Magic_Wond Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 Hi I'm new to the forum and have a BIG problem with my A8 (1997 4.2 Quattro Sport, 125k miles). The auto gearbox has a problem which results in the car going into 'limp home' mode all the time. Auto electrician has said that's where the fault is, and has given me a print-out, but can't do any more as the gearbox needs stripped down. Does anyone know a good independent Audi specialist OR a good automatic transmission specialist in the Central Belt of Scotland who could look at this and carry out an overhaul if required? Mackies in Glasgow is an option - they have quoted £1600 - 1800 to do this. Does anyone know of any other specialist I could take the car to? I've been told that a second-hand replacement 'box from a breakers yard won't work properly - has to be matched to my car - is this true? Cheers for any advice you can give. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsYcHe Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 It's probably the box, but coudl also be the F125 switch which can cause similar issues. Mackies are ZF specialists, so are a good bet. An alternative is A4Audi in Clydebank, quite a few of us use them and Andy knows the cars quite well. Has also replaced a good few boxes. As long as it's the correct box for the ECU, then shouldn't be a problem. Has the gearbox fluid ever been replaced? Might be part of the problem. Does it just randomly go into limp mode and drive OK the rest of the time? Where are you? Could maybe swing by and take a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IT_S8 Posted May 11, 2009 Report Share Posted May 11, 2009 I've been told that a second-hand replacement 'box from a breakers yard won't work properly - has to be matched to my car - is this true? Cheers for any advice you can give. Sorry to hear your problems, they're a familiar tale. It needs to be the right gearbox code - Almost certainly DTD in your case, as this dictates important things like the final drive ratios for the front diff, which is built into the gearbox. Your code is written on the build sticker of your car. Providing a breaker can supply you with the correct gearbox, matching that code, and its a good known working one with a warranty, its an option worth considering, however the DTD is statistically the most failure-prone box in our opinion and we dismantle most of our cars due to gearbox failure, so we dont have any working ones, and finding a one elsewhere will be a long shot. The price you've been quoted for a rebuild is very reasonable, but a 1997 car now isn't worth a great deal more than 2K unless its particularly low mileage, clean, tidy or high spec, so it may be worth considering whether its economically sensible to fix it - Sorry... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloss Posted May 11, 2009 Report Share Posted May 11, 2009 I was going to say it's not really worth fixing as the car is not worth a lot however IT_S8s reply is so much more sensitive I'll keep my reply to myself! LOL If you really like the car and everything else is A-OK then maybe it is worth it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceBlue8 Posted May 11, 2009 Report Share Posted May 11, 2009 Give Andy at A4Audi a call on 0141 952 4499 - he's pretty good and will give a sensible price Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic_Wond Posted June 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2009 I finally found a local garage who agreed to replace the ATF fluid and filter in my ailing 4.2 recently. Some garages after contacting Audi for parts and guidance were fobbed off by the "lifetime item/sealed unit" story and therefore backed away from fiddling with the fluid and filter. Apparently the fluid was filthy, contained lots of metal particles and the magnets were covered in masses of metal filings. At first it didn't seem to help - car still went into limp home after hunting around and failing to engage the correct gears. However I took at back for a top up a few days later and it took and extra litre of ATF.....again, for a few days it didn't seem to help much. Then the gearbox suddenly started working fine - no limp home, no gear selector lights on, no harsh movements from the transmission. Early days but it looks like the top up might have done the trick as the car has driven flawlessly now for a week. Fingers crossed everything is now OK. Appreciate the advice from other Tyresmoke forum users but I'm not sure why some of the specialists I contacted didn't suggest changing the fluid & filter as a starting point before moving on to more major work. Most suggested a full strip-down and refurb straight off. £250 of work is far better to start with rather than £2-2500 (even if it only gives short term relief, which is always possible). Although the car is in otherwise excellent nick a full gearbox rebuild would have cost far more than the value of the car - although I was very seriously considering this as I love the car. Anyway all appears well for now - long may it continue - watch this space! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A8_Tony Posted June 15, 2009 Report Share Posted June 15, 2009 Glad to hear everything's sorted fella. Finding a good local specialist is an important factor in owning an '8. Keep hold of 'em, and I'm sure they'll look after you Welcome to TSN by the way, check out the site, and also check out the A8 Owners Club too (link in my sig) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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