Dustin G

Hi guys,

New to the boards here so wanted to first say hi.

Moving on...My girlfriend has got a '99 A4 with the Tiptronic tranny. While on the freeway this weekend, something in the tranny blew and it lost all the fluid.

We had it towed to my place and when I climbed under the car, there was fluid everywhere. I couldn't see any hoses leaking or anything that pinpointed the leak so I thought I'd come here to ask if anyone has any experience with this? Is there a seal or part that typically fails in these timebomb trannys? Any other thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

turbo510

I hope it's something simple like the cooler line connector being loose, but you would have ATF all over the driver's side of the transmission if that were the case.

Could be what happened to my '99 Passat/Tip, a broken torque converter. According to a VW/Audi mechanic who seemed confident that he knew what was wrong from my description, the lock-up clutch is prone to break. He said that this usually ruins the pump, too. In this case the failure was sudden and stopped the engine while I was cruising along at 50 MPH in busy Friday traffic. By pure luck I was able to coast through two right turns into a book store parking slot.

I bought a used transaxle online for $875 plus shipping. It works just fine, but I got ripped off by the installer (another mechanic recommended by a friend). Good luck.

Dustin G

I'm hoping it is something simple as well, but I didn't see any hoses that appeared to be leaking. That's why I'm fearing it is something internal.

Looking like I may just have to clean everything under the car, fill up the tranny with fluid and then start the car to see where it is coming from.

If anyone else has any experiences, please feel free to share.