New gearbox needed at 26k miles

[Tweaky]

I took my car into my local main dealer a few days ago to have a couple of bits seen to before my warranty runs out later this month. I had previously had it in with them and mentioned that when accelerating onto a motorway reasonably hard in a higher gear (not so hard that it changes down) i get a surging sensation in the car. They couldn't find any thing wrong with it that time. However this time i mentioned it again, and i am glad i did. Apparently Audi have just come up with a new test, where by they take a small sample of the gearbox oil and test it for coolant contanimation from the gearbox cooler. This test has only been released to them in the last couple of weeks apparently. My car failed the test by a small margin and as such they are putting a new gearbox into it in a couple of weeks time under warranty.

Boy am i glad i mentioned it now as the box is around £10000 plus fitting and they need the car for 2 days so that would also be a big bill no doubt!!

So if anyone elses car has been doing this and it is still under warranty, i would get it checked out.

[RS4B8LYF]

Could you share your model and year please


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[innercry666]

Tweaky, have you experienced any 'clunky' shifts from your gearbox?

I was in with Audi on Monday to investigate some odd behaviour from my gearbox:

-Shift from 2nd - 1st when slowing down can sometimes be very clunky and sometimes feels like the car has been rear-ended.
-When in 5th and coasting the car feels like there is a lot of engine breaking and then all of a sudden it's removed and the car moves more freely (surges maybe)
-Increase in whine from the gearbox

The car has done 21K miles and I've driven all but 10 of them. I had the gearbox oil replaced at 20K along with all of the other transmission oils (second engine oil change) to try and improve the way the car feels to drive. It did feel smoother overall but didn't impact the issues.

Audi did do an adaption drive on the gear box to force a recalibration of the shifts. This has improved some of the shifts and the gearbox is holding higher gears again however there are still clunky shifts at time.

The car is a late 2014 build delivered in 2015. Does any of this correlate with yours?

[Madelvic]

Tweaky, have you experienced any 'clunky' shifts from your gearbox?

I was in with Audi on Monday to investigate some odd behaviour from my gearbox:

-Shift from 2nd - 1st when slowing down can sometimes be very clunky and sometimes feels like the car has been rear-ended.
-When in 5th and coasting the car feels like there is a lot of engine breaking and then all of a sudden it's removed and the car moves more freely (surges maybe)
-Increase in whine from the gearbox

The car has done 21K miles and I've driven all but 10 of them. I had the gearbox oil replaced at 20K along with all of the other transmission oils (second engine oil change) to try and improve the way the car feels to drive. It did feel smoother overall but didn't impact the issues.

Audi did do an adaption drive on the gear box to force a recalibration of the shifts. This has improved some of the shifts and the gearbox is holding higher gears again however there are still clunky shifts at time.

The car is a late 2014 build delivered in 2015. Does any of this correlate with yours?

My S4 had exactly the same symptom as your first issue but not the second. Very clunky downshift, got worse with time. Gearbox oil change and recalibration did not fix the issue. The solenoids that control the gearbox had to be replaced (mechatronic / servatronic??) and the cost was circa £5k. Parts were on long lead time - I recall 4 weeks. Audi picked up 60% of the cost even through the car was well outside warranty - they quoted 'because I'd had the car serviced by them'

Chris Harris had exactly the same problem with his car

https://www.pistonheads.com/regulars/ph ... leet/29983

[Brooner]

But Harris's car was heavily modified if i remember

[innercry666]

Grittle, thanks for the response, it's sounds like my gear box has the same issue as both yours and CHris Harris's S4. There was another owner on here who had the gearbox replaced as well with probably the same issue.

I'm going to pass the info on to Audi and see if I get a response!

[Surrey Sam]

If its a very rare and infrequent bad change from 2nd -1st only. Then I'm inclined to say that it's just an odd bad gear change, as 1st gear is quite tall. I'm on gearbox #3 and they've all done it. However if you're getting poor quality changes in other gears, humming or buzzing noises, then there could be an issue.

Gearbox Whine - Well my first gearbox was replaced as a result of the centre crown wheel differential failing. This caused a whine that was audible at all speeds and increased the faster you drove. It's an intrinsic part of the gearbox, so required a new one despite the actual gearbox element being fine. Gearbox #2 fitted and this never felt right from day 1, poor quality changes and this time a different low speed whine in 1st gear when pootling around car parks. So this was replaced after 4k miles with Gearbox #3 and gear changes are now back to normal but low speed whine still present. Audi claim this is a characteristic of the car, I was never convinced but other than that, everything else worked fine and I still had warranty.

Engine Surging - Yes, experienced this also and it's exactly how you describe. Most noticeable when pulling onto a motorway and you give it a fair amount of throttle, using the cars torque but not enough to provoke a down change, usually 4th or 5th. It doesn't always happen and is hard to replicate, so usual dealer reply of 'no fault found'. My car did eventually throw some fault codes, so printed them off and handed to the dealership when in for the #2 Gearbox change.

2636 - Low Pressure Fuel regulation
P310B 00 [096] - Fuel Pressure Outside Specification

2638 - Low Pressure Fuel regulation
P310B 00 [096] - Fuel Pressure Outside Specification

They replaced a fuel pump, sorry I forget which one, but think it may have been the high pressure one feeding the fuel rail. The fault was never fixed but as it was so infrequent and non-replicable, I just felt that I couldn't fight it. However, the last few months I've been battling with Audi over an engine issue that has happened. The car broke an exhaust valve spring which meant an engine out job to inspect for any further damage. Once given the all clear it was re-assembled and after less than 400 miles, broke down again. Removed and stripped, no fault was found. So Audi asked for re-assembly and further testing, only for them to finally say late last week "New Engine" required. I'm a bit bewildered as to what the fault is right now but will be proposing a meeting once the new engine has been built, sent, and fitted. For those who haven't glazed over and moved on, the car has only done 16,800 miles.

So, my point for telling the above? I'm yet to drive the car enough, to see if the engine surging is still there after the broken engine exhaust valve was replaced. I will now instead, have a new engine to test once the car is eventually back in my possession. So will be intrigued, to see what, if any affect that has had on my two outstanding concerns of - surging and the low speed whine. I'm very, very, sceptical that anything has changed. The saga continues.

[FaisalJ]

Holy crap Sam, was just thinking I hadn't seen you on here much lately, doesn't sound like you've been having much fun with the B8.

Hope you get it all sorted soon mate.


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[Surrey Sam]

Cheers mate. TBH I've been trying to avoid here, as I've been running around in mundane diesel A4, A5, A6 and Q7 cars for months now. The last thing I really want to see and read about is everyone enjoying their RS's. Hopefully the end is near.

If not...there's a 20L jerry can and box of matches who'd love to be acquainted.

Still in love with a 'working' B8 though.

[murph7355]

Cheers mate. TBH I've been trying to avoid here, as I've been running around in mundane diesel A4, A5, A6 and Q7 cars for months now. The last thing I really want to see and read about is everyone enjoying their RS's. Hopefully the end is near.

If not...there's a 20L jerry can and box of matches who'd love to be acquainted.

Still in love with a 'working' B8 though.

Bad form by Audi. They should be sorting you something much better than those as stand ins.

Can you not give them the car back?

What are they proposing doing for you warranty wise on the car? I'd be wanting way more than their 2yr on parts.

[sepangstu]

There are a worrying number of people requiring new gearboxes. Myself included.

My March 2015 car received a new 'box after 12,500 miles back in July.

Only symptom I had was a faint whine that gradually got worse. I could've swore my car had a supercharger fitted. Noise was diagnosed as the oil pump in the gear box. Given previous transmission related issues and replacement parts fitted before, Audi advised a new 'box.

However, some credit has to go to Audi as they offered a years warranty extension after I let them know how disappointed I was with the number of issues I've had.

[innercry666]

Mine has started to lose the plot since the adaption reset was performed on the gearbox - the shifts when pushing hard have become very jerky to the point where it unsettles the car. Confidence in how the car performs has been seriously eroded.

I have a whine the comes from the gearbox as well that is getting steadily louder. Back to Audi on Monday it would seem!

Has anybody had to go through Audi UK first to get them to do anything about the gearbox issues or has the dealership stepped up to the plate and diagnosed the issue and then confirmed via Audi Uk that a new box is required?

[sepangstu]

Mine has started to lose the plot since the adaption reset was performed on the gearbox - the shifts when pushing hard have become very jerky to the point where it unsettles the car. Confidence in how the car performs has been seriously eroded.

I have a whine the comes from the gearbox as well that is getting steadily louder. Back to Audi on Monday it would seem!

Has anybody had to go through Audi UK first to get them to do anything about the gearbox issues or has the dealership stepped up to the plate and diagnosed the issue and then confirmed via Audi Uk that a new box is required?

Aberdeen Audi dealt with all of my issues with no arguments over replacing parts.

Originally, my gearbox started to become what can only be described as lazy. It would regularly choose 3rd for low speed turns (mainly T junctions). But when I applied the throttle to continue on my way, the engine RPMs would rise to match that current speed, but I never got any actual drive before 4th was hastily selected.

Thankfully, the fault was replicable. The advice from Audi was to perform the oil test described in an earlier post - which was negative. Long story short, the car received a new clutch pack and mechatronic unit. This improved that aspect.

Then I noticed the whine - which at first sounded diff related until I noticed that the whine was present when I revved the car whilst stationary. I then thought fuel pump.

Aberdeen replaced some more bits (don't know what) but still the whine was there.

Finally, fault was traced to the gearbox oil pump. This pump is apparently a serviceable part that can be replaced. But because of my previous issues related to transmission, Audi UK advised replacing the 'box.

[innercry666]

Since the adaption reset the whilst the engine is running and the car is in park, if I press the brake pedal there is a vibration that comes from the gearbox and outside the car there is an odd sound that corresponds with this that sounds like air whooshing as the brake pedal is depressed. Anybody else come across this? It never did it before the adaption reset.

[JamesLawrance]

Mate of mine had his done at Automatic Transmission Preston about 3 month ago and he is happy as a pig in sh*t! Think his bill was 3500 all in or it might have been 3?