Looking for advice on how to handle restitution from Audi for what may
be a chronic Tiptronic problem in my 2001 S4.

I'm now only at 14,700 miles. At about 12,000 miles, I started
getting a burning smell. The dealer found that the torque converter
seal had leaked and the tranny was cooking. They replaced the seal
and gave me back the car.

The burning continued but was not as severe, and at 13,100 miles my
dealer's service manager made the decison (to his credit, with no
urging from me) to install a new transmission. Well, they installed
3... the first one had a bad 4th speed and the second one had a
cracked casing.

Now the Tiptronic is working OK but I have a new, constant
transmission whine I never had before. It's worst at about 37 mph,
but it's always there.

I'm beginning to think my $40,000 car will never be right and that I
shouldn't have to suffer with the car this way. I'm going to the
dealer again tomorrow for them to check out the whine. I'm tempted to
broach with the dealer the idea of replacing the car, with financial
concessions from Audi, or some other restitution for the car's lower
value.

Anyone have advice or experience along these lines?

 

If there's a Lemon Law in your state, yo should probably tell the dealer
that you're going to pursue it.

GAds... I wish you people would stop having problems with Audi's right when
I'm thinking about buying one! BMW here I come

 

On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 18:28:00 -0700, "Jimmy G" <jimmyg50@***.net>
wrote:

>If there's a Lemon Law in your state, yo should probably tell the dealer
>that you're going to pursue it.
>
>GAds... I wish you people would stop having problems with Audi's right when
>I'm thinking about buying one! BMW here I come
>
Here in Maryland, I qualify for the Lemon Law mileage limit (15,000)
but not the time limit (15 months). I've had the car 32 months. This
is going to have to be a power play with Audi, I'm afraid.

 

Jimmy G wrote:
> If there's a Lemon Law in your state, yo should probably tell the
> dealer that you're going to pursue it.
>
> GAds... I wish you people would stop having problems with Audi's
> right when I'm thinking about buying one! BMW here I come

There are generally two types of people who post to a.a.a: Those who could
rightly be called "enthusiasts" (which I think we can all agree constitute a
small fraction of Audi's -- or any other manufacturer's -- worldwide sales)
and those who've had problems. The vast majority of people who purchase
Audis (I suspect) drive their cars for 2 to 4 years and have few if any
problems with them.

Don't get me wrong, though. Auto-related NG's are a great source of info
that can be used in helping make a vehicle purchase decision. But it's easy
to overestimate the percentage of cars that have problems.

- Greg
--
1976 Cadillac Fleetwood 9-passenger sedan (for sale:
http://www.dataspire.com/caddy)
1989 Audi 200TQ sedan
1990 Audi V8Q (for sale: http://www.dataspire.com/v8q)
2000 Oldsmobile Intrigue
2001 Chevy Astro AWD (wife's)

 

On Mon, 15 Sep 2003 01:10:04 -0400, "Greg Reed"
<inet_user@hotmail.com> wrote:

>Don't get me wrong, though. Auto-related NG's are a great source of info
>that can be used in helping make a vehicle purchase decision. But it's easy
>to overestimate the percentage of cars that have problems.

Good point. As the poster suffering with this tranny problem, I
should add that I racked up 130,000 trouble-free miles on my previous
Audi, a 1993 90S. This problem, at least as it now stands, has not
shaken my faith in the marque.

 

I am very curious about the outcome with your problem.

I also own a 2001 S4 with Tiptronic. First of all, I am amazed you have
only driven 14,700 miles. I'm in the low 20's and thought I was keeping my
miles down. I love to drive the car.

Did you use the Tiptronic very much or mostly just use the automatic
shifter?

What did the dealer do, when you sent in the other day?

Thanks and good luck!
"G. Norris" <gsnorris9@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:06q9mv0d2t0pujuhn65t5e7ttedrolfd64@4ax.com...
> Looking for advice on how to handle restitution from Audi for what may
> be a chronic Tiptronic problem in my 2001 S4.
>
> I'm now only at 14,700 miles. At about 12,000 miles, I started
> getting a burning smell. The dealer found that the torque converter
> seal had leaked and the tranny was cooking. They replaced the seal
> and gave me back the car.
>
> The burning continued but was not as severe, and at 13,100 miles my
> dealer's service manager made the decison (to his credit, with no
> urging from me) to install a new transmission. Well, they installed
> 3... the first one had a bad 4th speed and the second one had a
> cracked casing.
>
> Now the Tiptronic is working OK but I have a new, constant
> transmission whine I never had before. It's worst at about 37 mph,
> but it's always there.
>
> I'm beginning to think my $40,000 car will never be right and that I
> shouldn't have to suffer with the car this way. I'm going to the
> dealer again tomorrow for them to check out the whine. I'm tempted to
> broach with the dealer the idea of replacing the car, with financial
> concessions from Audi, or some other restitution for the car's lower
> value.
>
> Anyone have advice or experience along these lines?

 

On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 10:28:11 -0400, "R" <adatacom@charter.net> wrote:

>I also own a 2001 S4 with Tiptronic. First of all, I am amazed you have
>only driven 14,700 miles. I'm in the low 20's and thought I was keeping my
>miles down. I love to drive the car.
>
>Did you use the Tiptronic very much or mostly just use the automatic
>shifter?
>
>What did the dealer do, when you sent in the other day?


I travel a lot, so I don't put many miles on the car.. I probably
shifted the Tiptronic about a third of the time.

The head mechanic went for a ride with me and heard the whine. He
thought it might be a wheel bearing but I told him it was awfully
coincidental that it started right after the transmission replacement.
They put the car on the lift and another mechanic verified the
bearings were OK.

They asked me to make an appointment so they can check the car more
thoroughly. It goes in tomorrow. I'll post again when I find out
more. Thanks for your interest.

 

G,
You might ask them to check the propshaft center support bearing as well -
with all the transmission work they possibly have not got the shaft lined up
properly, which would cause wear on the bearing.
Cheers!
Steve Sears
1987 Audi 5kTQ - wishes it was an S4
1980 Audi 5k - it's an "S", in trim level only
1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes - tiptronic? huh?
(SPAM Blocker NOTE: Remove SHOES to reply)

"G. Norris" <gsnorris9@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:3cifmvc5bab3srms86870ivhvbvoeo1165@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 10:28:11 -0400, "R" <adatacom@charter.net> wrote:
>
> >I also own a 2001 S4 with Tiptronic. First of all, I am amazed you have
> >only driven 14,700 miles. I'm in the low 20's and thought I was keeping
my
> >miles down. I love to drive the car.
> >
> >Did you use the Tiptronic very much or mostly just use the automatic
> >shifter?
> >
> >What did the dealer do, when you sent in the other day?
>
>
> I travel a lot, so I don't put many miles on the car.. I probably
> shifted the Tiptronic about a third of the time.
>
> The head mechanic went for a ride with me and heard the whine. He
> thought it might be a wheel bearing but I told him it was awfully
> coincidental that it started right after the transmission replacement.
> They put the car on the lift and another mechanic verified the
> bearings were OK.
>
> They asked me to make an appointment so they can check the car more
> thoroughly. It goes in tomorrow. I'll post again when I find out
> more. Thanks for your interest.
>

 

On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 10:28:11 -0400, "R" <adatacom@charter.net> wrote:

>I am very curious about the outcome with your problem.
>
>I also own a 2001 S4 with Tiptronic. First of all, I am amazed you have
>only driven 14,700 miles. I'm in the low 20's and thought I was keeping my
>miles down. I love to drive the car.
>
>Did you use the Tiptronic very much or mostly just use the automatic
>shifter?
>
>What did the dealer do, when you sent in the other day?
>
>Thanks and good luck!
>"G. Norris" <gsnorris9@comcast.net> wrote in message
>news:06q9mv0d2t0pujuhn65t5e7ttedrolfd64@4ax.com.. .
>> Looking for advice on how to handle restitution from Audi for what may
>> be a chronic Tiptronic problem in my 2001 S4.
>>
>> I'm now only at 14,700 miles. At about 12,000 miles, I started
>> getting a burning smell. The dealer found that the torque converter
>> seal had leaked and the tranny was cooking. They replaced the seal
>> and gave me back the car.
>>
>> The burning continued but was not as severe, and at 13,100 miles my
>> dealer's service manager made the decison (to his credit, with no
>> urging from me) to install a new transmission. Well, they installed
>> 3... the first one had a bad 4th speed and the second one had a
>> cracked casing.
>>
>> Now the Tiptronic is working OK but I have a new, constant
>> transmission whine I never had before. It's worst at about 37 mph,
>> but it's always there.
>>
>> I'm beginning to think my $40,000 car will never be right and that I
>> shouldn't have to suffer with the car this way. I'm going to the
>> dealer again tomorrow for them to check out the whine. I'm tempted to
>> broach with the dealer the idea of replacing the car, with financial
>> concessions from Audi, or some other restitution for the car's lower
>> value.
>>
>> Anyone have advice or experience along these lines?
>
Turns out the whine is the beginnings of Pirelli P6000 howl, which
I've researched and understand is a chronic HP tire problem. The
reason I noticed it right after the transmission is that, with the
work just completed, I turned off the stereo and fan and listened very
carefully.

They swicthed sets of wheels and tires with another car and the whine
disappeared completely.