A4LD - DIY rebuild long term success stories

[TDG]

I've been reading a lot of threads (thanks to the search feature) regarding DIY A4LD rebuilds many of which tend to trail off into "had issues / not driving the car right now / results not posted / etc" - along the way I've also read a few about DIY rebuilds experiencing issues shortly after being placed into service.

I would like to know who has successfully (10,000 miles or more of regular use) rebuilt an A4LD in a DIY / shade-tree / non professional (i.e. 300 piece tool set on the kitchen table) environment; it would also be useful to know the level of damage to the transmission that prompted the rebuild and the level of rebuild (i.e. factory specs, some upgrades or full bulletproof) as well lessons learned along the way.

Finding myself at the crossroads of A4LD hell I'm debating on attempting a DIY rebuild or perhaps spending my time and money in a wiser fashion (manual conversion etc)

 

[RangerX]

Wow, there may not be that success story here!
You might consider swapping in a 700R4, there's an adapter plate for that...

 

[Mbrooks420]

I’d do the 5 speed swap if it was a heavy off-road vehicle and you don’t need a manual. The 700r4 can be built pretty beefy, but isn’t a very stout transmission stock, either. Could probably swap in 3-4 before you equaled the price of a 700r4.

 

[yostyexplorer94]

When my a4ld bit the ghost I scrapped it. I installed the manual tranny and never once regretted that decision. If I would have decided to keep the a4ld, I would have pulled it myself, paid a local shop to rebuild it for me, and would have never attempted to diy it.
I probably had $600 to $800 in my manual swap. It was what I wanted anyways and it was good on my budget!

 

[TDG]

My application is stock 2wd general Los Angeles street commuting for work and around town beater duties as a 2nd vehicle; hard on an auto in that it's lots of slip / heat and 1/2 shifting which is why as much I enjoy rowing the gears in a manual I don't like the left leg workout of having to clutch 600 times in one trip. (no joke)

For it's age the vehicle is complete and in good shape with just the usual paint and interior wear, the engine runs good, doesn't burn oil and I have a low mileage spare engine in storage should it fail; thus my interest in this project rather than sending it to the junkyard but I'm still realistic about how much I want to spend vs what it's worth and how much life it has left it vs how much use I'm going to get out it in the years to come.

I have considered the 700R4 swap and I do have the adapters around somewhere from another project but the cost of a trustworthy 700R4 (i.e. NOT one of questionable operation from a junkyard) would exceed the value of the vehicle as well as outlast it by a long time.

At my disposal I have the original never rebuilt well cared for transmission that was pulled at 144k due to some concerning noises coming from it in reverse, otherwise it functioned perfectly up until the day it was pulled and swapped with a fresher upgraded transmission from another project; due some critical lapses in judgement on my part during that swap I damaged a few things resulting in a nice puddle of ATF under the car anytime it was running - after some more creative parts swapping from yet another mothballed project I have a functional A4LD in the car that works but makes a few noises and leaves quarter size ATF puddles from the bellhousing area when it stops.

Current thought is to do a basic soft parts / critical hard parts rebuild to factory spec (minimal bullet proofing / updates as that seems to be where some of the DIY crowd may be getting into trouble) on the original transmission and put it back in, if it doesn't leak and lasts 30k that should be good enough for another 10 years of beating at which point it will probably be junkyard ready.

Probably a new thread in a different section for questions about that...

 

[Dragon90815]

Rebuilt my A4LD using a junk yard trans pull it out then took it apart put half of the old trans in the used trans drove it for seven years then main seal and torque convertor went out.

 

[Rhett]

Current thought is to do a basic soft parts / critical hard parts rebuild to factory spec (minimal bullet proofing / updates as that seems to be where some of the DIY crowd may be getting into trouble) on the original transmission and put it back in, if it doesn't leak and lasts 30k that should be good enough for another 10 years of beating at which point it will probably be junkyard ready.

FYI. Bulkpart.com carries "rebuild kits in a box". Select "automatic" at the top of their home page, then A4LD...