OzzyLime

Can it be done without pulling the motor out? Picked up this A4 for a good price (Hope to make it a commuter) but reverse makes a fun grinding sound (5 speed auto). Thanks.

Harddrive2000

Depends on what you mean by motor. Do you mean the engine. If yes, then yes you can replace the tranny without removing the engine, but the engine will need to be moved a bit. I had mine replaced last november (Auto,quattro). I was there throughout the whole operation (call it emotional support All they used were two to three simple jacks. One placed under the engine (specifically the oil pan) which they used to move the engine up or down a few inches whenever they required, the other jacks to support and move the tranny into position.

OzzyLime

Thanks for the answer.

600whpA4

The motor only needs to be lifted up slightly if that is how they are getting to the lower bolts that hold the transmission to the block. The sub frame gets in the way when getting to those bolts. Other way is to drop the back end of the sub frame to get those bolts.

Other then that it isn't all that hard to get the transmission out. Just have to make sure you remove the transmission mount brackets(wings) when you take out the mounts themself, just remove them both with the mounts still bolted to the bracket.

There are plenty of write ups on the tranmission removal.

OzzyLime

Could I use a cherry picker to pull up on the motor? Would I need to loosen motor mounts or anything else prior? Thanks for the details, looking to do this in the next week.

600whpA4

You could. You would have to loosen the 2 motor mounts and the snub housing.

When you go to put the transmission back in leave those lower bolts out, it will make it easier if you ever have to pull the transmission out again.

mtroxel

Keep in mind that whatever you use to support the motor, you need it there the whole time the tranny is out of the car. So if you need to roll the car out of the way while the tranny is out, you might want to do something like this. I made this wood thing to support my 96 V6 while the trans was being rebuilt. It's not that stable with the trans gone.

600whpA4

Shouldn't really need to do that if the subframe is still there, the motor mounts and snub are still in place.

My 1.8t sat in the garage for about 18 months without a transmission.

mtroxel

No snub, the carrier is forward. Might have been just as easy to put a couple bolts in the carrier though.