Hi, new 2001 A4 2.8 Quattro owner here, I have a concern about the tiptronic mode. I have trouble when I try to shift up from 2nd to 3rd gear while in Tip mode, It won't let me. I read the manual where it says if you accelerate fast, the car will only shift at higher RPMs, and if you accelerate slow, it will let the driver shift at lower RPMs for smoothness. I have tried it both ways, sometimes it works, but other times it won't let me upshift at all, I can go to 5500 RPMs all the way down to 2000 RPMs, pushing up on the shifter or the buttons on the steering wheel, and it won't let me shift up.

The dealer I bought the car from told me that the previous owner spilled coffee on the transmission computer, and he had it replaced. Is this normal for the tiptronic or can you all shift at basically any safe RPM? It seems restrictive to me. Am I doing something wrong?

 

at lower gears it doesn't let me shift up below 2K.but after that I can shift anytime. Mine is a multitronic btw its the CVT trans....

Other than that in multitronic mode say you are in 5th if you step on the trottle it will down shift by it self and if you don't shift up, it will wait until it reaches somewhere like 6500rpm than I guess for safety the transmission shift by itself.

But as I said mine is the cvt trans....

 

Doesn't sound right at all.
Should be able to shift up at will, as long as the rpm is in a safe range

 

well congrats on your new car i have faith that you will not regret your purchase. i am unable to help b/c i am unfamilar with sequential trannys

 

i bought (back in July) a 2001 Audi A4 1.8T Quattro tiptronic
prsonally i don't have problems with the tiptronic it is very trustworthy
may i ask what dealer you bought it from
my audi still has until feb 05 for the manufacturer warranty and its an '01 also
do you always begin driving in tip or do you start out in auto and later switch to tip? does it make a difference either way?

How does someone spill coffee on the transmission computer, anyway? i think your getting screwed over in a very unpleasant position shouldn't you be able to take that to any audi dealer and have it fixed if you are still under warranty.

 

Thanks for the responses everyone. 01a4q... I usually begin in full auto, then switch to tiptronic at a stop light to play around. I'll try both on my way to work tomorrow and let you know. I guess from what the dealer said, the guy spilled it on the shifter part and it leaked through, becuase the computer is right under the shifter. I didn't buy it from an Audi dealer, but I bought it out of state at a place that sells used audis, BMW's, Mercedes, Lexus, McLaren, Rolls Royce, etc... The sales man said he knows an audi technician well and he replaced the computer under warranty although it wasn't covered under warranty. I'm still under warranty until december, and I have an appointment for my service center to fix the rear passenger door light on monday, so I'll have them look at it while its there.

I'm just afraid he won't find anything wrong with it. I absolutely love the car, and I got it for a final price of $15,820, clean carfax. If you look up the 2001 A4 2.8 Quattro with 41K miles, at blue book, I'd say I got a deal. The only thing cosmetically wrong with it is some kind of stain on the driver's seat, a small knick in the windshield, and I noticed a little bit of overspray on the front and rear bumper on the black part ( I have the light silver color). From what I understand from talking to my nieghbor who used to be a car dealer, overspray on a used car is normal due to dealerships prep.

Thanks for the good info everyone, this forum is great!

 

The transmission computer is not under the shifter.
The computer is behind the foot panel on the passenger side.
What he spilled coffee on is the triptronic shiftingf mechanism
and magnetic connectors. Its possible something shorted out
under there, but your tranny computer is fine.

You can remove the center console and take the shifter plate off
and take a look if you are so inclined, maybe clean it with electronics cleaner.
I recently took mine off to make the plate brushed aluminum and to install the SPP tipmod.

 

Thanks brrrman.

Just a little update on the progress, I took the car into the dealer this morning to get the right rear doorlocking mechanism replaced under warranty and told them to take a look at the tiptronic. Called back at about 5pm and they told me that there IS a problem with the tiptronic, but they haven't figured out what is wrong yet and they're working on it, but their main Audi guy is going away to school for a few days so I could have my car back until he gets back. I get there and none of the locks work, so I left it with them overnight. I'm still under warranty, do I automatically get a loaner free of charge while they work on it?

I'm just pissed about the guy who sold it to me because I paid him $340 to look the car over and make sure everything was working before he sold it to me.

 

Heres a quick update... I dropped my car off this morning for them to look at the tiptronic again.

The service manager was nice and everything, but the rental car took FOREVER to get there, and its just right down the street! The guy from Enterprise walked me out to the rental car, a crappy little CHEVY CAVALIER base model, with power NOTHING. Theres a reason why I bought an audi, and a cavalier didn't even come anything close to my car. He drove me to the rental place and I told him to get me another car, so I ended up having to pay $5 extra to get a Jeep Liberty. I guess the dealership would only pick up $25 a day for a rental.

Anyways, the whole paperwork process made me late for an appointment. I got a call from the dealership and they thought they found the problem, it was either a magnet thing in the tiptronic, or the on switch to the TipT. I have no idea what either means, but they ordered both parts so I have to pick up my car and take it back when they get the parts in. This is kind of getting annoying, at least its under warranty. Is this how repairs usually are??