Captain Picard

I've had my tanoga for about 3 weeks now - has anyone else noticed that you cannot push the shifter downward as much as the stock shifter to engage reverse? I can only push it down about 1/2 inch it seems - anyone else observe this? Thanks!

Paul

John CC

Do you have the proper shifter model? I have a tanoga ss as well and it has been harder to put it in reverse since day 1. I am going to fiddle with the positioning of the shifter today. My plan is to move the shifter assembly a bit to the right to see if it gets better.

Maybe frank will chime in here too...

Hey frank - you here?

frank

if you think about it, it makes sense

they shorten the throw, by lengthening the part of the lever, BELOW the pivot point

( now for a 50% reduction, that's likely getting close to the bottom of the shifter box)

so the Tanoga spacers, serve 2 functions...to line up the slector rod and shift lever..
and to keep the Shifter from "bottoming out" in the shift box

John CC

Re: UUC or Tanoga short shifter, comments, difficult to install? Need Advise, Thanks.
User account number (aid): 22041
Posted by N10S on 2001-08-04 22:20:11
In Reply to: UUC or Tanoga short shifter, comments, difficult to install? Need Advise, Thanks. posted by cactus4 on 2001-08-04 04:43:37
Tanoga was an easy install, just make sure you dedicate the time and have the right tools. Other than reading, and re-reading the install instructions (sort of a mental dry run), the only other thing I would note is that certain tools made the job easier.

Tool #1- Buy ball-headed Craftsman hex wrench's which can be used at slight angles and still get a perfect bite(use a pair of vise grips on the hex wrench for leverage when doing the initial loosening as you will need all the help you can get due to the factories use of thread lock, don't slip though as you could end-up scarring the dash/trim etc...).

Tool #2- 3/8 drive craftsman flex extension, 3/8 drive torx bit, 3/8 drive ratchet and ratchet screwdriver (if you can get one).When removing the torx screws the flex extension and ratchet driver make this a piece of cake.

Tool #3- A Craftsman circlip plier kit

Tool #4- An extendable magnetic retrieval wand. This cheap apparatus has saved my *** on numerous occasions. I used mine to hold the metal spacers in place while I started the torx screws. Never dropped one, and the time to start place all four spacers and start the torx screws could not have been over 10 minutes tops.I would avoid using grease to hold them in place as grease on the threads might not be a great thing for such an actively utilized part of the car.

Tool #5- Last, but not least, my favorite tool is a Petzl headlamp. The kind you buy at your local hiking/sports shop. I know this is not a tool, but it is priceless in helping me complete jobs with the least amount of juggling and cursing.You wear the lamp point it at the subject and both hands are free to work on the target project.The headlamp helped me keep focused on the shifter job and made things a lot easier than trying to use a flashlight or deal with a cumbersome trouble light.

Sorry for rambling, hope this info helps (somebody). By the way, the Tanoga SS is awesome, and it gets my vote for shifting accuracy and smoothness. I think UUC also makes an excellent product,although I have heard it is not as smooth. Again this is second-hand info. I do know that UUC's Ti **** looks good, and works nicely on my shifter.




Well I installed my Tanoga a week back or so, and I found that I had to do some adjustments as well.

Mine sits straight up and down (no lean either way).

I found that the best way to adjust it was to loosen both bolts get it into the center of travel (from back and forth of case, as well as left and right) and then tighten the top bolt. Then making sure I didn't move the shifter I tightened the lower bolt.

This worked quite well for me (it actually became noticibly smoother suddenly, as well as reverse engaged alot easier then before I made this adjustment).

My shifter path seems similar to stock, with 1st being all the way left and then in 1st (not with it coming back right as you describe).

Unfortunately I am out on the east coast (DC area) so you cannot take a look at mine :-(.

The only thing I did seem to notice from your pictures is that your shifter assembly seems very slightly turned clockwise. I found with mine that turning the shifter slightly counter clockwise before tightning the lower bolt so that it sits perpendicular to the rails below made a difference as well.
'01 S4 Black/Onyx/Bose/Prem/Cold/6spd

It seems to me to be like so

1st -> 2nd straight

2nd -> 3rd pretty much same as stock

3rd -> 4th straight

4th -> 5th wider (or move more laterly but not as much up/down)

5th -> 6th very slightly (only noticible when I grab the outside of the shift **** and pull inside/down to go to 6th) need to go right to get into 6th gear.

Otherwise seems pretty nice.

I can't get over how great the shifter feels now. Every forward gear engages very smoothly & directly. Reverse requires a bit more effort, but it seems like that may be normal.

Also, the shifter is now very straight vertically, with no lean to the right.

Upon loosening the 2 hex allen bolts, I saw how much room/play for adjustment there is.

It took 2 attempts to get it right. The first try, I straightened out the right-side lean. This immediately fixed the problem of 1st not being a clean "all the way left" then "directly forward". But, this attempt introduced the same problem for Reverse. Reverse now was a push-down-left, then slight right & forward.

The 2nd adjustment worked like a champ, slightly tilting the shifter to the right. A very small adjustment makes a significant difference in the shifting.

frank - Thanks for the bolt info. I was able to go to the hardware store & look for a M8x25. And, I made sure the shifter didn't "fall" while torquing the bolt.

Akbar - You adjustment technique worked perfectly! I think mine is now adjusted just like yours.

SMOKINA4TURBO/S4 ATL - Since the dealer was closed, I'm glad you told me about getting a bolt from the hardware store. I wasn't able to get a Grade 8 Automotive grade, but I know that the soft stock one wasn't either.

winder - I just went to Sears & bought the tools you said.

winw/NASA racer - I wish I paid attention to my stock shifter position. Either slightly right is the correct position, or Audi has some variability among cars.


Finally...I found the perfect adjustment for my Tanoga SS, and even reverse is smooth now!...
User account number (aid): 10165
Posted by Clathrate on 2001-03-26 13:33:52
...I played with it for three weeks after the initial install. I guess I'm ****, but the thing that was bugging me the most was the 2-3 transition, where the throw wasn't "diagonal", where after the "neutral" spot I had to push straight up. This latest adjustment made this 2-3 transition much smoother, although it is still not a perfect "diagonal", but much more natural to me.

I originally had the shifter straight up, with no lean left or right. That worked fine, but I found by tilting it very slightly to the right that my reverse gear is smooth as hell...that surprised me, since the stock shifter had a very notchy reverse and I thought it was just built-in. Of course, who cares about a smooth reverse gear, right? But it's a moral victory nonetheless.

Car scratched/keyed? -- Also Tanoga info
User account number (aid): 15915
Posted by Akbar on 2001-05-25 07:43:18
Second part - I see people are having adjusting tanoga shifters.

In the Bentley manual ("Audi Official Factory
Repair Manual" on CD) the suggestions for setting the shifter are as follows:

The distance between body and rear push rod (in selector mechanism) should
be 43mm. This refers to the upper adjustment bolt. The distance between the
housing and the selector housing should be 43mm. For the shifter itself,
they say that it should have a 3 degree lean to the right, and a 7 degree
lean backwards. This should result in you being able to perform the
following test :
"The gear shift lever must rest in the 3rd/4th gear gate when transmission
is in neutral.
- Check operation of 1st and 2nd gear stop.
- Engage 2nd gear and push gear shift to the left against the stop.
- Reduce pressure on gear shift until it moves back to pressure point.
- Spring-back measured at gear shift handle: 3-5mm
- Check that all gears can be engaged.
- Check operation of reverse gear lock."

If you have a Bentley manual the pages being referenced are 34-12 through
34-17 (under 6-spd. Manual Transmission 01E All Wheel Drive).

This worked very well for me. Now of course I was not able to get exactly those settings, but I am guessing if you are pretty close it should work for you.




Tanoga Install
User account number (aid): 14709
Posted by Olympian on 2001-04-16 21:48:15
So the patina of oxide I previously whined about did no harm to the shifter, which installed easily and works superbly. I used the instructions from rs4.org which, for me, were easier to follow than those sent on FD by Tanoga.

For posterity, I found a slight change in assembly order made things much easier for me:
Do up the 4 10mm nuts BEFORE attempting to reassemble hex screw #2 (transmission linkage).

In RS4.org instructions:
Do step 15 & 16 before 13 & 14.
In Tanoga instructions:
Do step 10 before assembling hex screw #2 in step 8.

I also marked the shifter position (hex screw #1) and put the assembly right back there. The factory manual specs this adjustment in terms of distance relative to the housing (43mm), so it shouldn't change.

Neither the RS4.org nor Tanoga instructions explained shifter adjustment real well, but then the Audi factory manual does.

Radically different feel to the shifter--solid, quick, very "direct" feeling, and smooth. No notchiness that I can detect. A definite improvement to the driving experience in the country hills & twisties outside Olympia.


Some hints
User account number (aid): 15130
Posted by PowerJunky on 2001-05-24 19:22:39
In Reply to: Tanoga SS..got it.... posted by shuto on 2001-05-24 19:16:20
The instructions on rs4.org are very good. I glued the four spacers to the plastic mount using epoxy glue. This made the reinstall really easy.

two words
User account number (aid): 442
Posted by frank on 2001-08-21 22:23:13
In Reply to: thanks - I am sure it will make sense this weekend when my nuckels are bleeding :-) posted by John CC on 2001-08-21 22:17:57
DUCT TAPE...

DT the spacers onto each corner of the shifterbox..to hold them in place, while you insert the bolts that secure the slider assembly

same tricks as with fine tuning UUC...leave the top, 6mm hex-bolt in the middle, and
User account number (aid): 442
Posted by frank on 2001-08-21 22:14:12
In Reply to: frank, is there any tricks or is there a right up for fine tuning the position once installed? posted by John CC on 2001-08-21 22:07:43
set the lower hex bolt to taste for/aft-wise
there is more than ONE, correct for/aft position

as well as WAY TOO forward and WAY TOO Rearward, but when it's TOO far either way.. you can't get every gear so, that's obvious


but remember, to allow a teeny bit of rightward lean, with the lever in neutral..otherwise you will chase your own tail.. trying to fiddle with the for/aft position of the lower 6mm bolt but getting nowhere - make sense?