[Biturbos4] S4 transmission tunnel shuddering, ding-ding noise

[Steve Munk]

On Nov 8, 2006, at 12:51 PM11/8/06, Steve Munk wrote:
> I stumbled on Blaufergnugen (blauparts.com), and though their  
> website doesn't spell it out, I called them and found out they  
> stock individual replacement parts for the S4 driveshaft (NO ONE  
> ELSE does this):
>
> http://www.blauparts.com/parts%20dept/driveline/ 
> Audi_Quattro_Drive_Shaft/ 
> Audi_Quattro_Drive_Shaft_Propeller_Shaft_Kits.shtml
>
> So for less than $200 including 2-day shipping, they're sending me  
> a replacement end joint for the driveshaft which I'll have Young's  
> install. Should be here on friday, and Young's will probably be  
> able to get it swapped on by the end of the day monday. Sigh. Hope  
> that fixes it...

Thought I'd send a final update on the driveshaft problem. The  
replacement end joint for the driveshaft was dropped off by FedEX at  
quarter to 5 on friday. The part including shipping and gaskets was  
only about $155. The late delivery meant I had to wait until monday  
to get it to the driveline shop. The shop charged me $37 to install  
the new joint and repack the other end with new grease. Not bad!

I think I've figured out a probable cause of the joint failure. There  
are gaskets that are supposed to be at each end of the driveshaft.  
There are indentations in the faces of the differentials at each end  
that are designed for the gaskets. Whoever installed the 2004  
driveshaft on the car didn't install the gaskets on either end, which  
probably introduced some slop. This may have led to premature failure  
of the rear joint. Primitive ASCII art which requires a non- 
proportional font follows:  :D

        Torsen               Rear
          Diff  Driveshaft   Diff
             =][=====<>====][=
              /\           /\
Gaskets go  Here   and   Here

Because an ignorant shop didn't install two $4 gaskets, a less  
persistent person would have been stuck with replacing a $1200  
driveshaft, plus shop time. The previous owners are so lucky it  
didn't fail on their trip up the Alcan last month! I'm grateful to  
the nice lady at Blaufergnugen for suggesting I buy the gaskets.

I installed the driveshaft back on the S4 last night and experienced  
nothing but wholesome Audi goodness when I took it for a test drive.  
Problem solved. What a relief! Stevo is happy again.

Block heaters aren't available for the 2.7T for some reason (we found  
that out with the A6). To winterize the S4 last night I installed a  
150w oil pan heater and a 2 amp battery charger. Apparently the 2 amp  
charger is how all the cool kids are keeping batteries warm nowadays.  
Reportedly doesn't cook them as bad as heating pads.

I have VAST short shifters on the way for the S4 and the A6.

Steve
--
Steve Munk
HPC Systems Analyst                  '01 Audi S4 biturbo, silver 6-speed
Arctic Region Supercomputing Center  '01 Audi A6 2.7T, gold 6-speed
University of Alaska Fairbanks       mailto:fxstm at uaf.edu