

Auto Trans Problems (Resend)

     I'm resending this because it looks like it didn't make it to the digest 
     and there have been a few people recently asking about transmissions.  
     Sorry for taking up space in your mailbox if you saw this.
     Just when I thought that replacing pads and rotors at all four corners 
     would appease the Gods for some time and allow me a summer of trouble 
     free Audi driving pleasure, my 92 100 CSQW (automatic) decided to show 
     me what a real sacrifice could be. The day after a 400 mile trip, it 
     started spewing transmission fluid out of the breather.  Take 
     transmission fluid.  Drip it onto a conveniently located hot catalytic 
     converter and you get the picture.  The transmission was still shifting 
     smoothly except for a slight hesitancy going into 3rd and even more 
     into 4th.  As the car was seven months and/or 700 miles out of 
     warranty, my first impulse was to avoid the dealer.  It took a major 
     transmission repair chain an hour to realize that they couldn't even 
     check the fluid level.  They sent me to an independent shop who 
     couldn't do much with it either.  So, I ended up at the dealer, Premier 
     Motors in Albuquerque.  They diagnosed an internal problem and said the 
     transmission would have to be replaced.  (Insert gasping, choking 
     sounds here) But, they also felt that a transmission shouldn't die at 
     50k miles (brilliant conclusion).  To make a long post short, without 
     any screaming or jumping up and down by me, AoA picked up the total 
     cost of the transmission and its' replacement.  So what could have been 
     the ultimate sacrifice (I'm told in the $5K range) ended up renewing my 
     faith in AoA and my local dealer.  I'm wondering if anyone has 
     experienced or heard of problems with the auto tranny's in 92+ 
     quattros.  I had a good conversation with the Audi tech at Premier 
     Motors and he said this is only the second one he has seen with any 
     major problems at all.
     Albuquerque, NM, USA
     92 100CSQW (With new transmission)
     90 Mazda 626 GT