B7 A4 Multitronic CVT broken!

[mcminc]

Long wall of text incoming, I am in dire need of solid advice.

About a month ago, my shitbox CVT transmission cut out just driving around town. Suddenly car got extremely jerky, wouldn’t accelerate even at 5-6k rpm, limp mode and some smoke coming from the hood. No CEL or codes in the computer. Evidently the CVT oil cooling line had ruptured right near my turbo (cause of smoke), fluid leaking everywhere. Didn’t drive the car and had it towed to my mechanic. Had the hose replaced and tranny refilled and $700 later the car seems to be back to normal.

Then just today, about a month later, cruising around town my traction control light begins to blink, car gets very jerky again. Limp mode and almost no acceleration. The car could cruise at speed, but struggled to get going from a standstill. My assumption from this is that there was an issue with the clutch engaging/disengaging for the anti-stall mechanism. I can see some fluid leaking from underneath the car but I’m not sure where from. (My assumption is trans fluid) The tranny is making a lot of squeaking/squealing noises, and this time I got a code P0722. This code correlates to the error: output shaft speed sensor no signal.
This is where I’m at currently, not sure how to approach this repair.


My questions as of right now:

1. Is it worth spending more money to refill trans fluid and diagnose CVT issues?

2. What are the chances that the transmission is completely broken and needs to be replaced?

3. I have read online about the TCM module breaking, is that something that could be causing my issues?

4. In the case that the transmission is busted, is it advisable to do some extra work and swap in a more reliable manual transmission?

5. What is a ballpark $$$ estimate for swapping in a manual?

For some background on this car:
I am only 18 years old and do most of the maintenance myself. Mods include: cold air intake, big intercooler, catch can, boost gauge, dashcam and radar detector hardwired in, high flow cat, stock tuning. I am pretty attached to this car despite the fact that it is ludicrously expensive, bought my car at 112k for $6,000 and have put ~2,000 worth of parts in. Has some minor cosmetic damage that would bring the value down if I were to trade it in.

What would you do in my situation?
Any advice is greatly appreciated

Biggest mistake of my life was buying this car, not knowing what a CVT was :/

[mcminc]

6. If I have enough money to source the parts is it worth going the extra extra mile to do an AWD manual conversion? I would probably just buy a donor car and swap over almost everything.

[SpeeedFreak]

You need to isolate/identify the leak. May be leaking from anywhere but you may have a hair line crack/s in the case of the trans. Regardless if you don't have enough fluid in the transmission obviously you're gonna have problems. Good luck

[Cyrik]

Agreed with @SpeeedFreak. First figure out where the source of the leak is coming from and pray you still have enough fluid inside the tranny (low fluid will cause slippage/shifting issues for sure) and then go from there.

From reading your post, here's what my perspective is:

The good:
- Manual swap is easy(er) since your engine shares the same crankshaft (yay!)
- Looks like your engine is still in good condition, also looks like you dropped some $$$ on some mods (not tuned yet though...?)

The bad:
- CVT probably grenaded itself (Don't know for sure, but P0722 is NOT a code you wanna see with these)
- Manual AWD swaps require a lot of time/money/labor which isn't ideal for everyone


I'm gonna be honest with you here, the way I see it you have 2 options:

1. Sell the car or part it out

2. Swap in a manual with a parts car (this is only really viable if you can get a parts car for cheap, since you need axles, shifter linkage, driveshaft, rear diff etc.)

If you go the manual swap route expect to spend countless hours under the car making sure everything is done correctly (it's a lot of parts). If you find a good parts car with front end damage or something, then that could be your only cost apart from a few fluids/seals.

HOWEVER, If this is a daily car that you rely on (drive to and from work, for example), then option #2 is out of the question. If this is the case buy a Honda/Acura and build the living hell out of it for cheap and make it faster than these B7's could ever be hahahahaha. Also remember, if you get past this trans issue you're probably gonna run into some more issues with the car down the line, think of opportunity cost. (I've dumped well over $5k+ in 4 years of ownership just to keep the thing on the road, this car will make you broke)

Godspeed to you sir, you're definitely in a sticky situation.

P.S: if you do choose to do a part-out I'll gladly take that FMIC off your hands, currently in the market for one 😂

[mcminc]

Thank you Cyrik and Speedfreak for the input, will be investigating where the leak is coming from today or tomorrow.

What issues could I potentially run into after the trans is fixed? Before the car broke I actually just dropped $700 to preventatively replace the cam chain tensioner + HPFP cam follower as well as my valve cover gasket that had begun to leak. Now I have to just stare at this big box of unopened parts. Also you are correct that the car isn’t tuned yet, but as I have recently learned, CVT boxes will break even with only stock power :(

[Cyrik]

Thank you Cyrik and Speedfreak for the input, will be investigating where the leak is coming from today or tomorrow.

What issues could I potentially run into after the trans is fixed? Before the car broke I actually just dropped $700 to preventatively replace the cam chain tensioner + HPFP cam follower as well as my valve cover gasket that had begun to leak. Now I have to just stare at this big box of unopened parts. Also you are correct that the car isn’t tuned yet, but as I have recently learned, CVT boxes will break even with only stock power :(

Everything breaks with this car. Ask me how I know 🤣

Did you BUY the parts or INSTALL those parts (cam follower, chain tensioner, etc)?? If you had someone install that stuff for $700 you got a good deal out of it... I hope you didn't drop $700 on just parts alone - You got ripped off considering ECS has a kit for under $200.

Common problems involve the diverter valve, turbo seals (white smoke out the back) PCV, cam chain tensioner, oil filter housing assembly warping, carbon buildup, coolant flange, thermostat, N75, cracked underside on valve cover, and the dreaded oil pump balance shafts (this one is usually at much higher miles and goes more along the lines with low oil pressure/low oil) and more that I'm sure I've missed.

At least you didn't buy a Subaru like every other new driver out here... I appreciate you.

Edit: Didn't include timing belt service + cam follower since I'm assuming yours has already been done/replaced by now. If not then you're running on borrowed time sir

[mcminc]

Everything breaks with this car. Ask me how I know 🤣


Did you BUY the parts or INSTALL those parts (cam follower, chain tensioner, etc)?? If you had someone install that stuff for $700 you got a good deal out of it... I hope you didn't drop $700 on just parts alone - You got ripped off considering ECS has a kit for under $200.

Common problems involve the diverter valve, turbo seals (white smoke out the back) PCV, cam chain tensioner, oil filter housing assembly warping, carbon buildup, coolant flange, thermostat, N75, cracked underside on valve cover, and the dreaded oil pump balance shafts (this one is usually at much higher miles and goes more along the lines with low oil pressure/low oil) and more that I'm sure I've missed.

At least you didn't buy a Subaru like every other new driver out here... I appreciate you.

Edit: Didn't include timing belt service + cam follower since I'm assuming yours has already been done/replaced by now. If not then you're running on borrowed time sir

$700 was just for parts:
Cam chain tensioner
Coolant flange underneath timing housing
Valve cover gasket + seals
Kompact EM diverter valve
3L coolant to refill since car still has 10 year old coolant
Schwaben coolant purge tool bc it was on sale

N75 was replaced ~10k miles ago by previous owner
You are correct that the timing chain and water pump were serviced at about 100k miles again by previous owner

[mcminc]

I have also recently replaced the engine and snub mounts

[mcminc]

Update:

The trans fluid is leaking from the front cooling hose, the same one that I had replaced by the shop last time. This time the hose isn’t busted but seems to be leaking from a fitting? I’m not sure, gonna tow the car to my shop and have them look at it since they did the recent work on it.

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I don’t think the car lost a ton of fluid, I was hoping to just top off the trans instead of draining and refilling because I just had the fluid refilled a month ago, but is that not correct? How important is it to drain the old fluid?

[mcminc]

Update:

$900 hunnid dollars later and we back baby!
This car is so cheap and reliable i love it!!!
That ain't nothing I make that in 3 nights at the restaurant ez pz

Front cooling hose: slightly punctured / nicked I have no clue how
Part: $185
7L Audi specific CVT fluid @$27.14/L = $189.98
Labor: $208.50
carwash included
my garage door antenna: left unplugged by the shop

+ towing = $200 (350 - 150 insurance reimbursement)

Total = $900


my bumper: scraping
turbo: fluttering
skid plate: deleted

also I have done the ferrari intercooler oil leak mod to boost horsepower by 25 horses
car is consume 1L oil / 5000 miles but this is natural

car peaks at 15 psi (~72 degrees @ 2AM) and feels lovely
can rev to just above 7k on the best pull

coming soon: xenon headlights and a new valve cover gasket

I pray to Jesus every night that he may bless my CVT transmission
Shifting is buttery smooth and there is no CEL anymore
I ain't ever giving up

Thank you for so many replies I was really just bombarded with information
Seems like no one else has had this issue of CVT fluid leaking???

in this video my 0-60 was about ~10 seconds (75% throttle in D)



See you in 1 month when this sh!t breaks again
I love my A4

[mcminc]

Also I have noticed that some other people on da forums say that wheelspin is bad for CVT transmission
I can confirm: Wheelspin is NOT good for the multitronic black magic machine