Baffling Autobox Problem

[Kneale Brownson]

Is there any link between ECU and the tranny?


At 08:15 PM 12/20/2000 -0500, Alexander van Gerbig wrote:

>     Well a fellow emailed me with quite a brain buster.  We all know about
>the 3 speed autobox maladies, but this is new to me.  The car is akin to
>mine, '88 80, 43k miles, and a 3 speed box.  He tells me that one day out of
>the blue the trans stopped engaging at all.  He starts the car, puts it in
>Drive and nothing happens, nothing in any gear for that matter.  Like
>nothing engages whatsoever.  He talked to the dealership in Hawaii where he
>is located and they referred him to a tranny shop for a rebuild.  This shop
>pulled the trans and saw no damage to anything, but they rebuilt it anyways
>to be certain.  Once the car was back together again the problem persisted.
>The trans shop yanked the tranny and showed him all the new parts, confirmed
>that everything was in place, confirmed new seals, and so on.  New torque
>converter too.
>     I wrote back and asked about any weird noises.  He claims there were
>none before the day the car stopped moving.  No whining, grinding, odd
>shifting, grumbling, and so on.  He tells me that in all gears when the
>engine is revved nothing happens at all, no turning, no fluid movement in
>the trans, and definitely nothing moving.  Park engages and keeps the car
>from moving, but that is the only gear that works.  I asked him to check the
>shift gate and he said that is working properly.
>     I sure as hell don't have a solution to this one.  He has contacted Audi
>USA, dealerships, and I think I'm the last stop.  I'd like to help him, but
>I ain't got a clue what could be wrong.  I told him to check the CV's and he
>said one of them has a split boot.  Though if nothing is spinning at all
>then the CV doesn't mean anything.  Maybe one of the output shafts is
>spinning and the broken CV isn't transmitting any power to the wheel, but
>that causes lots of noise usually, like a clutch in a blender.  Tomorrow a
>mechanic is going to look at the CV, someone should have done that months
>ago and before the rebuild, but this is what happens.  Anyone got a hint?
>
>TIA,
>
>Alexander van Gerbig -- '88 80
>
>The Audi  80 Pages-----------------
>http://surf.to/the80pages.com
>
>North Ferrisburg, VT 05473
>
>
>
>