Torque converter P0741 Replacement prices and ideas

[mrjasper3mn]

I bought my a4 3.0 2004 few months back. after i bought it and drove it for about 1500 miles, i got the infamous and dreaded p0741 code(P0741 torque converter performance or stuck off). i reset it twice and it came back. It is usually on for a day or two then goes off then back on after some driving. Now that i have put a total of about 3500 miles on it since the code came on i have decided to fix it. The car drives perfectly by the way as far as i can feel. The dealer wanted $150 just to diagnose tell me "exactly what i need replaced". I believe diagnosis should be free and decided not to waste my money. I went to two different shops that do transmissions only.

(1)one of the shops had done a transmission rebuild on my ford 2004 f-150. the manager considers himself "my friend" and said that he would take care of me. He had his guy drive the car and came back and said that i probably need a torque converter but there is a possibility that debris from the the bad torque converter could have caused damage to other parts of the transmission. he couldn't promise me that just changing the torque converter or possibly the solenoid would fix everything since other repairs might be necessary to the rest of the transmission. He quoted me $1600 to change the torque converter or it it was the solenoid then it would be $1100. and since he trying to do me a favor (in his mind at least) he said that since they are gona have to take the transmission out that he will inspect the entire transmission and make sure that everything is fine and that i won't have any transmission problems soon. if he ends up only doing the TC then i would get a one year warranty on that part. if he ends up having to change anything (even small parts) of the transmission then i would get 3 year warranty but it that's the case i would be paying more than just $1600 depending one what he has to fix in the transmission.

(2)The other shop that i went to also drove the car and hooked it up to the computer and and after driving it said that my TC is off and not engaging at all. He said he can tell that because he drove the car at like 50-60mph and when he gives it gas the rpm jumps 100-300 or even more which means that the TC is not engaged since you shouldn't see quick change in the rpm with a little extra gas. (i had read about this in few forums). at the first visit these guys said that it's about $900 for the converter and 10.6 hours of labor (so a total of $1700-1800). today when i called him and asked him for a final estimate he said $800 for everything ($200 for rebuilt TC and $600 labor). he wants me to drop it off and he needs two days. when i asked about warranty he said that he warranties his labor only and the the company that rebuilds TCs for him will warranty the TC for 6 months or 1 year. But he said that if other parts of the transmission end up causing damage to the new TC then the company that rebuilds them would figure that out in that event and they won't replace the TC if that happens. when i asked him about what he can do for the rest of the transmission he said he can pull the pump and check the drums since that's something that cracks a lot on this car. he also talked a lot about what debris could have damaged parts of the transmission. This shop said that the rebuild TCs have been lasting more than the ones bought from Audi but he can get me either of them the Audi one will be much more expensive, he will even put one that i can buy and give to him to install for $600 This shop will also rebuild the whole transmission (including TC) for $2600-2800.

Now i am thinking i am gona go with the $800 job and hope everything else is ok and i might pay him $100-200 just for him to do extra inspection and make sure everything in the transmission is ok. what do you guys think ? i am not an expert on transmission and both of these shops were almost scaring me with how the rest of the transmission could have taken damage as a result of the bad TC. From what i have concluded after hours of reading on this topic: The problem isn't going to go away. my transmission fluid level is good so adding will not fix the problem. most people got problem solved by replacing the TC. If anyone here knows of a special rebuild TC that has been proven to work well and last long please let me know if it has a reasonable price.

I have read many ome of the threads i have check:

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...hed-already%29
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...ter%20solenoid
http://www.streetdirectory.com/trave..._problems.html

[rollerton]

Interesting. It's extremely rare for the TqC to fail in the newer cars. It was a problem in the tip cars from around 99 to 2002'ish. But strange for an 04' to have failed internal seal - which is what causes to lockup to fail.
Had the same problem in my 02 B5 S4, and I replaced the TC. Guess what? It still gets the code occasionally, well, actually the trans module always registers the code, but calls it intermittent. And now it never triggers a CEL.
If it was me and I was going to keep the car, I would find the cheapest labor possible, but buy a TC from 517trans.
If not sure, or planning on selling I would fix as cheap as possible.
Somewhere recently I stumbled across the diagnostic for checking the solenoids in the valve bodies (in the oil pan of the trans) using VCDS and checking voltages at certain speeds/cruise. I'll have to look for it again, because it's possible it's a bad solenoid/valve or, less likely but still possible, it's just very dirt fluid.
fWIW I know of more than a few people that have driven for years with the non-lockup code. It's literally a non issue for around town driving, only affects full TC lock in 3/4/5 gears cruising mostly.

[mrjasper3mn]

Good information there but man ur making me feel unlucky if it's extremely rare. yeah i am not sure about how long i want to keep the car. the shops keep telling me that i can cause a lot of damage to the transmission if i don't get it fixed. i am thinking about getting it fixed as cheap as possible. all the shops i have talked to keep saying that TC is very common on these cars. looked at 517trans and i think it's $550 for new TC. the second shop is getting me one that he says is really good rebuilt for $200. i do drive highway a a lot 300miles every other week. even without that high mileage driving i am driving over 40 most of the time. my other mechanic told me that i could just leave the TC and keep on driving it he said many people do that. but if i want to sell the car i am gona need to have this fixed ppl don't like to buy a "broken" car. Let me know if you find anything about the diagnostic stuff. Also, i have My gas pedal feels touchy sometimes and i get a hard pull form the car(really god acceleration) basically i have to be careful on the gas in order not to get too jerky when i drive. is this just how the 3.0 is or is it possible i got some other problems? do i need to wait 30 days before i can post an Ad?

[Kittrell]

looked at 517trans and i think it's $550 for new TC. the second shop is getting me one that he says is really good rebuilt for $200.

The reason he mentioned it is the 517 TC is upgraded. So if you are keeping the Audi and/or plan on making more power, the TC will be up to the task. If you have to get it replaced, might as well put an upgraded part in there. I realize you have a 3.0 so this might not be much of a concern to you, but just throwing it out there.

[rollerton]

Yeah, I went with 517trans's TC because it simply wasn't worth $250 or so to gamble that kind of repair- at least not on an S4. I'm just not sure how much I trust a $200 rebuilt TC,I mean you have to CUT the thing apart and weld it back together perfectly, all new parts should be used, and it has to be perfect or you're worse off than before.
I mean...$200? I would think that barely covers the labor cost to take the TC apart properly- not to mention parts, and reassembly. Sketchy.
I would probably buy a low miles used TC over a $200 rebuild. At least then I'd know It was put together right.

[mrjasper3mn]

yeah i agree with both you but the thing is that if these are mostly failing because of a seal then really what's broken is just a seal part that just has to be replaced. $800 for his and $1150 for the 517 one. I don't plan on trying to get more power out of the car. and i guess if the cheap one can last me like 2 years til i sell the car i would be happy with it. I will think about it tho.