mets4life

Thanks for all your help everyone but I'm just so confused haha. I mean I did bring this on myself by buying an Audi at age 19 without knowing too much about cars or this specific car.

I still do not understand why when the engine sign does go away, the car runs smoothly??

Also, does anyone know of a good place in New Jersey to get the torque converter fixed? Just in case I do decided to.

I feel like if I sell it I'll only get tops $4K, sigh decisions decisions!

jcman

For what its worth have you done a trans service on this car or know if its been done in the past year or two?

This code does point to the tc however the first corrective action suggests
to check the fluid level or it's dirty.

I would explore these areas before you stick a fork in the car

rohit13

That is a mystery.
You could TRY one cheap route. Change the transmission fluid. That has helped few people. I'm guessing that dice yours is intermittent it may* just sOlve the problem. Fluid change should run you about $250-300 with oem fluid and after market filter and gasket.

Or you could save that fluid money and put it towards a rebuild. $2000-$2500 with parts and labor.

jcman

Hey, you are here for help and we are here for you as you noticed, and for a 19yr old you converse well and that's a great attribute so take a breath and hold out for a while and be sure.

I have read a few posts relative to your problem that I searched as well as you should of if you didn't know by now being new here, so check them out.

mets4life

Yea I have been searching around like crazy but with exams coming up, I will not be able to fix or sell the car for at least a month and half.

As for the transmission fluid not being changed, I do believe that the previous owner neglected the car and never changed it. So I guess I'll take the risk in December and get the transmission fluid changed.

Is there anything I can do to make the process cheaper, do you guys know anyone in New Jersey who would do it for slightly cheaper? I looked up Level 10 and 517 since other threads recommended them.

Finally, would driving the car right now do further damage, because I need the car for school and other activities. Probably another 500 miles before I can even get a chance to get it checked.

Once again, thank you for your help guys!!

mets4life

Also, I'd like to say that I have definitely driven about 500-600 miles with this light on... I'm assuming that is very bad haha

rohit13

Some say that they drove their car with the code for thousands of miles. But i hate to be the one to say you will be OK and something horrible turns out.

The problems with the code is that the tranny is slightly slipping and therefore the rpms are a bit higher. This causes poor fuel economy and heats up the tranny fluid more than needed. It is also said the TC can throw metal particles in the Valve body. If that hapopens you will need to need to add a new valve body to your repair list.

jcman

If you know that this car wasn't maintained then you may be facing other costly problems, if a timing belt service was not done at least by 85k your engine is a ticking time bomb, if the oil was cheap and not done often you may have a worn cam shaft lobe issue.

Not trying to bust your bubble but these are the realities of zero tolerance clearance engines with timing belts that do wear along with the other parts in this area and its not just on the 3.0.

I had to reflect again on the negative comments of the 3.0 by the members here with a valid conclusion, I would agree that these engines are a engineering nightmare and possibly a proto-type experiment design to cut weight, added 20 more hp and provide a tad bit more fuel economy shadowing the 2.8 base engine, but knowing Audi and how it goes when they did this the trade-off is in the maintenance or lack of outside the warranty period or lease term when the "second or third buyer" market comes around, like you rolling the dice.

I bought my 04 3.0 A6 right out of a lease as a CPO "Certified Pre-Owned" in Jan of 08 with 48k miles and within the first two weeks I changed the oil and filter, flushed the steering fluid and flushed the brake fluid I've done brakes at 50k all new coil packs and plugs at 60k trans service and TB service this winter to be done and now it has 76K on the clock and runs like a top.

These cars are way beyond a gas and go ride, my daughter now has the 01 and is lucky because the old man takes care of it "as I did before" she just buys the parts, Ok well some of them.

So what's the moral of this story?

Given all said based on an ill maintained car that you already know you might consider this advice, if you're not in a position to change the trans fluid and filter for 50/50 chance of not being a bad TC and do a full TB service for a piece of mind I would say cut your loses.