Gearbox - limp home mode grrrrrr
 

Hello to all. My old girl is an A8L FL 2000 model, 4.2

Can anyone offer advice with regards to the A8 gearbox entering limp home mode? I was just outside of Gatwick and went to pull away at the roundabout. I heard an enormous thump and lost drive. Put my HWL on and then noticed all red lights ablaze on the dashboard (PRND432). I managed to pull away with about 2000 rpm (going nowhere fast) and managed to get back to a friend's house.

I noticed a couple of days ago a slight non-output of power when changing gear. MY gearbox has always thumped a bit when drawing up to a junction, I suspect when changing down from 2nd to 1st gear. Nothing since apart from today's experience.

First off, I'm going to try to get back home which is a 15 mile journey. Is there any danger in attempting this? Secondly, will a gearbox fluid change help in any way or am I going to be throwing money away? I say that, because I read something on Paul Waterloo's audipages.com site about something similar and the chap in question managed to fix his problem with a fulid change. That would be a right result compared to the cost of either a repair or reconditioned gearbox.

If a gearbox recon looks like the only option, does anyone have any recommendations for companies in the South London/Surrey area?

Thanks in advance for any insights or assistance.

Hello John, really sorry to hear that. Presumably this is the car that's been off the road "in protective custody" for so long. :-(

I guess the first thing to do is get VCDS plugged in and see what that reveals, but it doesn't sound good.

Based on various threads here there ought to be a viable business rebuilding these boxes as they do seem to be the "A8 killer" in many cases.

If you value your car don't drive it. Put it on truck and bring it to ZF specialist. I can recommend Chester Transmissions. I predict it will be full gearbox rebuild.

Another option is finding the same model of used gearbox and finding someone to help you swap it.

There are normally two specialists recommended on here, but neither are down south:

1 - Chester Transmissions - as mentioned (in Chester, unsurprisingly!)
2 - Mackies, in Glasgow.

I've used both. Chester did the gearbox flush, which made the problem much worse (a common result, from other's posts on here, and not their fault).

I then drove it (VERY carefully…) to Glasgow, where Mackie's rebuilt it, perfectly - but expensively. I chose Mackies over Chester due principally to the quality of their guarantee - 100k miles on the rebuild +++

Codes 17114 and 17117
 

Got the car back home late last night, and ran it through on my cheap £20 reader which showed the two fault codes, 17114 and 17117. I'll probably go for a fluid change first to see what good that does, if any.

I'm going to try and investigate some more 'local' options first while the car is off the road for the time being. Thanks to everyone that chipped in, and I'll post back here if I have any news. Nothing is going to be happening on that front until Thursday, when my current shift ends.

17114 is gear monitoring, incorrect gear ratio.
17117 is also incorrect ratio for 3rd gear.

Reading elsewhere the only cure maybe a transmission rebuild, choose the specialist wisely.

Oil change will most likely be waste of money. Check the oil level, if it's fine then I am afraid it's time for rebuild.

^ this ^

the banging you describe on the change is very much a symptom of a broken gearbox needing a rebuild.

If anything, changing the fluids at this stage could make it worse

Contact made with autogearbox man in Wimbledon
 

I've just spoken to a chap based on a recommendation from the garage which looks after my A8L. He said he'd take my money all day long with regard to my request for a fluid change - he said it would be a waste of money.

From the information I gave him, he said it sounded like one (possibly two) clutches were damaged/broken and that the drum may have gone as well. Prices ranged from £1720 to £2300-£2500 for a full recon. This is really the same price that I paid for the car originally so I am now seriously considering buying a replacement car. The guarantee/warranty offered to me was 12,000 miles or 12 months, which doesn't really compare to the 100,000 mile warranty I read somewhere else on these forums.

Even if I lived in Wales or Scotland (thanks for the suggestions for Chester/Mackies), I'd probably shy away from the £2000 cost of a recon, if I'm honest. It's a real shame as I love the car to bits.

Apologies to tintin
 

Just re-read the thread and saw that it was you tintin commenting on the 100,000 warranty so thanks for that and apologies for saying I'd read it elsewhere :-)