please no.......
 

call from the garage this morning

err, somethings gone wrong on your car, worked fine when I took it for test drive after the water pump replaced, parked it in the bay came back to it a couple of hours later and won't go forward, will reverse fine but putting in drive get a thump will creep at ~ 1 mph.


So, I'm calling in on the way home with VAG COM cable and software to see whats reporting as broken..

Please please don't be anything serious and just be a dodgy connector or something..

problem is I'm losing heart with this car, I can't afford to have it dumping its gearbox every 6 months :( at this rate I may just cut my losses and sell up.

well, code 17114 incorrect gear ratio,

Reset it, tried again, same thump and little movement, tried a complete reset, same, read codes again, no faults, could drive it in limp mode a short distance, no tip but dash lights 'normal' i.e. Not inversed.

Just as i was parking up lights went all inveresed on me again,

Guess its a call to the rebuild place... :( followed by a trawl of autotrader for something i can trust.. :((((((

Could really do without the expense right now with wife on stat maternity pay.......

Hopefully having been recently looked at its under some sort of warranty??.. Hassle aside, hopefully you might not be too far out of pocket... ?

Those early 5 speeders are a pain up the butt, they really let down an otherwise remarkable piece of engineering...

Oh, forgot to mention that Vagcom can do little to diagnose gearbox faults.... The Gearbox ECU has almost no diag capabilities on the box itself, it just has basic wires that connect to solenoids to 'do this' and 'do that' - The only time it knows anything is wrong is when the input and output shaft sensors aren't spinning at the right ratios, and then its down to a ZF expert to start ripping it apart really... Sorry, I know it doesn't help, but might stop folks looking for false hope in the depths of Vagcom..

Sounds a bit funny... As Ian says, did you get a warranty on the box? At worst, they may give you a contribution.

yep, should be under warranty but once again it will be a week or so without a car which means i need a hire car = expense.

Great engineering or not i've pretty much had enough of my Audi experience...

:(

In 4 years my volvo needed next to nowt, ditto the saab before that, even my 90s Alfa only went through one stub axle and a new inlet manifold in 3 years and ~80 K miles.

Hey, don't give up. This is what warrenties are for. It shouldn't really be soting you for a hire car either, not if a warrenty repair. That's my opinion anyway....

If you have had repeated gearbox faults you need them to ensure the air mass meter is good, that there's no air leaks on the inlet system and no corrosive damage to the electrical connection for the gearbox ECU. Any of these items can cause premature wear to the 'box as the 'box cannot correctly calculate load signals from the engine. Any failing here will stop the 'box protecting itself, leading to, well, nasty broken bits!
Make sure also that the gearbox ECU itself is OK, I had similar issues when Builder22's car was here.

The cars are wonderful machines, if you get it checked over, repaired and guarnteed it will reward you with a drive that no Volvo or SAAB could dream of delivering!

Spoke to them this morning, got to get teh car to them which means a potential 15 mile drive in limp mode.... is this a bad idea? They are busy they say and it may get to next week before they can look at it. :(

I'm going to get their say so that they are happy for it to be driven so far in this state, luckily its all motorways so I can plod ther at a suitable speed that won't be labouring or over revving.

they have lent me their loaner so at least i'm mobile!

The joy of a chrysler neon :D

You'll appreciate your '8 all the more for that :)