Hi guyz new to the audi family just bought a 2002 a4 3.0 quattro i love everything about the car except for the mechanical issues im experiencing and from what i have been reading in all audi forums.. well heres what i am experiencing my car feels sort of sluggish and the transmission is not responding like it should i just seafoamed the car about 2 days ago and it felta tad better than before but am getting horrible gas mileage. i just bought the car a week ago im planning on changing the plugs, fuel filter, give it an oil change, and since i have 130k miles on it im very afraid of changing the transmission fluid on it . but have been reading forums and people are saying that i should at least change the filter and keep the old fluid and maybe add some lucas transmission fix for smoother shifting please help guys i really hope by changing these things will change my car's behavior..

thanks....

 

Well if your engine is getting terrible gas mileage your first step is fixing whats wrong with that. Poor engine performance can masquerade as transmission problems. I would check for vacuum leaks, change the air filter, the fuel filter, coil packs and spark plugs, and of course check the fault codes.
After all that then have the fluid and filter changed in the trans, don't reuse the old fluid, but don't FLUSH it either! Solvents are the #1 cause of automatic transmission failure, just change the fluid and filter.

 

hey thanks a lot auditech that makes perfect sense im going to get those things taken care of right away but i just hooked up my friends scanner to my car and pulled a few codes

1) p0441-evap small leak
2) 16815-warm up cat bank 2 effis below thress???
3) p0431-upper limit reaches???
4) 16825-evap emission control sys incorrect flow????
i think this may have something to do with my fuel consumption but not sure what they mean exactly. do any of these look familiar to you and do you have the slightest idea of what might be wrong here? my guess is between o2 sensor or cat converter, but like i said its an educated guess.. once again auditech thanks for getting back to me im still going to replace plugs,tranny filter,fuel filter , and air filter and see how it goes from there but these codes are confusing me .. waiting on your reply thanks........

 

Eeewwww, you're not going to like me very much after i reply to this message but it needs to be done. The EVAP codes are nothing much to worry about, they don't affect the operation of the engine, it just keeps excess gas emmissions from getting into the atmosphere, its probably got a small leak or the N80 valve on top of the air box is toast.

The second and third code are bad news bears. This means the cat converter on the driver's side isn't working as good as it should. The stock cats costs $1,000 a piece and its usually about 3 hours of labor to install it...However why it went to pot is the real problem. Cat converters usually go bad when the engine is misfiring, in your case, coil packs and spark plugs. You need to change those first before the OTHER cat goes to pot. The cat converter can get plugged up too, giving you that sluggish engine feeling. Picture blowing air thru a kinked straw. If you get the spark plugs and coil packs changed you SHOULD feel an immediate restoration in power, replacing the car should finish off the repair.
Then you can worry about the stupid EVAP code.

 

Damn!!! that is bad news .. but i am definetly changing the plugs today the coil packs were already rplaced due to tsb recall at the dealer last year based on the service record that the previous owner gave me.. should i change them again? and wow $1,000 + 3hours labor!? is there another way i can go around this by maybe using an aftermarket cat and doin the install myself? why is it 3 hours labor do you have to drop the subframe o something?
thanks again dude your really saving me here!!

 

http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/200...converter.html
Scroll to the bottom of the page, they say they aren't legal in CA, and I belive Jersey isn't far of CA's emmission standards, but its much cheaper than $1,000 a pop. However it does say 49 state legal so i guess you're good. I don't see how the emmission tech would know the difference anyways, most smog techs are pretty dumb.

If you have an automatic model you do have to lower the rear subframe about 6 inches to access the bolts on the 3.0L cat, and the stock cats are FAT bastards so you really have to yank them out past the trans, even if after you lowered the subframe. I wouldn't attempt it without a rack, and a 4-6 ft 1/2 impact extension equipped with a universal 13mm socket.

Edit: oh and yeah replace the coils again if they have more than 20,000 miles on them.

 

thanks for the info its definetly cheaper. and by the way i replaced the spark plugs this afternoon and they looked terrible, they were fouled out, they were black as coal, and not to mention they smelled as if they were soaked in fuel.i am very impressed with the difference by just changing the plugs. the transmission feels better i think i still need to change the fuel filter and give it a fresh oil change....
Do you think it would be better for me to convert my magnaflow exhaust system into straight pipe and eliminating the cats period? i know for a fact ill get better performance and i would just add silencers to the tips to make it quieter. but do you think that would be a good idea just trying to save money i have some left over 2.5 " pipe from my nissan 240sx and have a welder and friends that can help do you think its a wise descision? let me know thanks

 

^^That depends, if you have emmissions testing its highly illegal and you won't pass an emmissions test. The horsepower increase will be 2-4 horsepower total (not noticeable) and your car will smell like all hell when running. If emmissions aren't an issue where you are go ahead and do it, the 3.0L doesn't sound that bad uncorked, however a bit raspy without a resonator.

 

yea i really have to do my homework on this one ,, this is definetly something to think about. thanks for your help on both threads..

 

Would it be safe for me to do this on my 140k tip? I was discouraged from doing this by an audi tech at around 120k. He said I didnt want to lose the friction modifiers.