Re: 1992 S4 tranny woes

[Darin Nederhoff <quattro@netconx.net>]

Hi gang,It seems as is another 'S' owner has acquired the
'wunder-whine'!I know the sound very well as our '93 S4 had the tranny
replaced at 49,900 miles (still under warranty... just barely!)
The whine is often hard to hear when inside the car with the windows up,
but once you drop a window you'll hear a metallic sounding whine that
increases with speed.  It makes no difference if the clutch is in or
out... it is a constant sound.  In early stages, the car will drive just
fine but with a little added noise.... I can't tell you what happens
eventually since we had ours done fairly soon after discovering the
problem.

> i have a 92 S4 with 50K miles. recently there has been a metallic hum
> from
> the front end which i thought was a bearing problem.

Nope, I'd bet on the tranny.   IN FACT, you should do a little research
on recalls as I could have sworn that the '92 S4's had a tranny related
recall at one time or another.  I know a few of the members of the S4/S6
Registry have had tranny replacements done as well.  All seem to occur
right around the magic 50,000 mile mark too!

> my question to you folks is: is this a lnown problem with the S4
> models,
> particularly the 1992 model?

YES!  In particular the 1992 models!  The 93's also have their fair
share of troubles.  I've yet to hear of any S6 models with this
affliction though.

> What are my options?

Start with your Audi dealer....  inquire about past recalls and ask them
to contact the zone manager in charge of warranty coverage.   b!tch a
lot!   ;-)   A car as fabulous as the S4 should not have such a serious
(and expensive problem).  Contact Audi of America directly and ask them
if they are willing to cover the replacement in good faith even though
your warranty has expired.  If nothing else, they should be willing to
eat maybe 50% of the replacement cost.   If you still get nowhere after
all of this, please let me know and I will see if I can get the members
of the S4/S6 Registry together to submit a formal complaint with Audi
regarding the transmissions in the S series cars.  I think they just
might listen if a group of 50+ "S Owners" got together to voice their
concerns over a problem!  ;-)

Best of luck,


Darin Nederhoff

-S4/S6 Registry Manager-
http://www.win.net/~audvid/sreg/s4s6reg.html

'90 CQ20V  /  '90 V8Q  /  '93 S4  /  '86 XR4ti