iowaan

2002 TT Quatro 225HP, six speed. 140,000 miles.

First problem: after being parked in reverse for about three weeks, it would not shift out of reverse. Forums indicated that shift cables were notorious for failing at the shifter end. Since my floor jacks can only get the car 18 inches off the ground, and i felt too old to be laying on the garage floor taking out the drive shaft ( although i did replace the rear differential drive shaft bearing in my 1992 200 about 7-8 years ago), i backed it out into the street and had it towed to the local VW dealer to get the cables replaced. Of course, when they checked it, the transmission worked flawlessly. They drove it several times over a couple days with no trouble. i had the cables changed anyway, since they are 16 years old. They charged me $215 each for the cables and 3 1/2 hours labor at $140.00/ hour, and they didn't even wash it before giving it back.

Second problem: worked fine for a couple weeks, then after being parked for about another two weeks, i backed it out and went to drive off. Shifted into first fine, then would not go into second. Pulled over and fiddled with the lever for a couple minutes, then it worked fine. I drove around quite a bit without any further problems.

What is going on? Possibly temperature related? it has been quite cold at night here. I have experienced the Haldex lockup when cold and reversing with a sharp turn, this is not that.

iowaan

i had the shift cables replaced, but it happened again. Chipmunks were hiding hickory nuts on top of the transmission, blocking the shift linkage.

hagakurejunkie

Have you opened up the shifter inside the car and had a look at the bushings? Have you looked at the shifter cables? They are common fail points and once upgraded and replaced, the car shifts beautifully. I did this job last year after my stock shifter bushings degraded into pulp. The kit is sold on dieselgeek.com and is HIGHLY recommended.

iowaan

Maybe i didn't make it clear, i had the dealer replace the cables, cost ~$1000. i had the car towed to the dealer, but when they test drove it, the shifting was normal. i had them replace anyway since it is at 140,000 miles. They told me the old cables were not bad. i went to the dealer because i can only get the car 18 inches off the ground, and i'm too old to be dropping the driveshaft with my nose up against it. i replaced the rear differential drive shaft bearing in my 200 in the same conditions, but that was many years ago.

After the cables were replaced, the blockage happened again, but only temporarily. It was only later when i had to remove the air filter box that i found the chipmunks stash of nuts.

hagakurejunkie

Not for nothing, but I've spent the better part of a thousand hours involved with my TT over the years. I have been to the Audi dealership one time and they were 3/4 retarded. The MK1 transmission is a stout transmission, I have 140k on my car and not even a clutch change. I've had to replace the cable bushings and the shifter bushings. Chances are, your bushings are crap. And stop going to the dealer for this car, it takes 5 minutes to pop off your shifter boot and look inside. Don't come on this forum and complain about the dealer when 98% of MK1 TT owners do all the work themselves and know what the problems are.