ABSOLUTELY FRICKIN GREAT! -NOT!!

[jojo]

Looks like My S3 is in need of some surgery to the transmission, most probably the gearbox.
I was just driving normally, and pulling out a slip road onto the motorway, I changed from 5th to 6th at around 60mph and felt a jolt though the car. I thought nothing of it and felt a second jolt followed by some metal to metal grinding noise, so dipped the clutch immediately and coasted to a stop on the hard shoulder. During the coasting period, all the qestions and answers from this forum was going through my mind of what could be wrong lol, I thought I had hit something and lost all my engine oil, and the grinding noise was my cylinders eating into the block!. As I came to a stop, the engine had stalled itself, so I was fearing the worse, so I got out and checked the dipstick, and the oil level seemed fine, so my engine seemed intact. Got back into the car and she started up just fine, but when I went into 1st gear, I couldn't pull off?!? the clutch was biting, but the car seemed like it had the handbrake on, but it definitely was off, put into reverse and it went backwards, back into 1st and no movement.
At this point, a highway patrol car pulled up to lend assistance, as I was in an 'active' lane, so I had to use one of those SOS emergency phones to call the AA up. 45 mins later, an AA van turned up, and having a look underneath, he said it's leaking transmission fluid around the gearbox area, something is definitely broke, so next cause of action was to tow the car away. Our attempt of toeing lasted around 50 yards though, as there was some major grinding noise, so attempt aborted, and I had to wait for a flat bed recovery truck. 1 hour later, Car is put onto flatbed, and toed back to my home, gonna see how bad it is in the morning.
I'm not 100% sure what could be wrong with it, but I have read that the pins in the front diffs can break and put a hole through the gearbox, which looks most likely has happened to mine, any other opinions?

 

[1ndy]

gutted mate. sorry to hear about an S3 going through that - but thats sounds like the problem (hole in the gearbox)

 

[rickparmar]

ouch, hope you get it sorted asap mate with out a big bill

 

[mattyboy199]

I m sure i read the other day you drive your S3 hard all the time, sorry to hear it anyway.

 

[Peloton]

:sign_omg: Aww **** mate, sympathy sent! Hope it's not too much of a wallet muncher to fix.

 

[Markb]

Gutted mate.

Hope it doesn't cost too much to fix.

 

[mazzy]

damn, this is bad news Jo... Let me knw hw u get on. Will pop over soon matey.

(

 

[jojo]

I m sure i read the other day you drive your S3 hard all the time, sorry to hear it anyway.

No, that can't be me!, I drive like a grandad most of the time, but give it the full beans every now and again.

 

[The Slug]

Sorry to hear about that Joe! I remember awhile back you said you had what seemed to be a slipping clutch too, hope you get it sorted with ease mate!

And Joe doesnt drive it hard, he drives like a grandad on the motorway, unless he gets a challenge on with his mates Vectra special thingy

 

[Ess_Three]

Not good jojo...

Sounds expensive (sadly).
Best you get round to the bank ASAP methinks.

I hope you get it fixed quickly and cheaply.

 

[SyA3Turbo]

Not cool not cool. Sounds expensive.

Your lucky though. I had to wait 3 hours for the AA at the weekend!

 

[Rob W8]

Hope you get it sorted Jojo.

 

[tommo-turbo]

Sorry to hear about that Jo. Bit of a pain in the **** that innit. These things usually happen when you've just saved for your next upgrade too!

Rich

 

[silver75]

gutted man hope you get it sorted

 

[RichA3Turbo]

Yep this isnt good. Call about, you should be able to get a gearbox for about £300-350 and then im sure you have contacts that can fit it very cost effectively Sounds like the diff has ****** itself but either way, not pretty!

Rich

 

[Dave_Bayern]

Will the S3 take the standard 6 speed VW gearboxes too? I know the A3 does. As theres always a few going for reasonable prices on club GTI.

 

[RichA3Turbo]

As long as its a 02M 4wd then it will work, but you have to be careful the ratios are the same.

 

[Dave_Bayern]

Aaah, I was looking as I intend to drop the 6 speed box in my 1.8T, deliberately as the ratios ARENT the same!

However, the 4WD would obviously need to be the difference and there isnt going to be many of those going spare is there...

 

[The Slug]

As long as its a 02M 4wd then it will work, but you have to be careful the ratios are the same.

Presume you cud take the gearing out from original and straight swap??

 

[dickys3]

Sorry to hear this Joe.

Best of luck with the repair.

 

[god_thats_quick]

That's not good JoJo... sorry to hear it, I'd get yourself a whole gearbox / 4WD box from ebay etc and find someone to fit it.

Good luck and I hope it's not too expensive to sort...

 

[RichA3Turbo]

Presume you cud take the gearing out from original and straight swap??

Yep but thats counting on all the internals being intact...and i wouldnt count on it!

 

[ChriS3]

Bad news JoJo!

Hope it doesn't work out too expensive for you. Then again, it could be the perfect excuse to go for a Eurospec Sport gearbox. 70mph in second....

 

[Ess_Three]

Then again, it could be the perfect excuse to go for a Eurospec Sport gearbox. 70mph in second....

Are they still going Chris?
I haven't found much info on them of late...

They do a stormin' VR6 tarmac rally 'box which would suit my forthcoming needs splendidly.
Tall first, 6th at approx 22MPH/1000 RPM and 2-5th closely stacked in between...
Mmm....

 

[jcs356]

Best of luck jojo

 

[ChriS3]

Are they still going Chris?
I haven't found much info on them of late...

They do a stormin' VR6 tarmac rally 'box which would suit my forthcoming needs splendidly.
Tall first, 6th at approx 22MPH/1000 RPM and 2-5th closely stacked in between...
Mmm....

They say on their website that Jabba are the UK distributor and they have quite a few ratio options for the 02C transimssion - personally I like the idea of the long race box (3.94 final, 170mph @ 7000rpm in 6th). It would have to be the final mod to the S3, but at several thousand pounds I think I'll wait till I'm forced into it.

Some options for you Jojo http://www.eurospecsport.com/transcomp.htm

 

[jojo]

Looks like a newgearbox then chaps, there's definitely a hole there, I've got transmission oil all over my drive lol
I'm liking the idea of a Eurospec box, but I'd prefer a like for like replacement for the power I'm running, might aswell get the clutch changed aswell, as it was slipping a little, I'm thinking of a Peloquin LSD aswell, whilst it's all coming off, anyone got any experience of having one of these on a S3?
Need to check the transfer box and Haldex diff at a later date when I have time, I can save myself the labour as I have a workshop, so I'll keep you guys posted.

 

[Ewok]

Oh dear.

Same thing happened to my 1.8T about 2 years ago, driving along at 35mph, big crunch from the gearbox and hey presto F**King big hole in the diff casing!

New gearbox £500 + fitting = big bill two weeks before a wedding.

Have never trusted a gearbox since.

I did post some piccies on here at the time, looks as bad as it sounds.

Bad news all round i'm afriad.

 

[S3_MCD]

jojo - sorry to hear the news. Keep us posted on developments, any pics of the mess that your having to sort.

 

[fingermouse]

just got back off my hols, sorry to hear your news jojo.

 

[ANDYTQ]

Joe theres a s3 box on ebay atm,gutted for you mate,my 6 spd quattro box was only £350 inc starter motor clutch flywheel etc plus £150 to fit it.I hope you get sorted quickly.Andy

 

[neil.c]

Bad luck dude hope you get it sorted soon

 

[recomdos]

Hey Jojo,

Sorry to hear the car troubles bud. All the best for getting her back up and running.

Rob

 

[Keith_S3]

Just a quick note on the towing im sure i read somewhere in the hand book not to push or tow a car with haldex for any more than about 30mtrs
Not got my book handy to confirm this but maybe someone else can.

Keith

 

[Peloton]

Just a quick note on the towing im sure i read somewhere in the hand book not to push or tow a car with haldex for any more than about 30mtrs
Not got my book handy to confirm this but maybe someone else can.

Keith

Not quite.

To avoid damaging the catalytic converter, do not tow the car more than a distance of 50 metres when tow-starting, otherwise unburnt fuel can enter the catalytic converter and burn.

There is also this though:

The car must not be towed if there is no oil in the gearbox.

 

[mad max]

found this ad in audi driver mag for rebuilt exchange gearboxes website www.gearchange,co.uk tel 01278 722359 they come with a 12month guarantee and have over 25 years of experience.chin up mate soon have it back on the road

 

[jojo]

Just a quick update, I've picked up a used S3 gearbox and transfer bo for £300 this evening, just got back home actually lol. Need to purchase a new clutch now, standard or uprated is the question?

Here's what happened with the towing, the AA guy has a laptop full of info, but lucky me, the S3 isn't listed on their system, and clicking on the A3 list shows that towing upto 30mph is ok on Quattro models. I actually called RichA3Turbo for a second opinion at the time for advice on towing, he didn't recommend towing with the Haldex diff, so a good second opinion it was...
For some reason, I was thinking the AA guy was gonna jack the front end of my car up and tow it with the rear wheels freewheeling, but he showed me the metal bar he was gonna use, so I decided we'd make an attempt, as all 4 wheels would be moving in sync, so no opposing forces on the Haldex. But as I said, it was aborted as soon as I moved off, when grinding metal was heard!

 

[madvw]

There is some hefty documentation out there on whether you can or can't tow a haldex equipped car when lifting the front wheels. There's even a post somewhere with an in-depth letter from Haldex themselves describing the problems. In summary, the outcome was that it should be OK, but not for long distances (yeh helpful, how long is a long distance?) and at low speeds.

As the haldex is engaged by an electronic clutch, and is not engaged as default, there will be no drive transferred to the front of the car or the transfer box. This is safe.

The problem is that only the rear 'half' of the haldex is turning (all encased in the Haldex unit). This half of the haldex clutch is sitting in a oil bath. The oil in this bath is normally pumped around the Haldex. However, the pump that circulates this oil, is driven by the input shaft of the haldex - or the 'front' half of the haldex. In normal driving, this means that the haldex oil pump is running 100% of the time when the car is moving, even when the car is running FWD, as there is always an input to the haldex.
When you are towing with just the rears on the floor, you will have no input, no pump, and no oil circulating.

People have concerns that when towing, the temperature of this oil may overheat, and eventually cause damage to the haldex.

In reality, i don't know. IF you must, and you have VAG-COM, you could always connect to the controller and monitor the temperature of the haldex oil whilst towing...

 

[god_thats_quick]

Couldn't have said it better myself, and you've just reminded me I've not had chance to read the Motronic manual for that other thread.

 

[jojo]

Alright guys, just went to see my S3 with old gearbox out, all I can say is OMFG! , even the mechanic said 'he's never seen anything like it!?'
Pics are from my Nokie N70, so apologies about quality.

Here's a close up, and yes, it's the diff you can see!

I was suprised I could still engage gear and drive at a snails pace with everything grinding away lol.
I now need one of these gearbox speedsensors, part no. 1J0 919149A, if anyone knows where I can get one quick, let me know asap, cos Audi don't keep stock and have to order them from the factory

And just to cheer me up, I took a photo of a brand new Q7, they are MASSIVE!