trannies

[Brett Dikeman]

The tranny leak on my car apparently went from a slow drip to a near 
flood in the days proceeding a planned trip down to Lime Rock for a 
photo shoot of a friend's car on-track.  It wasn't until I got home 
that I noticed the huge spot of oil on the floor of the garage(it was 
in the garage temporarily, almost always outside); the fluid was just 
changed barely a month or two ago, and of course I had the chance a 
few months ago to buy a used tranny for about $500, and passed on it.

I never made it to the track.  An hour and a half into the trip, 
precisely half-way there and 20 miles past what AAA covers, the car 
lurched like someone firmly pressed the brakes 3 times, and then it 
was continuous- I put the clutch in quickly and brought the car over 
to the breakdown lane.  From the side of the mass pike I found I 
couldn't shift out of whatever gear it's stuck in now. The car rolls, 
somewhat, with the clutch in.  No noises(not even during the 
failure), no warning.  It had been making a whine in 4th for months 
that hadn't changed; all other gears were silent.  I would have 
expected a transmission failure to be much more dramatic.

Speaking with a cornerworker(I did eventually make it to the track) 
who happened to also have a 200q20v and works with Greg Haymann(well 
known Audi mechanic in northwest CT/nearby NY), he mentioned the 
right front seal is a common failure due to heat from the downpipe, 
and recommended I send my downpipe out for jethot coating inside+out 
to prevent it from happening again.  "The heat shield is not enough".

What is the current situation with transmissions for our cars? 
Here's what I understand-I know Audi doesn't offer them rebuilt or 
new.  I remember there was a guy in Germany who kept "discovering" 
small quantities of new 200q20v transmissions, although weren't the 
prices outrageous, and didn't include shipping from Germany?  Another 
option is possibly a rebuild, although I have no idea how bad things 
are inside; it might be shot to hell and back, especially the center 
diff.  A tranny from a wreck is a total unknown, with absolutely no 
way(that I know of) to check it out, no guarantees, no nothing.  I 
could spend a huge amount of money on labor only to drive the car 
1000 yards, hear all sorts of lovely noises and be right back where I 
started and an empty bank account and two dead transmissions.  I'm 
slightly less than thrilled about that option.

I also remember some discussion at one point about how the 01E 
6-speed from the biturbo S4's might fit- according to Charlie, the 
resident Audifans 013/016 tranny expert, the input shaft splines are 
different, but he thinks it "should work" with the right clutch and 
such.  I have no idea what the S4 01E units run these days, so I 
don't have the slightest clue as to whether this is an option, but 
S4tt owners seem to be extremely talented at smacking their cars into 
various things and one would think there would be plenty used units 
with rather low miles, at least compared to our cars.  New I know 
they had a dealer-cost of about $12k back in '99/'00....

Any opinions?

Brett
-- 
"They that give up essential liberty to obtain temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Ben Franklin
http://www.users.cloud9.net/~brett/