Alright so I recently got a 2000 B5 S4 with the Triptronic tranny... I was told of the issue by the guy I got it from and had the idea of just replacing the transmission. After I got it and started to look into it more, I decided that I'm going to try to fix it. So After scanning it I looked into the ETC's more online, and they are all about an o2 sensor short to ground, Shift Solenoid 2 N89 Electric Malfunction, and Shift Solenoid 2 N89 short to ground.

So my issue consists of the transmission being in limp mode. What should I do, and what causes this issue?

Thanks,

Caleb

 

what happens when you drive it? does it go into gear ok? does it thud when it gets into drive or any other gear?

 

Sorry I meant EPC's. And it does sort of thud into gear if you shift from park to drive very slowly. Reverse is fine, it goes into neutral, and also into drive. I can put the gear selector into any option (D,4,3,2, or Tip mode) but all of the gears on the gauge cluster remain lit up. I can drive it fine, but it just is very gutless down low since it is in 4th gear limp mode(obviously). I'm not really sure what to do on this...

 

So what I'm saying is that it stays in 4th gear (well limp mode) no matter what gear its put in (other than P,N, and Reverse).

 

hmmmmm.... the thud is from your torque converter. it may be going bad. this might be what is causing you to go into limp mode, but i dont think so. the codes are saying its a bad shift solenoid. i'm pretty sure that what the problem is. you need to check and see which one is bad.

maybe this will help to check which is bad:
http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?t=2805081

 

Alright sweet. The other day i had about 5 min to lift my car and check a few things, so I unplugged the 16 pin plug that goes into the transmission right above (if not on) the oil pan for the tranny. I grabbed my handy dandy voltmeter and checked the output of each pin. The strange thing is, it would read some voltage, and then just die off to zero, but it was happening for different lengths at different times. Sometimes it would read, and sometimes it would just be at zero or .001. I do not remember what the reading was to be honest.

So today I'm going to pull back the passenger carpet and test the wire for the N89 solenoid at the TCM. If this one reads, then I know that it has nothing to do with the wiring (at least from the TCM to the tranny), and then I will know I have to pull the pan.

One more thing. Yesterday I cleared the DTC's, and then only two popped up. One for an o2 sensor and one that was along the lines of "Electrical Malfunction Indication Light Malfunction", and no N89 solenoid code. The car remained in limp mode, but I'm sure as of now it threw the code for the solenoid again. What does the Electrical Malfunction Indication Light Malfunction mean? My "EPC" light isn't functioning properly?

Thanks again for all the help

 

Electrical Malfunction Indication Light Malfunction: i think this means that your check engine light is broken. could be a bad fuse, probably will clear up along with the 02 sensor issue when you fix the solenoid.

 

Awesome man thanks. Today I checked both the ohms and ground connection from the TCM to the 16 pin plug, and everything checked out. So my next step is to pull the pan, check the ribbon harness inside, and then test the solenoid. I won't be able to get to it until Sunday night, but I'll keep you updated with what happens. If you have any other suggestions or pointers I'm always all ears. Thanks again man

 

no problem. keep me posted for sure. if i think of more i will definitely post.

 

Alright so we drained the tranny fluid... And there's gear oil in it.... Possible leak from the diff into the tranny? I heard that gear oil will cause solenoids to malfunction. Oh and we can't get the fill bolt for the diff out to check the level... We spent hours trying to do so...