Tiptronic Woes Why doesn't it go into gear?

latunluvr · 03-09-2004, 01:10 PM

Got the new Tiptronic transmission in my 92' 968. I shift it into all of the gears just fine, but it won't actually go into those gears. The dashboard lights reflect the gears that I'm in. I can't even get into neutral!

Anyone out there know what causes this?

Thanks in advance!

Aaron

Britwrench · 03-09-2004, 02:16 PM

The Tip transmission can be diagnosed with the Bosch KTS 300 (hammer) tester. If it doesn't move at all, my first thoughts would be to check the fluid level and make sure the torque converter is actually being driven.
As a matter of interest, why was the old one replaced?

latunluvr · 03-09-2004, 02:33 PM

The old one had an internal failure and disentegrated. While puttting the new one on, I had trouble getting the shaft coming out of the Tip tranny to slide all the way into the drive shaft receptacle. I ended up putting on the bolts and tightening them to get the tranny housing flush with the housing that's on the end of the drive shaft. That's the only thing that I can think of. I thought that it might be jammed somehow. One more thing. Park works. All other gears behave like Neutral and the car will roll.

Britwrench · 03-09-2004, 11:01 PM

If you had to force the tranny onto the housing, my guess would be that the torque converter wasn't properly installed on the splines. So what has happened is the tranny is now toast. You might need to pull the tranny and remove the torque converter. Inspect it thoroughly and I think you will find that the front pump and converter (at the very least) will be damaged.

SoCal Driver · SoCal Driver's Garage

A running start with a ten pound hammer.

latunluvr · 03-10-2004, 07:33 AM

Would this cause the tranny not to suck in the 3 quarts of tranny fluid that I put into it? I topped off the overflow, but I know that it needs at least 6 quarts of fluid.

Thanks,

Aaron

Britwrench · 03-10-2004, 08:42 AM

You can only check the level with the engine running and the transmission at normal operating temp. The level indicator shows the oil level. If it won't fill with oil then the pump is not turning; because the torque converter drive is damaged.

Remove the torque converter to flexplate bolts, you should be able to rotate the converter, if you can't, start taking it out again.

latunluvr · 03-18-2004, 02:55 PM

Hey Gerber guys/gals,

I think I found out what I did wrong. I didn't take the 3 bolts off of the torque converter when I removed the old tranny. I just pulled the tranny out with the torqure converter still installed. There are two female notches in the torque converter that line up with the male notches on the tranny side. I'm pretty darn sure that I didn't have them lined up when I installed the tranny and this would've accounted for the 3/4 of an inch gap that was left after I installed the tranny. I'm guessing that this caused all kinds of other things inside of the tranny not to work and resulted in the computer not allowing the fuel pump to turn on. I got a copy of the 968 Tech Manuals and printed out the pages that I needed to see that the torque converter is supposed to come off with the tranny and not separate. I'm going to put it all back together "CORRECTLY" this time and hopefully there isn't any damage. Everything looked good. The flex in the tranny casing was still there when I undid the tranny to drive shaft plate bolts. This told me that I "hopefully" didn't push anything in that wasn't supposed to be pushed in. I'm going to install her correctly tonight and see what happens in the morning when I have her all bolted back together. I found a brand new transmission jack at Harbor Freight tools for 50 bucks. This was well worth the purchase! The local rental store wanted 25 bucks a day for the exact same jack!

Britwrench · 03-18-2004, 04:01 PM

There's a very good chance the new tranny is now toast.
Bolting the trans to the torque tube with the t/c misaligned means that something was jammed in..this is not a good idea.

latunluvr · 03-19-2004, 04:00 PM

I put my new Tip tranny back in after installing it incorrectly the first time. Then I couldn't get it started. I checked fuel pressure, ok, I checked for spark, ok, I jumped the fuel pump, ok, I checked voltage at the fuel injectors, ok. Still wouldn't start. I made a 3 way jumper and jumped 87, 87b, and 30 under the DME/Fuel Pump relay and VOILA! She started. I checked the tranny and she pulled in the 3 quarts that I put in her! So, I've got a bad DME Relay! Very easy fix! I'm going to hook up the wheel shafts tomorrow, top her off with some tranny fluid and pop her in gear with a fire extinguisher close by.

The tranny pump is working fine and no leaks or wierd noises!

To be continued...

latunluvr · 03-20-2004, 05:09 PM

Sure is nice to be a P owner and driver! Just being a P owner isn't good enough. Everything runs perfectly after the tranny install. After a couple posts from Gerber Motorsports, I was afraid that I broke something, but everything is working perfectly. Got her out on the Interstate and gave her a little kick... felt really good to be back in the saddle! Now I just need to replace the front pads. Anyone know where I can get a brake wear sensor for a 92 968 for a good price?

Britwrench · 03-20-2004, 07:58 PM

Glad it works, you should check the oil level and condition after a few days. As you had the engine running with the torque converter installed incorrectly you need to be sure there are no metal shavings in the trans.

latunluvr · 03-22-2004, 10:45 AM

Hey Britwrench,

I have to thank you for the tip on checking the fluid level. It looks like I didn't have the return fluid hose tight enough and I had a slow drip leak coming out of it! Was almost half a quart low in two days! I just backed it on the ramps and saw the problem. Will tighten it up and top it off right away.

Thanks again!