highlands555

Yesterday, I noticed my 97 A8 laboring to change low gears and the MAL light came on. Also, all the lights for (PRND432) come on in the panel.
I was hoping it was a sensor issue, but the dealer says it might need a new tranny: $9,000 OUCH!!!

Has anybody ever have this problem? I only bought this car a few weeks ago. Could this have been a pre-existing problem? If so, how could they have jimmy-rigged it so good that nothing showed for almost a month?

Appreciate your comments.

V-C4

Definetly a pre-existing problem.
and there are always signs that the transmission would go wrong.

Jkay

Immediately check your state's Lemon Law!

In Connecticut, we get either 30 or 60 days depending on how much the used car cost.

Google search for "state lemon law" and you will see, near the top, a site that lists ALL 50 states' Lemon Laws.

I hope you're still under Lemon Law warranty.

Jkay

<ul><li><a href="http://www.nationallemonlawcenter.com/">National Lemon Law Center</a></li></ul>

escapA8

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. Also, try a search on this forum.
I don't think you would have been able to kill your tranny in the last couple of weeks, unless you just lost all your tranny oil.

Xialater

As I remember, he was at the ZF Factory in IL, and they WERE going to start rebuilding the A8 Trannies......

As far as the pre-existing problem, who knoww. With the complexity of these cars, I doubt any duct tape and paperclips could have made it good enough to drive for you to buy it.....was there every any tranny work done on the car?? Since it's a 97, the rear seal should have been replaced, and the tranny fluid flushed and filled......it is *NOT* a lifetime fluid as AoA claims....

Best of luck, let us know what happens<ul><li><a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/a8/msgs/23536.phtml">Paul's Visit to Plant</a></li></ul>

highlands555

Xialater,
I'll check the rear seal tomorrow when I go back to the dealer.

I too wonder how anyone could have jimmy-rigged a pre-existing problem like this for almost a month. So, maybe it just happened? Lucky me.

I'll keep all posted.

highlands555

Escap,

I'm hopin it's the oil. Dealer will let me know tomorrow.

It is the most feared word in my book too. I just never imagined it would be $9G fearsome!

Thanks.

highlands555

Jkay,
Our lemon law says 30 days, 1000 miles.

I'm 29 days into the deal but may be over 1,000 miles. I'll check the exact milage tomorrow.

If I am over 1,000 miles, then that spring-time cruise to Boston may yet prove to be the most expensive drive I ever took.

Will keep you posted.

PaulW

If your car went into "limp home" mode (I believe it has the torque converter open and only drives in 4th gear), then something went astray and the computer knows about it.

I would bet it could be a solenoid valve in the tranmssion, I think there are 8 or 9. If that is the case, the tranny pan is dropped, the filter dropped and the solenoid rack is right above it, the computer will tell you which one is bad and then it would be replaced. At a dealer, this might cost up to $1,000, but should cost more like $500.

Here's the filter, once it's removed, the solenoids are visible:

<img src="http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articles/auto_transmission/tranfilchange7.jpg">


What you need to do is to have the dealer pull the fault codes on the tranmission and the engine and post them here. Because it was in limp home mode, there should be stored fault codes, which will make it easy to troubleshoot.

I personally doubt you are in for a $9000 repair. However, make sure the filter and fluid are changed!

Paul