mezonesxbox

Like many of us, I used to feel a sudden jerk or hesitation when taking off from a stand still while driving my A4 (CVT model). This hesitation would eventually develop into harsh gearing and jumping of gears and noises that would scare the day light out of anyone. Like something is going to break between the mating of the engine and the transmission.

After a fluid change, (which was black) the car felt incredibly smooth, almost like driving a totally different car. Still after months of driving the hesitation returned.

Feeling defeated and contemplating a rebuilt CVT transmission, i noticed something in how the transmission reacts to temperature. When the car is cold, the car drives like a dream. As soon as "normal" operating temperature is reached (like when the temperature needle is on the center at the gauge) The car starts kicking, and slipping like a wild horse and neutral is necessary when coming to a complete stop or else the car wants to keep jumping forward.

Curiously, i noticed that if i keep the heat level below midline the transmission works great. So in essence i believe at times some of the CVT problems are "HEAT" related. Since as heat rises, the fluid must change properties and or cause pressure issues in the valve body. I even noticed that turning the AC on cold (even though yes, heats the engine more) circulated coolant and in turn cools the tranny more.

i found the attached diagram and YES! the CVT does share coolant from the main engine and it is used for cooling.

Am i onto something? I've been keeping the temp low when driving and so far no complaints from the CVT. Im looking into fixing any coolant leaks and upgrading to new coolant, and maybe a second CVT fluid change to bring the oil from black, to burnt to maybe honey color.

Prospeeder

its probably going to die anyway, the CVT is such trash. But you could add an auxillary cooler with its own small fan. Keep it extra cool and maybe see if you get a few more miles from it. Remember theres no real pressure on the cooler section so you can cut and splice and reroute the cooler lines as needed.