Every car guys nightmare

RaysWay

RaysWay

Autopia Specialist
On the drive home today I was fortunate enough to experience one of every car guys nightmare, the "break down".

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On the bright side she's clean as a whistle! B) The tow truck driver said it looked like new and asked if I just waxed it.

Not sure what happened but I'm guessing it's transmission related. I was cruising home and all of a sudden it slipped in gear. I pulled over and the car would not move in any gear (R-N-D-D2-1). I called the tow truck (Geico Roadside Assistance FTW) and tried again in an hour after allowing the car to cool down with the same result.

I'm surprised as the car only has 54000 babied miles.

Hopefully I'll find out tomorrow what happened after dropping it off at a reputable transmission shop. Until then, please keep her in your thoughts. :pray:
 
Best of luck.

I just avoided the permanent version of this. Went to change the valve cover gaskets today. Found one of the cam chain tensioners was nearly worn through. Sadly no spare parts on hand so need to order up some tomorrow. Was hoping to be done today but with this surprise it's going to be a couple days. Still better than grenading the motor within a month or so.
 
Vega. Sorry to hear that. I'm not sure what Ford calls those transmissions now, but when I was working on them they were call AXOD-Es and failures were pretty common. I'm sure Ford has updated the AXOD-E, but I'm guessing it's still the same basic transmission.

Back in the day, we used to see fluid leaks leading to burning up the transmission, clutch pack failures, planetary gear failures (banging in gear), and a lot of slipping from poor internal lubrication.

Did you check the fluid? Full? Burnt? OK?

The good news is I don't think a rebuild is too expensive. Parts are probably fairly cheap and readily available.
 
Thanks everyone.

Audios S6 said:
Best of luck.

I just avoided the permanent version of this. Went to change the valve cover gaskets today. Found one of the cam chain tensioners was nearly worn through. Sadly no spare parts on hand so need to order up some tomorrow. Was hoping to be done today but with this surprise it's going to be a couple days. Still better than grenading the motor within a month or so.
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What kind of car? I just helped a friend do the same thing on a Ford Explorer.

Swanicyouth said:
Vega. Sorry to hear that. I'm not sure what Ford calls those transmissions now, but when I was working on them they were call AXOD-Es and failures were pretty common. I'm sure Ford has updated the AXOD-E, but I'm guessing it's still the same basic transmission.

Back in the day, we used to see fluid leaks leading to burning up the transmission, clutch pack failures, planetary gear failures (banging in gear), and a lot of slipping from poor internal lubrication.

Did you check the fluid? Full? Burnt? OK?

The good news is I don't think a rebuild is too expensive. Parts are probably fairly cheap and readily available.
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Ya, when I first got the car I did some quick research and it seemed like the transmission was a common weak point. I had a 60k mile transmission service coming pretty soon, not sure if that would've prevented anything or not.

I didn't check the fluid :facepalm:, I just wanted to get it to a shop so I could get home asap. I'll find out tomorrow. The car did sound strange, like something was moving around that shouldn't while idling.

And good point about the parts.

Before driving home, I sat in the parking lot of work and felt a strange vibration. Usually the car is quiet and smooth. But I felt a strange slight vibration.
 
Noooooo! That suck! Sorry man. I hope it's nothing major or expensive to fix... :blink: I'll keep my finger crossed for you! Good luck.
 
Vega@Autopia said:
Thanks everyone.



What kind of car? I just helped a friend do the same thing on a Ford Explorer.
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2002 Audi S6 Avant

TLDR version: passenger side=easy; driver's side=FML.

Got done with the passenger side VCG, then my buddy uttered the famous last words, "the driver's side should be a piece of cake"

We got the cover off and heard something fall on to the belly pan. We assumed it was a couple bolts for the valve cover, but none were missing. Pulled off the belly pan to find the tensioner wear pad in several pieces. Checked out the tensioner and found the chain had worn through all but 1 mm on the top.

I had done the timing belt, top-end seals and tensioners on my 1999 A6 last year with the same guy and just let my buddy keep the old tensioners in case he needed spare parts. Well, we thought my old tensioners might work and they are nearly identical except for the gasket mating surface. So we attempted to disassemble the tensioners to salvage some pieces, but that did not work either. So now attempting to find a new tensioner cheaper than $1000 including next day shipping because being without two cars is among the most serious first world problems.
 
Audios S6 said:
Got done with the passenger side VCG, then my buddy uttered the famous last words, "the driver's side should be a piece of cake"
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:rofl

campngolf said:
Hopefully she'll still be shiny and clean when you get her back.
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Me too. When the tow truck driver arrived I had to bite my tongue as he put his greasy hands on her a few times...

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He was a nice guy though. His name was Joe and he was well into his 24 hour shift. The holiday traffic meant extra work for him.

Now transmission shop technicians usually take extra special care not to leave fingerprints on cars right?.....Right guys?.....Guys?.....
 
Vega@Autopia said:
Now transmission shop technicians usually take extra special care not to leave fingerprints on cars right?.....Right guys?.....Guys?.....
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I think you're good it you're dealin' with Clean Gene's Transmissions and Donut Shop. I hear you may only have to deal with some custard residue.

(btw my wife is a Castle junkie and got a hoot outta your gif)
 
Vega, sorry to hear your car crapped out on ya.

My wife's brand new Mazda 3 GT wouldn't start two days ago.
I was detailing the interior and I went to go turn on the dome lights and nothing happened.
No power at all in the entire vehicle…

Tried jumping and nothing……...

We had to eventually call road side assistance to come tow her car across town to the local Mazda dealer.
Luckily we were at home when this happened.

It appeared to be a pinched wire coming from the dome light.
I guess while they were installing the new alarm system they accidentally pinched one of the wires causing it to drain power even tho the car was turned off.

It's funny what you mentioned about the tow truck driver and his greasy hands touching the paint, as that's Exactly what was going through my mind as well.


Anyways, hopefully you have an answer soon and it's a cheap fix!
 
Seems like I remember these cars having issues with torque convertors. I hope the repair doesn't impose a burden with money already being spoken for at this time of year. Good luck.
 
Here's a really quick video that will give you an idea of what failed. -_-



And this one shows a little more.

 
UGH! Man that sucks. These cars as you said are known for trans issues. Hopefully it will be all better after this and give you YEARS more service
 
Oh boy, I can already hear Swanic.


EDIT: Amazing how the factory design looks like a cheap aftermarket piece, while the aftermarket one looks like it should be the OEM.
 
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