[A8] 97 trans issue

[David Giannandrea]

Another thing for you owners of 97 A8s... Audi issued a tech bulletin that
upgrades the TCM and a valve body to cure customer complaints of slow
shifting.

		TCM 		4D0011031 XB
		Valve body 	01L 927 359A

(Please don't hold me to these part numbers, they were extracted from the
tech bulletin.)

I service and drive my friends 99 A8, I have a 97 A8. The shifting is worlds
apart. The 99 has much crisper shifting and better acceleration because of
holding gears to a higher rpm. I suspect the sluggish/early shifting of the
97 might be the cause for the failing transmissions. I use the gear selector
to force a higher shifting rpm (2000 minimum) whenever under load. I am
trying to maintain higher pump pressures to assist the transmission when
locking the next gear. I'm at 95K, trans serviced at 80K (at home), no
problems yet.

David