I had not driven my 05 for six weeks and when I went to start it the battery was at a level that would not start the car (just lots of clicking) even though it was on my Ctech charger. Turns out my 18 month old Optima battery failed, but that is another story. I replaced the battery and fired it up.

When I put it in reverse, it did not engage as normal and when I stepped on the throttle the car did not move for a second and then it felt like the clutches were grabbing. It did that for a few seconds before it engaged properly. While driving it feels somewhat normal, but under moderate accelleration if feels like it slips while shifting to 2nd and 3rd gear. One other thing I noticed today is while the engine was idling (in park) I was behind the car and heard loud rapid clicking for a split second (much like relays). With the transmission hot and I go from park to drive it is extremely firm and seems to almost clunk while it used to be firm and quiet. Shifting from drive to reverse is about the same.

My car is a 2005, A4 with 68,000 miles. I am am the 2nd owner and purchased it from a friend who took perfect care of it. When I bought it, it had 53,000 miles on it and he had the transmission serviced and fluid changed for me at a known good GM dealer.

Before parking it six weeks ago we had just finished a 3,000 mile trip and did not notice this problem. Is it just a coincidence or is it possible my transmission has headed south on me? Is there some way to reset the transmission ECU or check connections, etc?

Thanks for any insight on this.
Roy

 

The A4's are pretty stout and relatively trouble free. I wouldn't think this would be an actual transmission problem, but anything is possible. The electronics in these cars are pretty touchy about low or fluctuating current.

Get the OBD codes read. There might be something showing active or stored.

One or two things to try that don't cost you anything. Disconnect the battery again for 30 minutes then reconnect quickly and firmly with no hesitation, just get prepared and reconnect. Don't reconnect, disconnect, reconnect, etc. Another thing you could try, maybe at the same time, would be the GM "global reset" where you disconnect BOTH battery cables from the battery and touch them together for 5 minutes. That will drain the system and reset every computer and you will lose all settings in the car.

Doing either or both of these procedures will require at least a re-index of the windows.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

 

I was going to suggest the same thing Rick did and also before that you could try just putting some more miles on it. It will likely fix itself but if not do the battery thing.

 

Thanks guys, I appreciate the info. We are heading to the frozen north on Tuesday for 9 days so i’ll try the battery thing in the morning.

Merry Christmas to all.
Roy

 

Merry Christmas Everyone

I disconnected the battery for several hours along with connecting the +/- cables together for the same time. Started it up this morning and have the same problem. This morning I could actually hear the pump like it was sucking air. Looks like I have to take it to a transmission shop. We have a shop in Chandler, AZ that gets very good reviews and speacializes in Corvette Transmissions, AZ Automasters

Thanks again for your suggestions.
Roy

 

It turned out my transmission was total toast. By the time I got it to the shop 4th gear was gone and 3rd was slipping badly. The tranny cooler in the radiator had ruptured and coolant got in the transmission along with tranny fluid in the engine cooling system, so that was the smoking bullet.

When they dropped the pan it looked like a strawberry milkshake instead of tranny fluid and there was a lot of rust and corrosion and the clutch material was completely gone. They did a great job cleaning everything up and the results of the rebuild are perfect. All the lines were flushed and cleaned along with the engine and a new AC Delco radiator was installed with new hoses.

Roy