zeet

Check for broken wires in the wiring harness to the transmission. They are known to sometimes get brittle and break or short out. A missing connection can destroy your transmission. It is very unlikely to be a TCM problem or an adaptation problem. You may also need a VSS because of that 00529 code.

wirelesschamp

How exactly do I check for shorted wires?
the VSS I found new from autozone for $43.99 and the O2 Sensor (B1, S2) is the rear O2 sensor and autozone charges $133

So far I'm up to
$176.99 + tax.

The sunroof... Can I just use like a silicone caulk to seal it up so it stops leaking and just not use the sunroof?

zeet

You will just have to check the harness under the car. It means time with the car up in the air. Check for damage to the jacket of the wiring that goes to the transmission. Lots of times weird codes actually mean a wiring problem.

Yes you can just seal up the sunroof, but it shouldn't be leaking in the first place. My sunroof was broken and didn't leak at all. First check to see if the drains are clear. These are designed to leak and then let the water run out through the four drains.

wirelesschamp

Yeah I can't find someone with a lift of course it's not like everyone has on in their garage lol.

But I was told I could fix the majority of the issues if I can find my VSS wire that needs to be replaced. I can't find a wiring diagram for my car that will show me which wire goes to the TCM from the VSS. That's where I believe the problem lies.

I took the sunroof and sealed it for now until I can get this vss issue resolved.

upallnight

The drains to the sunroof are clogged. A long flexible wire or if you have access to compress air you can blow out the sunroof drain. Why do people insist on making shoemaker repairs to their car instead of fixing what is wrong.

wirelesschamp

Aside from the issue with the sunroof, I took the car to the stealership and they replaced my wire harness for the TCM. Now they tell me hat it needs an rpm sensor and a crankshaft position sensor and once they are replaced then it should fix the shifting issue where it shifts then stalls out and restarts in limp mode. They wanted to charge me $1,800 for the parts PLUS labor. What are my options?

Ben2

Crank sensor is the same thing as the RPM sensor AFAIK. Could they have said camshaft position sensor or throttle position sensor?

A crank sensor is $180 new (1/3rd of that used), a camshaft sensor is $60 new (don't get it used they go bad often), a new TPS is $200 (1/4th of that used).

Your option right now is to dump that theiving stealership and either fix it yourself (none of those parts are particularly difficult to replace), or find a good honest independent shop.

upallnight

Look at the gear selector on the dash. Are all the gears selection lite up? If so the TCM is in Limp mode. One reason why a TCM will go into limp mode is a bad Neutral Safety Switch, aka as a Multifunction switch at the dealership or F125 switch on VAG-Com.

A new neutral safety switch runs any where between 300 to 400+ dollars (depending where you purchase it from). To r and r the switch will be in the neighborhood of 3-5 hours shop time.

Do the math and this repair can cost close to $1000.00.

tylercarellow

Hey, so im having similar problems, my car just stalled and went to limp mode after shifting to drive from a runnning parked position, i pulled back the carpet and found the tcm, so is it possible to get it reprogrammed or something or just find one with the same numbers, i have a 1995 quattro!

Systirsman

My 1996 A6 Avant started having very hard shift when I put it into gear - so bad that the engine would move when I did that. Also hard shifts while driving. We replace the motor mounts to see if that might help, No go. We changed some of the tranny fluid and added Lucas Transmission Repair - helped a bit on the driving shifts . But what solved the whole problem was disconnecting the electrical connection to the TCM and cleaning the corroded leads on both the unit and the plug - reconnected after putting dielectric grease on the connectors. As soon as we did this all the issues were gone. Hope this is of some help to people. I sealed my sunroof and will cover the roof and windshield to keep rain from getting near the TMC.