The Patient: '99.5 1.8tqms 12,200 miles, delivered new in March 1999

Vicinity: Philadelphia, Platt Bridge West Bound

I'm heading up the bridge incline approximately 20-25% in 5th gear. Not sure of the exact speed, but it was decently low, considering i was at about 2500 RPMS.

I see an opening to pass and accelerate through. Just as i pass 3000 on the tach.....my clutch slips!!!!!!!!! HOLY ****!!!!!

I let the car settle down, and try again, as soon as i hit 3k, the same thing happens. Now i'm in a hot sweat. I wait to start the down leg on the bridge and as traffic slows around me i stick it into 4th.

At 3K the same thing happens.....engine is revving freely, but the trans lets go.

What is going on?

prior to this i was cruising on the highway for 15 min..no traffic, no stop n go, no downshifting; in other words the clutch wasnt hot at all.

I pull into the office garage and call my service manager @ YBH and he says it sounds like a blown clutch but wont know until it's sitting on his desk.

How the hell after 12,000 miles does this happen?
He told me not to worry, in any case my baby has an appointment wit the techs in the am.

Could this possibly be anything other than a blown clutch? No smells...no problems in 7 months..

I assume this will be covered by the Audi Advantage. Someone else posted that they were told they Audi would cover the 1st one, has anyone else heard the same? My salesman told me the same thing when i asked about clutch coverage when i bought the car in March...was he just blowing me smoke?

This is my 1st manual...but ive done my best to be good to it...i'm only bad when it comes to overall "elevated" crusing speeds...not a clutch issue.

I guess i'll find out many of these answers tomorrow...if anyone would like to relay their condoloneces or any other thoughts on the issue...please join my pitty party.

On the ironic side:

I just found out last week that Mitsubishi will be REFUNDING me $800 that i had to pay 4 years ago to replace a set of control arms that ending up going on recall just a couple of months ago. I had mentally set that aside to pay for the free weight set i had just bought along with potential purchases of a good mountain bike and possible roof rack. If YBH doesnt come through for me i guess i now know where that money is going...

At the very least..ive got to pay $25 for a rental tomorrow...

Life is Cruel



trifona
'99.5 1.8tqms----> crippled above 3000 RPMS

4 hours later and all is well with my A4...not a sign of the previous problem on the way home tonight.

Was this just an isolated incident??

or

Just the first sign of impending doom?


I did check my "1999 Audi Waranty Book" on page 9 & 10 where inclusion/exclusions are listed, "worn clutch friction material" is listed as being covered under Audi Advantage Warranty. Based on that alone, blown clutches should be covered without question. With this knowledge in hand, i'd like to hear from owners who had warranty coverage denied from their dealers and what their explanation was.


thanks.


trifona 99.5 1.8tqms

Thanks for the heads up....

Just spoke to my Service Manager

They drove it for about 10 miles with no problems....real scientific.

They even hooked up the VAG 1551 to see if anything was on the ECU....of course it wouldnt be.....i replaced my APR chip with the stock ECU last night.

He says that's all that they can do, they will not disassemble anything at this point.

I did ask about warranty coverage and he said that they will do a goodwill swap one time only for customers.

As for the chip:

After swapping out my APR version 1.2 last night (1st time in months) i noticed that 1st & 2nd enagaged much more smoother than with the APR setup. Could the additional torque of the chip be causing undo stress on the clutch friction disc?

Admittedly power is much poorer in stock mode, but it was a smoother engagement in the lower gears, plus it was nice to see the Turbo come on at 1800 RPMS for a change. The one downside with the chip is the fact that it doesnt spool up until about 2500 or so.

Maybe ill do a chip free weekend for a change.


trifona
99.5 1.8tqms


PS - Was drooling all over the dealer's Laser Red S4 this morning....i want that car i want that car i want that car. It's 40K....can i justify the numbers? No. But the blood in my veins wants one anyway....Agony...agony.

hey trifona, sorry to be bleak, but you seem to be in a catch 22. It is completely possible that you have a slightly messed up clutch that slips at 3000+ under acceleration using the gobs of torque of the APR chip. The dealership may NEVER be able to recreate this slippage with the stock chip. So you do not get to enjoy your chip, because it slips, but you can not take the car there with the chip... you got it.

Your only "hope" in this case is that the condition of the clutch deteriorates to the point that even the stock chip can spin it.

Sorry, I hope I am wrong and it heals itself.

what was interesting though was the fact that i could not reproduce the effect myself last night with the APR chip.


Maybe i should use this as justification to buy a new shiny S4!