Okay, great Audi community and techs: Bounce some ideas off me PLEASE! Ever since I got my car, it makes a chugging, diesel type sound when taking off.

I know some of you will immediately jump to it being a cam chain tensioner, clutch issue, or the cooling fan. Let it be known it only does this in first gear when taking off. Once I shift to second and higher gears, it completely goes away. My first thought was that it was one of those three things as well, but as it seems to me, if it were any of those options, it would do it through all the gears so it seems more likely to me that it is something pertinent solely to the transmission and or first gear in the gear box.

I have not done a transmission fluid change since getting the car and it is on my to do list for either this weekend or next so we'll see if that helps, but until then does anyone have any suggestions of what it might be?

 

How does your motor sound at idle?

 

Completely normal. If I rev in neutral it doesn't do it, if I rev with the clutch in it doesn't do it. Once I let the clutch out in first and start moving is when it does it, and then I shift to second and it disappears completely.

 

Hmmm. It probably would be hard to diagnose without actually driving the car. But for some ideas it could be a couple of things. Tranny, syncros, clutch. Maybe someone else can chime in that has a similar issue.

 

I'll try to get a good sound sample or video this weekend and post it up so you can hear the difference after shifting. As far as driveability, it doesn't affect anything at all, just makes an obnoxious sound for that first couple of seconds during take off. How easy is it to inspect/replace the synchros? I've heard the term before, but to be honest, I don't have the foggiest of what those are, where they're located, or even what exactly it is they do for the transmission.

 

welll if it makes u feel better i have a loud train noise on mine when the car is wide open everyone turns around

 

Mine makes the same noise and only in 1st gear. I've hear several other 2.8's in first gear and they all make the same noise, so i never thought anything of it. I'll try to get a sound clip as well so we can compare the two.

Edit:
they keep you from shifting into gears that you don't belong in, 1st when you're on the highway doing 55mph for example.

 

Try taking off from a full stop in second gear and see if it makes that same noise, please.

 

A transmission synchronizer has two functions.

1. Lock the main shaft gear to the main shaft.
2. Prevent the gear from clashing or grinding during shifting.

Here's a basic idea of how a synchro looks. Unless you have experience taking apart transmissions, it would probably be a good idea to take it to a shop that specializes in rebuilding transmissions.



That's a good idea right there. That would test whether it's just a first gear thing or not.

 

yea, and its deff not the cam chain tensioner. mine is shot right now, and it sound like marbles in a blender for about 3 min then goes away.