I have just bought a 01 A4 with a 1.8t. The last owner was told the head gasket was blown and would be around 1k to fix it. When I bought it I did a compression test and found that the gasket was fine. I started the car and it ran fine for about 5-10 min before I shut it down due to finding 2 quarts of oil running down my driveway I found the oil to be coming from between the block and trans. So I find it to be the rear main seal. Does anyone have an easier way to pull the transmission out without dropping the entire sub frame and hoisting the engine? That is how the book is telling me but I figured if there is another way I will try it.
Thanks,
TDR.

 

I haven't pulled an auto trans before but when i pulled my manual trans i didnt have to use an engine brace as the motor mounts hold the motor in place. Just remove the drive shaft if its a quattro, the trans mounts and bell housing bolts, along with whatever multiplug connections and what not. Took me like 7 hours to replace my clutch and flywheel, and replace all my seals. Make sure it is indeed your rear main seal before pulling the trans though, it would suck if that wasnt the issue. It could be the rear of the head leaking down the trans appearing to be the rear main seal, although a leaking rear main seal is more practical.

 

I did check to see if there was any oil above the transmission but its clean just from the lower side so I am going to just pull it. The book says nothing about the support bar on a manual but for some reason on the auto I have to. But I also have to drop the sub frame down to pull the trans out as well. Another diff. from the manual so if its what I got to do then I will. Thanks for the reply.

 

I haven't done an A4 trans pull (yet) but one tip I was given is that with it removed, the front of the engine will nose downward somewhat, resulting in the rear of the engine tilting upward. When it's time to reinstall it, use a jack to lift up under the front of the engine so that the rear tips down. It'll make it a lot easier to stab tge gearbox back onto the engine. And don't forget that you'll need triple-square bits to remove the mounting bolts from the axles to the diff (you're very unlikely to find these at a parts store - my set of four was around $10 from www.germanautoparts.com).

 

Thanks Devil I do have those already. Been working on cars for a while now so its kinda built up a lot in tools that I have to blow dust off of lol. I am going to use a support bar to stop that nose drop but I have just never seen a trans pull that I have to drop the sub frame out. CRAZY!!! But learning new things are alway good. Im kinda a gear head that way. Thanks for the reply

 

So an update to everyone. If you have an auto trans. Have someone else do it this is a total joke. I have everything undone and have put a good 8 to 10 hours into it so far, Trans is held by the jack as we speek and I will come back to it tomorrow morning but this is just crazy. I will never buy an auto again lol, unless I am having someone else work on all my problems. But I hope to have it up and going by tomorrow night. Wish me luck. By the way did I say this was a joke lol.

 

Ok this is just painfull. Car is all back together with new rear main seal and all. Now it leaks ATF all over from the same place as before. I drove it down the street and on the way back the transmission started slipping down to going nowhere. My best guess is that the trans is gone anyone have any other ideas?