Hi, my A4 1.8T's tiptronic transmission is acting strangely. The gears are running out too long.....eg, from 1 to 2 is changing at around 4000RPM and 2 to 3 is even further. However, on highway runs, it works perfectly. Also on minor descents it gears down all the way to two. On incline it goes all the way to 1. It's as if the car is trying to tell me it needs more power. So on normal driving, for the gears to work properly, i have to drive fast....Help!! BTW I live in Trinidad and Tobago where help on these cars are limited...so i am really depending on this forum for assistance.

Also, the car was in a minor accident, and required re-programing of the eCU. The trottle body was also removed to check for damage....can any of these two factors affect the tranny? The trottle body carries the cable type accelerator...

 

the tip trans has a seperate ecu maybe they need to reprogram that

 

ok, but can someone tell me for sure, if the ECU needed programming, do you need to reprogramme the tranny ECU for sure? Someone told me in an accident where the airbags deploy, the car goes in an 'accident mode'. is this true. it remained unusable for around 6mths. So i am to assume the ECU was reprogrammed, but the tranny ECU wasn't? Makes sense since the tranny works like it has a mind of its own........

 

Check for vaccum leaks.

 

Now that u mentionm it, when i switch off there is a hissing sound coming from the engine area for about 15 seconds. it's fairly loud. but how can a vacuum leak affect the tranny?

 

How many miles do you have on your car? I changed my tranny fluid and my car changes gears better than it did before.

 

I'm sorry, many years ago vaccum was used by transmissions for shift points. now an ECU does it.

I think Jestnomen recommends 100K mi. Trans fluid change. You'll need VW automatic trans fluid or ESSO EGL 71141 .

 

Yes 100k is a good time to change the tranny fluid, if you have quattro might as well change the rear diff too.

 

Have you had anyone check the level of the transmission fluid?

 

i rather flush it, its just a lil more but u rarely change your tranny fluid anyways