhaller

My car was down 8 days total... good luck.

jkk4

Had the same problem on my 2000 S4. Dealer installed new Tranny at 800 miles!!! All is well now. I've got about 2700 on new tranny and it's very smooth now. I was down for almost two weeks. Go to your dealer ASAP.

jkk

Scarface

-It turns out that my clutch was fried w/ no fault of my own.. The dealer tried to place the blame on me when they opened my transmisson and saw that the clutch was totally shot... The dealer said that we'll replace this one for free, but the next ones gonna cost me... I said bull****, even if I go through a clutch a week the warranty says bumber to bumper 50,000 miles... Anyways to make a long story shot, I finally got the best of the dealer who thought they could take advantage of me and they apologized and began replacing the clutch...

-The car started with a near impossible engagement of second gear right up to the point where I was stranded on the road unable to engage any gears... This made me quite angry, because this sort of thing is not sopposed to happen to this new of a car... I never redlined the car in fact, before I hit 1,000 miles I rearely passed 4,000 rpm's.. I never once burned the clutch for that matter either...

-The dealer said the clutch was improperly allighned from the factory... I said Huh.. This whole ordeal, I hate to say took a month!!#@@, but they replaced everything for free..

-Now the transmission and the clutch are excellent and the engagement is crisp and smooth... (This is how it should have been)

-So IMHO you might want to take your car in and see if they can replace your clutch.... This is most likely your problem based on some of the symptoms you are displaying....

Good Luck,

Jim De Arras

And if you trust the dealer to remove and re-install the transmission, then they should be good enough to replace the syncros. Don't be anxious to have the tranny replaced, you could just be trading old problems for "new". If syncros is all that's wrong, best to have them replaced, the rest of the tranny's proven solid!

That's why I insisted (to the insurance company) on keeping my engine, even though it technically has a cracked block, and "proceedure" requires it be replaced. The crack was totally superficial, mounting ears for the power steering, and the engine is otherwise sound. Swapping an engine opens the door to lots of potential problems, not only with a new engine shipped overseas, but with all the connections that must be broken and re-connected!

RR

True in general, but some places get good at engine swaps (i.e. old VWs, Boxsters)

Jim De Arras

It was easier than reaching into the tin with the engine installed. Took 10 minutes, MAX, to pull it!