Oh dear. I think my gearbox has died
 

2000MY A8 4.2. Owned since six months old, around low 70ks mileage.

It's been Mrs 66's car for a while now and I haven't had much of an eye on it as a result. Anyway, last night I got the call that it had gone into limp mode and the PRND4321 lights were all illuminated.

Symptoms: starts fine. Engages R and eases back as normal. Engages D apparently normally, albeit with a bit of a clunk. Touch the throttle and there's another clunk and what feels like loss of drive (ie the car sits there rather than pushing against the footbrake). All the tranny numbers and letters light up. It will move forwards - slowly - but I think it is locked in 3.

So, what am I looking at here? Refurb? Rebuild? Or replacement (which in effect means RIP car).

And does anyone have any experience of Hardy Engineering in Leatherhead? I pulled their name from pistonheads, but there's not a huge amount of infor about them out there.

TIA.

(And no, the gearbox has never been serviced. I know.,,)

Sorry to hear that :( The stickies at the top of this thread and several other threads about similar experiences suffered by others) provide a good guide to trusted repair options.

Get it on VCDS.
My old B5 did that and it turned out to be a speed sensor on top of the gear box.
£80 and 20mins later and it was working fine.

I'm not a million miles away if you need vcds

If there are mechanical symptoms suggesting loss of drive as well as the dis lit up like an Xmas tree then it's probably not the f125 switch and is more likely a mechanical failure

Johnny_quattro had a recent box rebuild in South London so worth looking for that thread as think he's been pretty happy with the result. Cost is 4 figures though so depends if anything else is needing doing or if it's worth the investment having it done. Mileage is low for a box failure but could be age/use related? Mine has had a fluid and filter change and been reliable - touches wood!

is it actually slipping in gear or not?
It really seems low mileage for one of these gearboxes - mine gave up the ghost at about 120K miles but the third gear actually slipped so you could hear the revs rise.

The clunkyness of the box could be mechanical or a dodgy oil.

The gearbox stuck in 3rd gear is limp mode, the reason for this could be any thing from a speed sensor or a blocked valve.

I'd get it scanned and see what it says.

Symptoms sound very similar to mine, which was a failed gearbox.

And my first gearbox replacement was around 75k :(

But, if it is worse case scenario, if I had the opportunity again, I would get a replacement gearbox rather than scrapping, that's a decision I've regretted for the last 3 years.

In simple terms, a replacement gearbox is cheaper than most replacement second hand cars, any of which could have an equal amount of problems, plus you get to keep your D2.

Cheers to all. I will get it to the local Indy for a diagnostic first, and see where we go from there.

I had a walk around it this morning with an objective eye. It's been a town car for most of the last 8 years or so, and it shows on the outside (probably also hasn't helped the gearbox, but hey ho). To tart it up would require a respray of the bumpers, the bonnet, and all four passenger side panels. Plus a new driver's door skin (despite having been replaced only 18 months ago! :mad:), various other rub strips, and some new trim under the driver's side headlight. All four wheels need a refurb. I suspect new tyres soon as well. There are little bits of interior trim that need sorting out, and the power steering works when it wants to.

Oh, and the ABS/traction control light and pass air bag light come on as and when - the MOT has to be timetabled around their moods.

So dispassionately, it's like a faithful old labrador who's really on her last legs now. Fixing and sprucing is a "Heart" decision; not a "Head" one.

If we do let her go, I will regret it, because it's impossible not to grow attached to a car that's served us well for over 14 years. We'll see.

I am haunted by this - I admit.

We bought a Range Rover (06 plate) at the end of last year, and aside from the very poor economy, it has proved to be a good, if different, prospective replacement for the A8.

For me, though, there's only one true replacement: a V10 S8 in my perfect spec. Which unfortunately has proved highly elusive...

Verdict is in: geabrox borked. £2.8 plus VAT to fix. :-(

That's probably over twice its value. To get what is a much loved (by us and Eastern Europeans in London, oddly) but objectively tatty car back running.

Head says game over, but even my cold heart is having a wobble on this one

(A8Parts don't want it due to the fact that with a borked gearbox it's not cost effective to get it to them from London. Double :-( )

sorry to hear that - I know your pain only too well and paid for the new gearbox on mine as heart ruled head! The only alternative open to you is to look through the transmission D2 section for threads where others have had their boxes refurbed/fixed at lower cost than buying a service replacement box like I did. Otherwise you've got to be sure you want to keep the car long term and swallow the bill as a "future investment" like I did - good luck either way

Gutted for you. It must be a hard decision. :(

Gutted.. But unless it's really screwed, you should be able to get it repaired for less. Or pick up a box from A8parts and put it in.

Tried A8Parts for a replacement. None in stock ATM. Might dig around to see how often/not often they get in them in. Trouble is, how much life would a replacement box from a donor A8 have, I wonder?

That price, btw, is to remove the box, send it to a gearbox specialist, get it fixed by them and then have it refitted. ISTR having seen prices around 2500 bandied around as the cost of going direct to a ZF specialist, so it's not massively out of kilter with what I had seen. 20% VAT is a kicker though...

It was one of the reasons my D2 was sold. It was driving perfectly but that was a worry plus the cambelt was due, hence why I bought a D3 and spent the money on that.

Do miss my D2 so very much, last of the old proper Audis :(

Very sorry to hear that. I liked the auto gearbox on my old S8 so much, I think I would have paid for a refurbed one. It was so smooth.
I sold mine in perfect running condition too. As it turns out I didn't escape a high cost by selling it and getting a manual. Instead of gearbox cost I spent £1000's on a complete new suspension, replace rusty sub frame, clutch replacement, etc. I must be nuts.

I think most (if not all) on this forum are nuts to a greater or lesser extent! :D

I know that SWMBO would agree.

It may be worth asking

VM Transmission Products Ltd
1 Viveash Close, Hayes UB3 4RY
http://goo.gl/maps/E43ys

...have heard good things about them and the 8 gearboxes...

Oli

Greg try pulling it out of park before you start the engine. (Start in neutral) and take 5 second gaps when swapping gears
And clean all the plugs and connectors under the car around the gearbox you can see with gt85 or wd40 ect
It worked for me!!!!!
I'm not promising anything mind your fault could be different to mine!
If the ECU doesn't see the correct values it will go into fault mode
And I wouldn't even let the brake off or try and move the the car with the dash gear indicators all lit up.
Good luck
Isn't it time we got a good deal from Audi for brand new transmissions?
Cheers dave