Dylan314

I acquired and fairly clean 2005 audi a8 quattro, it is equipped with a 4.2l engine and a 6 speed auto with trip, the person I got the car from high centered the vehicle on a median, and broke the trans cooler and in turn it leaked out all of its fluid. They replaced the trans cooler and did not know how to fill the fluid and this is the state I am in rn. I tried to replace the transmission fluid with zf procedure today with mercon sp, there is a ticking sound coming from the tourqe converter area while the vehicle is running and I'm trying to fill and it seems the transmission is not at all pumping fluid, even after going through the gears there is no movement in wheels when going through gears. When shifted into reverse as well as drive the indicator lights for gear position all light up red. I did pull a scan on my obdeleven and I came up with / incorrect reverse gear ratio/ incorrect gear ratio 3 / incorrect gear ratio 4. Trying to clear these codes and they reappear as soon as the shift selector is moved, should I get a donor trans and switch out my conductor board over to the new trans and try again? 🤔 trying to see thoughts of people on here on maybe a fix but I'm not sure what is happening, and ag-





ain the transmission is not pulling fluid into it at all. I filled the pan and turned it on and the level never changed it just kept over flowing when I tried to add more no matter how many times I cycled gears.

dvs_dave

Following accident impact damage, it’s impossible to guess what’s wrong with it, other than it sounds FUBAR. Drop the pan, see if anything obvious is broken or damaged inside, and is it easily fixable?

But realistically it sounds like you’d be better off just throwing in a replacement trans. Plenty out there on eBay.

Dylan314

Okay that's what I was thinking, I may salvage the valve body and mechatronics out of my original trans and I'm unsure if I want to risk putting my conductor board into the new working trans and it be bad so I might just get the trans in and take it to a trans shop have them fill it and program it to my vehicle, I need to convert the bag system to coilovers as both front bags are popped, it's quite a hefty dollar for replacements. as the coilover conversion is 1000$ way cheaper and reliable in the long run

Rob09A8

How do you know that "both front bags are popped"?

Dylan314

When the system tries to fill them with air they hiss from under the aluminum cover when I was inspecting on stands and wheels off, they sustained damage from sitting I assume, the rubber is extremely weather checked including the protective boots that are on the struts

Dylan314

The rear air stuts are good though and hold height just fine

dvs_dave

Rebuilt airbag struts are approx $600 each and an easy DIY job. Throwing on coil overs is a ghetto move.

Dylan314

I'm sure is is a "ghetto move" in some people's eyes but the coilovers come with the deletion module to have no dash lights and I got the car for 500$ not to mention it's MY CAR haha if I want to delete the buggy bag system I will, I'm not into throwing a code every other week due to a bag system, now I will say it is not throwing any codes for the bags ATM besides low pressure so if I can fix what is happening in the front by maybe a bad line or something then sure I'll leave them but I won't be spending over 4k to fix the bags to break again. I'm the type that if I am gonna replace the 2 then I'll just replace all 4, the pump, all solenoids, all the lines, and the module with brand new parts. Money is no object with repairing the car but in the long run? This car will die by my hand. but it doesn't matter to me that much.

Veikra

just replace the air spring. These car never run as well with coil overs. As for buggy ? My 04 has over 360 000 miles ! I put two front air spring 2 years ago, rear still factory. I drive a LOT they are a very good system. I can change both front air spring and rebuild the compressor for under 600-700$ and have the car runs as intended. I didnt replace the valve block, I didnt replace any lines . All you have to do is keep water out of the system by servicing the dryer inside the compressor and you wont have problem.
I drive my car 2hours both way 2-3 times a week, and faster that im willing to admit. NOTHING beat an active suspension. It`s not just the spring you delete when you go coil overs, it`s the entire active suspension as well.

The d3 system is very solid. Most problem I find were caused by other mechanic doing crazy things like this:
or not reconnecting level sensor, or leaving the accelerometer handing in the cowl area.

In the vw world as well as heavy industries, air springs last longer than coil springs. ESPECIALLY in rusty canada with salt eating at anything made of steel

I have videos documenting how to replace the front air springs on a D3, as well as on D4. And I mean keeping the dampers, only replacing the spring independantly. So browse my channel if you want to see if it's something you can tackle.
Happy wrenching.

I would also go for a complete transmission replacement. They are cheap, plentiful and seldom bad when cars are parted. Mine is still OEM minus fluid changes

Rob09A8

Sounds like the air suspension pump is running fine.
Is it an original black WABCO pump? If so throwing a gasket/piston ring kit is worthwhile and you can stick the dryer beads in the oven when its out. Don't replace it with a new crap Chinese pump. Rebuilding an OEM is cheap and going to outlast all of them.
Rear struts seem to last forever on these cars so even if you need to do the fronts, there really wouldn't be a reason to touch the back ones at all.

Eriksson Industries in Connecticut are the go to ZF Audi suppliers for transmission parts. They can test solenoids and from the sounds of things you'll end up with two sets. Good time to replace the bridge seal etc. and they can supply the ZF metal/silicone gasket if you split it open. There's a number something like 52 or 50 on a metal tag that's part of the gasket poking out on a corner of the mechatronic which you'll need. Friendly people like Nat answer the phone and can give advice on ZF boxes, what you'll be able to swap and what wont work. Be careful with the mechatronic when you drop it out. It's only 6lbs but suddenly slippery as hell if it gets out of balance and the fragile plastic electronic sensors and TCM are mounted on the top of it.
A guy called Gary Ferraro has some excellent youtube videos on transmissions and mechatronics. Be aware BMW share some almost identical ZF boxes but there are some small differences that really do matter, especially when ordering parts. Usually an A after the ZF number for the Audi boxes such as 6HP19A and 6HP26A. It's interesting to watch a very experienced professional go about it compared to some of the BS you see on YouTube. This is just a random selection.
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