Clunking in/out of 1st after Mackies Flush

[HPsauce]

My new Volvo has an Aisin gearbox - 8-speed auto, very smooth.

[Turbo Tony]

Yes, I think Aisin may be right... according to wikipedia, anyway!

[Lee S]

Any news on this yet Tony?

[Turbo Tony]

Not yet Lee... or maybe, actually... it's just that I'm in Florida and have left the car at Chesters to fix.

I called them a couple of weeks ago and they told me the mechatronic unit had been refurbed and refitted and they were waiting to update the software on the gearbox.

Knowing I would be away, I told them not to rush, so I'll chase it when I get back.

[Turbo Tony]

Well, last week was the tipping point. The car has now spent more time in garages than in my possession since I owned it. It's a shameful record, considering the stellar reliability of the car that preceded it. I don't feel like I actually own the car. It feels like I'm the mug that's responsible for taking it to get fixed.

I spoke to Chester Transmissions yesterday and they seem to have got the wrong message about the repair. They are confident the mechanics of the gearbox and mechatronic unit are sound and working properly, which leaves the ECU. They can't repair that in-house but they have someone locally they use. That guy's machine has broken down and is awaiting repair with no expected date of return. They thought I was going to take it to Audi anyway, so I could get the ECU re-flashed there. I explained that I don't trust Audi to do anything other than want to replace it and I didn't want to take it all the way down to London to then have to return it to Chester to finish. They spoke to a local Audi dealer who had a 2.5 week lead time for booking in. Finally, they said they're negotiating with ZF to become authorised repairers, which would give them the machine to do it but that could take four weeks. They are going to ask whether ZF could help with this one in the interim. In the meantime, I'm already up to a bill of £889+VAT and the problem is still there.

On top of the gearbox repair, it still needs to go back to Audi to finish off what they did wrong in the service (which I can barely remember now) and then go in for some paintwork thanks to my neighbour driving into it just after I washed it.

Honestly, it feels like there has been a dark cloud looming over me since the day I bought this car and I'm seriously considering waving goodbye to it. It's the best car I've ever owned in terms of spec and capability, but the worst ownership experience I've ever had.

[kele]

Not good Tony. You did everything right to care for this car and it just turned around and slapped you in the face. I hope you have better news for us soon....

[notorious]

I don't know D3's but would it possible to purchase the same ECU from a salvaged car (A8 parts) and simply replace it like the D2 owners will do in a similar situation?

Should cost pennies since no one needs those ECUs and A8 Parts should have a couple of crates of them.

Is it component protection that doesn't allow such a swap on D3s?

[Turbo Tony]

Sadly yes, Audi were apparently very concerned about the stolen value of these cars, so they can't be swapped without being matched to the engine ECU. That's why Mackie's wouldn't entertain the idea of an exchange unless it was brand new.

I really don't know whether it is even possible to re-flash the ECU. The darker demons of my mind have me convinced it's just something they're saying because they can't think of anything else that could be wrong.

[homer simpson]

Can't see why not - engine ECUs are flashed regularly and some have the TCU remapped depending on what they are after performance wise

Example of a company that does it

http://www.jrtuning.co.uk/remap/view...450bhp+2004%2B

[Turbo Tony]

Thanks for that. Strangely enough, there's an ECU geek quite local to me who likes to specialise in VAG cars. He drives an Audi himself. If all else fails, I'll give it to him.