Can I get y'all problems that y'all had when converting to m6 from a4? Im bout to do it and the instructions on a sticky said it was pretty straight forward but. Id like to know what problems I could expect. Thanks yall

 

I did this a couple of weekends ago. Yes, it is pretty straight forward and what needs to happen is obvious as you go along. However, there are some points to it that will have you tearing your hair out if you are unprepared for it.

The first one being that damn top bellhousing bolt on the auto.... Took me like 2 hours to get that damn thing outta there. I hung all kinds of **** from the tail housing of the trans to angle the tranny down toward me so my extension/swivel socket combo could clear the top of the trans tunnel.

Another was the pedals... I tried like hell to not drop the column to get them out. I wound up removing the gas pedal and it went by much easier. If I did it all over again, I would pull the column it is rediculously easy and gives you a ton of room. Especially when you get to the point of installing the master.

Now the master... It doesn't look like it'd be that hard, but it was a pain in the *** for me. Took me 20 min just to get the u bolt in place. What I did was reach through the hole in the firewall left from the steering column and got one side of the threads in place. Then I went outside up top and swung the other thread up to the other hole and pushed it in. Another time I just put the u bolt through the master and then shoved it all in at once from the top and got lucky to find the bolt holes. Having someone lift a little on the break booster helps give a little more room. Just use your best judgement as to what method would fit you best.

The trans dipstick tube was another head scratcher for me. I just bent the **** around til it broke then pulled it from the top, didn't care about it so idk what to tell you as far as maintaining it.

I had a 4 post lift and a tall pump jack that I use to install a/c units into ceilings. Those items helped out quite a bit in my install and it still took me 12 hours start to finish with breaks.

You need to have a friend with you regardless of their mechanical abilities being good or bad. It helps to have someone to talk to and help you move the transmissions and other heavy ****. Two heads are better than one when you are looking at a issue you are trying to figure out or work around as they may notice something you dont.

You should search every single thread you can find on this swap and read them from start to finish, even if they are only a few posts long. That's what I did to learn about some of the minor details in the swap that may seem a little vague in the write-ups.

Make damn sure you have all the tools necessary like a drill with some ***** and a hole saw bit to make your master cyl cut. Cut off wheel or a saw to make your hole in the trans tunnel. I remember ratcheting wrenches being almost necessary in one or two situations( a regular set would do fine though).

That's all I can think of. Just try to take your time and step away if you feel overwhelmed. The swap is straight forward as mentioned, but expect to be challenged on some parts. Good luck

 

If I could have changed one thing when I did this over the last 2 weeks, I would have conned a friend to come over and help. I had a lift and a tranny jack, but trying to get the 4l60 down and the t56 back up onto the jack was a bitch.

Other than that have at least 3 feet worth of extensions for the sockets. You'll be stretching some from nearly behind the transmission to get a good angle on some of the tranny bolts.

 

Thanks guys the more I know the better. A local shop wants 2500 for the install and dyno tune.

 

And what should I expect out of the pcm? Can I drive it with out a tune? Or can I drive it till I can take it somewhere to have tuned? Or is it completely effed and would drive like poo till I get it tuned? Thanks

 

pretty effed.

I had mine flashed m6 and tuned by frost for $125 and it runs great.

 

I agree my car could barely hold an idle (like 2-300rpm lol) so I had to bump it up a little bit. Speedo doesn't work for **** either.

 

Some small things to look into are also some plugs for the radiator tranny lines. I still need to find some but I don't want to hack up my old a4 fluid cooler lines. Measure out the size of the whole you cut for the shifter and get a rubber shift boot for under the console (a lot of heat and noise rush up that hole). I ended up needing something along a 9x7 boot.

 

Me and my 14 year old son done mine on jackstands and a plain ol floor jack. followed sticky and a FROST tune and good to go, Also did longtubbes and ory while had the room.

 

Thanks for the referrals and nice words guys!

Chandler_Man this is the link for your particular programming application http://www.tunedbyfrost.com/products_m04.htm

 

How do I remove my pcm? And where is it? Im a noob Idk much lol

 

click the link I posted...