Transmission work in North Carolina

Anybody know anyone in or around North Carolina that can work on tramissions? Specifically Audi transaxles? I've been fooling with mine for some time and got the Quaiffe diff in but the tranny will not go back together. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to do a pinion depth set but it appears that I will have to for sure. When I put my side plate on the assembly no longer turns freely which tells me the ring and pinion are too tight or the bearings on the diff are not down far enough (but they are, they cannot go any further).

It has always been my experience that parts that are supposed to drop in - don't.

I'm thowing in the towel on this one as I need this done right and am out of options. Have I ever mentioned that I HATE transmissions? Oh, I HATE transmissions (and transaxles).

Any garages that can do good work with trannies would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ron

I visited Audi a while back here in Houston and they said about 3 hours and $300 for a complete dissassemble, cleaning and reassemble. That's the route I'm taking.

Assuming you are using the original ring and pinion gears, just swaping in the diff section, you shouldn't have to set pinion depth, just ring gear backlash, not that hard at all. If it is jamming up, you need more backlash. I can dig up specs for bearing preload and backlash and give instructions if you might want to try it but i get the impression you hate transmissions.

I've figured out why it is jamming. The side cover plate, when tighened in place, is clamping the diff too hard. Therefore the bearings on the diff are not fully seated, are the wrong size, or the diff is out of spec. I need to have the bearings checked. I had new ones pressed on when I got the diff and it looks right, but I need to check it again. Sooooooo, open up the case for the third time. Man, this is really fun!!! I sure do like transmissions....

Alright.

Does anyone know of anyone in the damn country that can work on an Audi transaxle? I've tried four shops here locally and they don't know sh**. Furthermore, as soon as I mention a LSD they don't want to touch it. I can send it somewhere at this point, I just want the damn thing out of my hands and setup correctly. I'm thinking I should just go get another one and run it as an open diff since this is really holding the works up.

Thanks much,
Ron

Ron,
Have you tried these guys? http://www.autoatlanta.com/index.html
They are Porsche experts and the 944 turbo transaxle is nearly the same as as the Audi 016.
They are up north of Atlanta and may be close enough for you to drive it down there.
Keith

Calling them right now....

Ron
Were they able to help?
Keith

I called them but they were a little reluctant to take the job on. But, a kind soul sent me names of two other places that seem good and I'll be sending it up to Oregon to have the tranny re-worked. Good people, it seems, and I'll post the contact info here and report back with the results.

Best,
Ron

Here are the two links:

German Transaxle of America (Oregon) 800-892-4327; lists Audi 5K and 944. http://dellepro.dellhost.com/gta/

Transaxle Engineering (SoCal) 818-998-2739,
http://www.transaxleengr.com/products.html