Hey guys...my transmission is STILL giving me problems. Although, I'm not sure it's EXACTLY transmission related. I think it is either in the driveline or with the torque converter.

I was photographing some Audis for a local auto broker, and one of his techs (not an Audi mechanic, but a transmission tech) was there so I explained what I was experiencing. He took it for a test drive and then proceeded to tell me that the torque converter wasn't disengaging when it was supposed to, causing that bump when I let off the gas. (I know some of you are thinking "snub mount", but I have already replaced that.)

I agree that it feels like something is sticking and then letting go when I quit accelerating...and it's WORSE under normal acceleration. If I put it to the floor and accelerate hard, then let off...there's much less of a bump, if it occurs at all.

In terms of the torque converter, the transmission does not slip, and it does not shift hard...no revving, then "bam". It actually shifts quite smoothly. It is only really bad when I am in rush hour traffic. I can take off from a stop and go through first...it shifts to second at about 20MPH, and if I let off the gas, there's a nasty feeling bump in between gradual acceleration and coasting. It is even worse if I am going UP a slight grade...if I'm going down a slope in this stop and go, it isn't really as bad....perhaps because it doesn't take as much torque to get me moving while going downhill?

I'm afraid this is really going to f**k up my transmission if I don't address this very soon.

Anybody got any suggestions?

 

Sounds to me like an engine or trans mount problem. My 97 behaved the same way. I replaced my engine mounts at 170k which improved it slightly. The trans mount was replaced and it fixed it completely. Replacing those items took all the slack out of the powertrain. When you are accelerating hard and then letting off, your suspension is helping to absorb the shock of the powertrain slack which is why it's less noticeable when doing that compared to light on/off throtle while cruising steady.

 

Okay, thanks for that. Despite my audi tech saying that the tranny mounts are okay, I think I'm going to go ahead and replace them. I HAVE to start somewhere to get this corrected.

Something else that I've noticed (and pardon me if this is normal)...but when I'm going up a long hill at cruising speed...as I VERY gradually press the accelerator to try and maintain speed while going up the hill, the RPMs will go up from about 2800 to about 3200-3300...but if I switch over to Tiptronic, it still says I'm in 5th gear. After I level out at the top of the hill, then the RPMs will come back down to 2800. It's very clean when it does this...not like it's struggling or stuttering.

Is this the normal behavior of the torque converter?

 

Anyone?