One Week in CEL comes on...

[TexasRS6]

Picked up my RS6 with 139k a week or so ago and it has been relatively smooth sailing until tonight.
I noticed the cars shifting was a little rough no jerking but the up shifts just did not seem smooth.
It will tend to up shift to soon and sometimes the rpms hang when going from 3rd to 4th especially. I am not sure if the transmission is designed to shift more aggressively than I am use to but it just seems off. I decided to put it in Trip mode and try a 5th gear roll in the throttle making sure it didn't down shift. When I did this the CEL came on. I know these cars have gearbox issues but I was hoping I could avoid them.
The car is going in the shop Monday to get the outer cv boots replaced because they are both leaking. I was going to get the oil changed as well and now I am looking into a transmission flush hoping that it will cure the problem.
Another symptom I am noticing is almost a shutter when the wheel is locked all the way right or left at low speed like turning in a parking lot.
Also the engine coolant light will flash at me randomly on start up but it is random sometimes it will sometimes it won't. That could be an easy top off fix but wanted y'all's opinion on all of the above.
I knew when buying the car it was going to need work to get it running smooth but was hoping it wouldn't be anything crazy like replacing the tranny.
Comments and suggestions welcome!

[ttboost]

Welcome to RS6 ownership. Let us know how you like your new transmission...

[4everRS]

Mike, you're brutal.

Tex, sorry to hear. How did you buy the car? I would bet big money that whomever owned it before one there was a problem. As ttboost said, you're definitely getting a new transmission.

[kruat]

Ouch, ive been shopping RS6s for a while now, and that is my biggest fear. Good luck man.

[lswing]

Yep, previous owner knew of the problem. Trans sounds roughed up.

The shudder on full turn parking is center diff, no worry.

My CEL came on the day I bought mine. Dealer had been clearing it, bad torque converter.

[TexasRS6]

I stopped by Autozone and ran the code reader hoping and praying. P0741 is the code! Bad Torque Converter from the research I have done. I am going to have them flush out the ATF tomorrow when they do the oil change and cv boots. They are charging 420.00 for the cv boots. Seemed like an okay deal.
Hoping it will buy me sometime to get some organs sold so I can put in a new tranny. What should I be expecting when it comes to a rebuild or replacement?

[905084]

I know these cars have gearbox issues but I was hoping I could avoid them.

I bought Thing 2 on the transmission hope strategy. She lasted 500 miles. That's why I bought Thing 3 with the trans already done. Dollar cost averaging !!

What was the code for the CEL?? When you replace your trans, have the shop put in the Bufkin oil cooler pipe. I'm guessing that's where your coolant is going.

[TexasRS6]

P0741 was the code I pulled.

[Bigglezworth]

P0741 was the code I pulled.

A good number of members on this forum have had that exact code. Torque Convertor issue. Could last 10 miles, could last 10000. One thing that isn't in dispute is that one day it will fail entirely and you could find yourself stranded. Best to evaluate the condition of your tranny fluid when you have it removed. If it's looking really dark, your days are numbered. If it doesn't smell burnt and has a relatively dark green color to it, the internals of the tranny are likely just fine and all you would need to attend to is the TQ. If you just became the owner of this vehicle, it is without question the previous owner knew about this. I would start checking service history and talk with any shop that the vehicle was at prior to confirm if they knew, but the previous owner didn't disclose as part of the sale....

[lswing]

Bummer, do what you can with fluids, but guessing bad TC has hurt the trans. Trans failing/slipping will foam and heat the fluid, also can distribute too much power into trans. This exactly what happened to me. $3,500-5,500 for TC and trans, ~$3,000 labor at an Indy shop, was my experience.

If you do the TC, do the trans without question. I didn't, and a year later paid the $2,500 in labor again.

[TexasRS6]

Okay I will evaluate the fluid tomorrow. It isn't shifting hard or doing anything really rough it just seems like the shift points are off which is making for some weird shifts.
The little Indy dealership I bought it from may have had an idea of it but he did make it a point to show all the things they found with the car and I bought it for 11k so I bought it for a pretty good price for the condition. Dub squared is about to take it in tomorrow and hopefully get some of the kinks worked out.

[Bigglezworth]

I bought it for 11k so I bought it for a pretty good price for the condition.

12% residual on a 450hp Autobahn speedboat! CHEAP and then some! You got what you paid for. No ability to complain about anything not working at that price. Be forewarned that you could well be doubling your investment within the first year via scheduled maintenance, unschedules repairs, and various updates/niceties...

[lswing]

Well the price sounds about right....with the proper work you'll have a new driveline that will last another 100k...

[mik15]

sorry to hear about that but it is common with the RS6. If the car still shifts alright just drive it until the gearbox dies completely and then do a full rebuild, don't do only the TC as the gearbox might need to be done as well later on.

[Turbowned]

If it makes you feel any better I paid $24k to have one with a good (so far) transmission. Add $6k and you're still only at $17k. Not bad for a 450hp biturbo AWD super saloon!

[TexasRS6]

Well I got it back from the shop today and it is going to need some work done. We prioritized the work into 4 categories 1. Timing Belt service, valve cover gaskets, radiator (small leak currently) 2. Transmission 3. Suspension 4. Brakes
So now I am deciding if I want to cut my loses and go more practical or continue to invest in this machine. I don't want to be mistaken for complaining I know I am getting what I asked for but tbh didn't think I was getting this much.
Lesson learned today get someone to do a thorough pre buy inspection.

[mik15]

none of the above is cheap, 'most likely will double the money you spent on buying the car(not that this should be a benchmark but we tend to refer to it), so it is time to think about the direction you will take. It is hard when this car punches you so hard form the beginning, you didn't have time to properly enjoy it, that might have been motivating for you to keep it, but the way things happened makes you wanna ditch it, and i completely understand, it is a love-hate relationship with these machines. At the end of the day it might be better to sell it as it is, maybe take in a loss of a couple of grand and call it a bad day and move one.

[ttboost]

You can probably get $13-$15k for it now, doing nothing. You will easily double your investment in the next year....and the car won't be worth double...at least to a buyer.... Unless you are handy, these cars are not for the faint of wallet. Hopefully you enjoyed your week of ownership