Well on top of the fact that I think that I need to get my AT fluid changed because of weird shifting, now my heater isn't working well. At least it wasn't yesterday. It was pretty cold in the morning (like 0). And my car wouldn't warm up very well. Normally if I have the climate control set to 75 and auto, I will be roasting. But I had to turn it up to 85 and it still felt cold in the car. I can't stand cold and now my damn heater doesn't work when it is now the coldest it has been all year, great timing...

Also, this may have something to do with the transmissions fluid, but when my car is cold in the morning I will start going 55-60 on the highway. But the rpms are really high. I m in 5th gear but the rpms will be almost 3 grand and and the engine is loud like it is at 3 grand. But after a couple minutes of driving doing 55-60 the rpms will go back down to normal, around 2100 rpm. I don't know what the deal is with that...

 

This morning it was 20 degrees out so when I turned on my car it went straight to 1.2k RPMS to warm itself up... your car natraully will run high RPMs if it realizes its cold out. A normal idle is 800-900. Thats crazy... My heater works well but I never put it over 70-72.. Makes the car disgustingly warm, and by any chance are you running your defroster when you have your heater going cause that can change the outcome. And 5th gear 50-60MPH 3k Rpm's... When its doing that is the car warm or cold? on the gauge.

 

Yeah I used to only put it to 70 degrees or so, and it would be plenty warm. And no I had the defrost on at first but even after I turned it off the car wouldn't warm up. The coolant temp is still around Cold when the car is doing the 3 grand thing.

And adding to that, where is the oil temp supposed to be at when the car is warm? Mine is always way down at the bottom, whch I have no idea if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

 

The RPM's sounds correct to me if its still cold.. Your heater I have no clue about

 

No man it sounds like your tq converter isnt locking up at highway speeds when its supposed to. I can understand at idle your rpms being higher in cold weather... YOU REALLY NEED TO CHANGE THE FLUID. Its not a joke man, borrow the money from someone and just get it done. When your tq converter starts acting up its all downhill from there. I seriously hope you dont have to replace your tranny, i dont even want to tell you how much that would cost. For the heating issue. It could be a coolant mixture with too much water and you had a freeze in the lines or in the resevoir restricting flow to the eingine and heater core. Thats pretty much the only explanation that I can think of. Sure itll take more time to heat up in frigid temps, but it should after15 mins or so. Oil temps take a while to heat up especially in cool weather. You should always go real easy until you see the oil temp gauge move up at least a little.
Also whens the last time you checked your oil level?

 

There you are buddy!

I just had my oil changed like 300 miles ago. So that should be good.

So you have absolutely no doubt that these problems are from my tranny fluid?

Obviously I am not doubting you because you know your ****.

 

I can never be 100% diagnosing things over the net. But what you are describing with your tranny acting up/shiffting weird there cannot be any chances taken and the only logical safegaurd or preventative measures you can take it to get the filter/fluid changed. Its either that for $150ish or thousands of dollars for a new tranny. I certainly dont know everything, but based on what youre sayin I think you need to do the tranny service, check your coolantresevoir (or post a pic) and be sure the mixture doesnt look too watered down because it sounds like there must had been a freeze in it. Dont drive next time in those kind of temps unless your coolant needle moves. Could kill your engine doing that if there is no coolant circulating to carry away heat to the radiator.
Shifting should be buttery smooth with tiptronic tranny, like, TOO smooth to live up to its "slosh box" name. If you have hard shifts, or anything like you previously described, youve got to get the fluid and filter changed.

 

RPM's sound about right when its cold, crappy shifting can also be attributed to cold weather, atleast in a manual, in my car until the the tranny heats up a bit going into 2nd and 3rd the gears clunk unless i double clutch, but once i leave my neighborhoodand it warms up a bitshifting is nice and smooth.

 

My tip tranny shifts really smooth even when its cold. Yes it wont be AS smooth if you start driving right away after a cold start, but its should never be anything to complain about. But once its warmed up there should be no hard shifts and the tq converter should lock up at those speeds. Regardless of any of this, the tranny fluid should be flushed at least every 30-40k miles and a drain/fill with new filter after 50k. Since your fluid has probably never been flushed you should go straight to a drain/fill/filter and do a flush 30k after. If its Audi's claim of it being a "sealed unit" or "lifetime fluid" that is resisting you from doing it, forget that. There is no magical fluid that doesnt break down over time and keeps its lubricating properties.

 

my coolant needle always works. After about 3-4 minutes of driving the needle go to halfway. So I don't believe i have a problem there. Yeah, i am going to be getting the fluid repled real soon here. You are making me really nervous now I don't even want to drive my car, because if the tranny goes I am so fucked.

I have come to realize that my car HATES the cold like me! When I start it when it is cold, it is kinda rough and it whines. Is that just the belt? With my luck it is something far worse.