My standard tranny 1.8t shifts like crap between
first and second gear. OK between all other gears but still a bit notchy. Between first and second its's almost like there is a synchronizing issue.
Shift too quickly and it feels like something is not quite synched up. I don't believe its the shift linkage (any adjustment on these?)
And yes, I have years of experience with standard trannies. 30 years of driving stick at last count. My last car still had the original clutch at 230k mikes.
Anyone else care to share there standard tranny experiences with 99 models (99.5 Avant)?

My reading was that the computer tends to over-rev 1st to maintain turbo boost for quick acceleration -- but I could be off the wall. I am still not used to it, seems to have a mind of its own.

Overall feel is excellent and very similar to VW/Audi manual cars of the past 20 years. Press-for-reverse was dropped during 99 MY.

I haven't experienced below 40 degree weather yet but so far temp. has no effect on it. It's not at all notchy to me. Maybe I was just lucky and got a good one.

Both the engine and tranny seem to take about 10k-12k miles to fully break in.

Regards,
Rodney

'99 A4 1.8tqms

It was in the high 30s and I left the car outdoors (overnight) had a real problem getting into second (seemed like a 2 second effort shifting) till the car warmed up. The car is going in for an inspection this weekend. Also a rattle from the gear box at 3000rpm in 1st, 2nd & 3rd. Will keep you updated if I get them to fix it.

Ever since I picked up my car I have had worries/problems about shifting into 2nd gear. My A4 is a 99.5 1.8TQMS. When I shift into second it seems like there are two indents or shift positions. If shifted into the first indent, it feels like you are in gear but it will pop out of gear as soon as the clutch is let out. The other problem with second is that when shifted "completely" into the second indent, the stick will pop back towards neutral as soon as the clutch is let out. This is not the normal movement the stick shift do, but more of a distinct pop back. It almost feels as if you shifted past second and letting out the clutch properly positions the gear. A few of my friends have notice this with my car also.
I had the shop look at it during my 5K service and I was told "it's just like the rest of the A4's" and that if I thought there was a problem I'd have to come in for a road test. Well after my 10K service I had to take the day off to have to oil level corrected (see prior posts) so I finally did the road test also. The mechanic drove my car and didn't really notice anything until I pointed it out, then he became very interested. He worked on my car for a few hours trying to re-adjust the linkage. After some time he gave up and called the "hotline". He said that Audi thought it was either a bent or broken shift rod inside the transmission. He told me that I'd need an appointment to either have the transmission replace or opened and repaired. I called the service manager a few days later to see what was going to happen and was told he needed to discuss the issue with his new Audi Rep. Well it's been over a week now, I haven't heard from the service manager and my appointment is coming up.
The other thing that I recently notice is that if I leave my car on the street overnight, I am unable to shift into second gear in the morning. I believe this is due to the cold. During the morning, I have to do 1st to 3rd shifts until the transmission has warmed up ( about 10-20 miles). I'm not sure what's up but I don't think this should be happening to a $30K car. Once I get more info I post.

Alex M. 99.5 1.8TQMS

Huh? I still need to press down to get into reverse...

99.5

You probably have MY1999. That feature was dropped for 1999.5 if I remember correctly.

Kaz
99.5 2.8qms

nt

nt

repair it in shop. Almost nobody has that kind of expertise these days.

the A4 much more. It has a tighter body, much better handling ( I have sport suspension on A4 and didn't have it on 328i.), nicer clutch and trans. and a lot less body roll. And the A4 feels a lot roomier than the old E36 body did. I don't miss my old bimmer at all when driving my A4.

My 99.5 no need to push for reverse..

..and if I recall correctly Audi stopped putting the "push-down" tranny in the 99.5 models during that production run, so some 99.5s have it and some don't.

parkerpt
99.5 1.8T qms with push-down reverse tranny

<ul><li><a href="http://www.a4.org/forum/m/a4/177905.phtml">www.a4.org/forum/m/a4/177905.phtml</a></li></ul>

I had a problem with second.... I took my car in and complained that it's not synching properly and that I am concerned that I might be damaging the transmission. They flushed the hydraulic fluid and claimed that it fixed the problem. I know it doesn't make sense (maybe) but sure enough I haven't had the problem since... I got it fixed about 1 month ago and 1 month later the problem hasn't come back yet.

Dimitri

===
99.5 1.8TQMS

Most transmissions have two detents. It is more noticeable going into second than say 3rd or 4th for design reasons. Generally the fork is bent due to "Speed shifting" or excessive force by the driver. This according to AOA is considered abuse and not a factory defect. But have it checked. Most transmissions are not overhauled or repaired internally these days because of factory requirements. Let us know what they find