2000 Audi A6. Quattro 2.7t Automatic 185,000 miles.

I have a noise that I have pinpointed to be coming from my flywheel/torqeconverter area and am hoping you guys can help me determine the problem before I tear into the car. The rattle had been subtle for a long time, and there was some small shuddering from the tranny on the 1st-2nd shift that was barely noticeable. Now there is a loud rattle from the tranny area, but the shutter is gone. Is this a dual mass flywheel issue? Low tranny fluid? how do i check/add fluid if thats the case?

Thanks in advance!

Noise is heard best about 45 seconds in.

 

117 Views and no ideas???

 

Fluid change is always recommended every 60,000 km, however this doesn't sound like a fluid problem. It sounds like there is a piece of metal bouncing around, like a bolt or something. Have you also checked the transmission mounts and the front mount on your engine? These tend to wear out a put some stress on your drivetrain. Best option would be to carry out a proper inspection under load etc to determine the cause as soon as possible to avoid more damage. Let us know what happens :-). By the way there is a procedure to replace the tranny fluid and filter. Not hard just messy to do on jacks and stands. Use a good fully synthetic fluid (Mobil 1 or Castrol is good or even better ZF recommend Esso fully synthetic fluid. Good luck.

 

Sorry forgot to say how you check the fluid. Your transmission is a sealed unit and there is no dipstick. Best option is to get under the car locate the transmission sump, you will need a specific size Alan key I think number 17mm (metric) there are 2 holes the other one I think is a 12 or 13mm Alan key. With the car leveled, If you loosen the larger bolt and you get fluid draining/over flowing, you have enough fluid. Check if the oil is nice and clear, if it's dark and murky with lots of metal particles floating, it's time you change the fluid and the filter. You can buy a filter and gasket kit on eBay for around $40. Take off the pan using a size 28 hex key (from memory). You will also need around 6-8 liters of oil. And an oil pump to pump the oil into the tranny. As you fill it up, do it until it drips out of the larger drain. Make sure the car is leveled on stands. Then start your engine with your tranny in P whilst holding brake pedal. Engage D not reverse hold in D for 20 seconds to allow fluid to pump into valve body. Then repeat the same procedure in all the other gears and return back to P. get under the car and finish topping up fluid. It should take about 2-3 litres of additional fluid before it pours out of drain hole (the big one). Study the job before you do it and you should be ok.

 

Could this possibly be a turbo issue as well? Anyone who has had turbos go bad, does it sound like rocks rattling in a can? the car still seems to drive perfectly fine, which leads me to believe its not turbo related, but im not sure. Will try to get a better listen under the car soon.

 

Some people have identified a noise coming from the turbos, but not a rattling noise. You said that there was a shudder in gears 1 and 2 which leads me to believe it is something associated with the Torque converter or some part of your drivetrain.

 

Also check your catalytic converters, they tend to rattle if they reached their the end of their lifespan. You have 185k miles and this is a possibility. Please check your transmission oil prevention is better than the cure .

 

Just an update: Before I got chance to really check on anything the car left me stranded. Drove it and parked, and when i returned it would not start. Wouldnt even turn over, like the starter or flywheel is locked. Tried rocking the car back and forth and moving the shifter to no avail.

I should have a place to work on it in the next week so I will update you when I can take a good look.

 

Sorry to hear about that. My A6 is also parked waiting for work on Transmission.

 

This could even be a heatshield that needs some bending. I had a very similar sound a while back that just resorted in a heatshield that I just simply bent. I would look around and see if there are any heatshield that are out of place, especially around the turbos. It would be nice if that was your issue as opposed to the transmission being at fault.

Obviously, this wouldn't explain your shudder in low gears.