Strange A4 Problem and questions.
06-17-2013, 12:56 PM
#1
Strange A4 Problem and questions. I went to the track this weekend, and had some issues, we'll get to that in a sec though 
Rewind to last fall. The last time I took the car out for a drive, I had my A4 trans with a 3600PTC lockup converter fail to go into lockup. It actually heated the trans up quite a bit, and puked some fluid out of the vent tube on the trans.
At theat point I parked it untill this spring.
I took it to a good shop and had the fluid changed out, it was a bit dark and smelled funny, this was with litterally 80-1000 miles after a rebuild. I figured that the shop that did the instal didnt flush the cooler and lines out. I did a big smokey burnout a few weeks later on nmy way home from work, and COMPLETELY lost 4th gear. Limped it home, and checked the fluid. It seemed low. I added about a half a quart, and let it cool completely. The next day everything worked fine again. Fluid wasnt burnt. This was 2 weeks ago.
So back to yesterday, i took it to the track. First run of the day, the car spun real hard off the line and seemed like the trans slipped in the high rpms. Drove up the return road just fine, but when I stopped at the time shack and went to go forward again, it seemed like the car revved and didnt want to go.
Second run,(let the car cool between runs) the car dead hooked on teh line, got up, shifted to second great and firm, and promptly bounced off the rev limiter when it should have shifted into third. Same symptoms at the time shack. I pulled the dipstick, and the fluid was still nice and red, but seemed low. I added a half quart and let it cool.
Third run, seemed like it was slipping again (after the burnout it launched fine) but seems like it slipped towards the end of the track. same symptoms at the time shack again. I drove it home almost 110 miles after letting it cool without a single issue.
It seems like the fluid level is going DOWN on the dipstick if I get it real hot or if I do big burnout. as it sits in neutral and cools a bit, you can take multiple readings and see the level rise back up to full hot.
WTF? I'm not even sure how to diagnose this. I have noticed that my pan seems to leak. I can drive the car all day without a leak, but after it cools and is parked in my garage, the next day there will be a small puddle of trans fluid. This last rebuild was the #3 rebuild of this trans. (various failures) With the symptoms I'm seeing, could it be the trans, the converter, or am i overlooking something simple?
Rewind to last fall. The last time I took the car out for a drive, I had my A4 trans with a 3600PTC lockup converter fail to go into lockup. It actually heated the trans up quite a bit, and puked some fluid out of the vent tube on the trans.
At theat point I parked it untill this spring.
I took it to a good shop and had the fluid changed out, it was a bit dark and smelled funny, this was with litterally 80-1000 miles after a rebuild. I figured that the shop that did the instal didnt flush the cooler and lines out. I did a big smokey burnout a few weeks later on nmy way home from work, and COMPLETELY lost 4th gear. Limped it home, and checked the fluid. It seemed low. I added about a half a quart, and let it cool completely. The next day everything worked fine again. Fluid wasnt burnt. This was 2 weeks ago.
So back to yesterday, i took it to the track. First run of the day, the car spun real hard off the line and seemed like the trans slipped in the high rpms. Drove up the return road just fine, but when I stopped at the time shack and went to go forward again, it seemed like the car revved and didnt want to go.
Second run,(let the car cool between runs) the car dead hooked on teh line, got up, shifted to second great and firm, and promptly bounced off the rev limiter when it should have shifted into third. Same symptoms at the time shack. I pulled the dipstick, and the fluid was still nice and red, but seemed low. I added a half quart and let it cool.
Third run, seemed like it was slipping again (after the burnout it launched fine) but seems like it slipped towards the end of the track. same symptoms at the time shack again. I drove it home almost 110 miles after letting it cool without a single issue.
It seems like the fluid level is going DOWN on the dipstick if I get it real hot or if I do big burnout. as it sits in neutral and cools a bit, you can take multiple readings and see the level rise back up to full hot.
WTF? I'm not even sure how to diagnose this. I have noticed that my pan seems to leak. I can drive the car all day without a leak, but after it cools and is parked in my garage, the next day there will be a small puddle of trans fluid. This last rebuild was the #3 rebuild of this trans. (various failures) With the symptoms I'm seeing, could it be the trans, the converter, or am i overlooking something simple?
06-18-2013, 12:05 AM
#4
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Please pull codes and report back. I suspect your sluggish feel off the line (time shack) is from the tranny tripping a fault code and leaving in 2nd gear.