Audi Expert Advice needed.
 

Help! My drivers side output shaft flange on the manual transmission keeps backing out and I loose transmission oil all over the road. I never had this happen to any of my cars before and I ran out of ideas at this point :(.
I have taken out the flange and replaced the circlip that has to hold the flange in it's place, figuring that it would be the culprit, but the flange still comes out about a quarter of an inch every 100 miles.
Now every weekend I have to get underneath the car and knock the flange back in its place so I don't loose oil.
Dealer told me they never even heard of the problem.

Transmission was replaced 9k miles ago and replaced both front axles at the time. Problem surfaced about a thousand miles ago. While driving smelled a strong smell of gear oil on the exhaust and had a puddle of oil underneath the car next day.


Thread from bimmerforums somewhat related.
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...d.php?t=815722

That sucks. If it keeps popping out after you replaced the circlip, you can try swapping out the axle, but you'll likely need to open up the trans and determine if you need to replace some parts. It might be better just to swap in a junkyard trans.

why is the circlip not holding it in? are you sure its fully seated when you install the circlip? it shouldnt just back out like that, there has to be something to secure it if not that clip.

Thank you for the replies! I don't know why it is not holding it in. I did make sure it goes all the way in, and was further in than the passenger side. Circlip is good and I had audi dealership take off the old one and mount the new circlip on the flange, but for some reason it just keeps backing out.
Are there any other forces inside transmission that could start to act on it to push it out of the way? I do start to think it could be the new axle, but it worked good for a couple of thousand miles and suddenly just started coming out.. so axles just shouldn't be it. Just doesn't make sense to me why would it not hold after new circlip was installed.

Are you talking about the flange the CV axle bolts to? This is actually coming out of the trans and leaking oil? That isn't a common problem on any car really. Something inside the trans is causing the problem besides this one clip. It takes to much force to have just one stupid clip holding it in. Something internal is the problem. A junkyard trans would be best, do you have documentation of the transmission replacement?

Yeah its the CV the axle bolts to. I picked up transmission from local junkyard and replaced transmission myself. I had warranty on the transmission for 6 months. It's now way past that. I was afraid to think it could be transmission but it is starting to shift weird in first and second when its cold.. I just never had a transmission fail on me this way.

Just a thought... Check and make sure the vent on top of the trans is clear and functional. It's a long shot, but worth a look.

Thanks, ill take a look at it tomorrow.

I checked the vent and it's clear and has no obstructions. I most likely just need to rebuilt or get another transmission, this one shifts bad when its cold and also just started leaking out of the shift rod seal.

the bad shifting could be due to it not having enough tranny fluid. are you adding more everytime you find the axle is loose?