JohnL

That is a very good question. The shipping company have given me a quote and taken the car. But they have only charged me from here to Drammen thus far... It is going by truck to Narvik and then by train to Drammen (for next years ice circuit the train from Narvik to Drammen is around €250 but northbound is around €6-800 so maybe useful for shipping cars back south) From Drammen I have no idea of the specifics. But I hope it arrives within 7-8 days. Once in the Netherlands it is not such a rush. I am aiming to get the car back to Kristiansand and southern Norway for around the 1st August. The guys in the Netherlands have a box in stock and so it will not take so long! It certainly has been a challenge to get this organised and I expect more until I finally take the car back! John

Rab, This is what I assumed. Both have the same price on the old pricelist I was shown but the non-refurbished boxes are not available. The car was thankfully picked up this morning and is on its way to Holland. I feel that the guys there will do a good job and I'm looking forward to being reunited with my fully functional car. It is a very expensive issue but even so I can't fault the car and I guess on over 230,000km on Norwegian roads and in Norwegian winters it is doing well! Currently in our town petrol is over €2/l and diesel is at most €0.20 lower. It makes the gearbox worth the investment as a long term investment! John

I am looking to be able to get the car from door to door for €900-950 which does not seem too bad. I guess hauling it myself would cost more as in Bret's estimates. That plus the work is less than a reconditioned box (without fitting or any other expenses) here in town. More importantly the quality of the work will be as I want! Are Audi still making new boxes for the 1.2TDi? The dealer here indicated only reconditioned boxes were possible. New boxes do appear to exist with an updated part number. Does the EX as opposed to E revision mean the box is rebuilt?

With Norway being outside the EU carting the car back in the back of a regular truck is complicated. Norwegian authorities really do not like people doing this. Also I have the impression that most fresh ware is delivered to southern Norway and then sent up the country by a dedicated domestic food carrying company. From Drammen with a dedicated car transporting company is 3500NOK and from Narvik to Drammen is an additional 2800NOK or so but the stretch from Tromso to Narvik costs as much again. The road is quite hilly and so not an ideal test for a compromised box. I am just waiting to find out from the company a final fixed price from Tromso to the Netherlands and where in the Netherlands they deliver to. The logistics are truly horrendous. I have an offer from a shipping company who will ship from Tromso to Eemshavn. They will only carry cars in containers (on a RO-RO) ship as in the past so many cars have been damaged. To compound this problem they have no 20ft containers and you are required to strap your own car down in the container. And this was for a "special" price of €1500. I have sent some mails to the companies above just in case!

Thanks for that! I am looking to see if the cargo line from here to the Netherlands has any capacity. It may be cheaper as I think it is not high season for fishing and cargo mainly goes north. From southern Norway to Europe for a vehicle delivery company is 3000-4000NOK and so hopefully loading the car on a cargo ship should not be too much more. I think time wise a trip through Finland towing the car does not fit in as well and so will see what options I can find. As the cargo routes from here mainly go to the Netherlands I am tempted to go for Lupo3l Specialists in the Netherlands. John

All help is gratefully appreciated. I am trying to find out what options I have to ship the car out of Tromso. I think a 1000km+ drive with a damaged gearbox would not be wise. Hopefully it is fixable as is! I guess it would be cheapest to ship to somewhere near a port/freight terminal. Would you guys advise against driving (in so far as is possible) until the repair is done? John

A "used" gearbox from the local Audi dealer here is €3600 excluding labour and any other extras. I guess getting the car south would probably save cash even after covering the transport costs. Considering they wanted €480 to change the operating rod on the gangsteller I doubt the labour costs would be that good. How much does a gearbox typically cost in Germany?

I am flying to the UK but was looking for places that the car could be shipped to. I have doubts about it making all the way from Norway to Germany under its own power. For example when I got back from the trip where the noise started to get bad I moved the car around 50m and even in first gear you could hear an unhealthy whine.

The other option I am looking at is shipping the car south to Germany and getting the work done whilst I spend some holiday in the UK. Can anyone provide recommendations for dealers in Northern Germany who are reliable, reasonable and are experienced with the 1.2tdi? The only dealer I know in Germany are Audi Zentrum Flensburg. They are close to Scandinavia for the drive home. I will probably head back to Tromso through Kristiansand and so Flensburg/Hamburg would be good! Also what kind of cost does a gearbox or refurb run to in Germany these days? I guess I could also get the GRA activation done if the car was in Germany. John

Is this something a local dealer can arrange? Otherwise I am a long way from anyone who could do that.

Would you also rule out the Constant Velocity (CV) joints? John

Sorry for being unable to explain myself in German! The car is an Audi A2 1.2tdi with around 231,000km. During a road trip I also started to get a whining noise when the accelerator is released but the car is in drive. I put the car in N on a downhill section and the whining disappeared and then started again when drive was engaged. The noise disappears when the accelerator is pressed down. Under breaking the noise disappears and starts again when the brake is released. The noise varies in intensity but turning seems to make no difference. Also as the noise does not increase with speed and disappears in N I suspect it is not the wheel bearing (I think that the bearing was replaced less than 2 years ago anyhow). I also stopped and jacked up the front wheel and found no side to side movement in it. The sound occurs with varying intensities in all gears. Also when reversing the car seemed a bit lumpy just as it starts off with the problem seeming to come from the front left wheel. Here are a couple of video clips with the noise in. The second clip is very clear right at the beginning. http://1drv.ms/1yC9LWu Does anyone know where to start looking/have any ideas about what it could be? How does the gearbox disengage the drive when coasting in the 1.2tdi? Is the noise from the gearbox? John

Thank you so much for this Mark! I could see the part was wrong but could not find the correct part number in the catalogue when I was at the dealer. John

Some better images: As you can see the number starts 8D0 973 then possibly a 7?

Hello! I wonder if it is possible to obtain the 8 pin plug that connects the cables to the hydraulic control unit except as part of a wiring loom for the gearbox? The dealer found me a connector P/N: 8D0 973 834 but this does not look correct as it does not have the locking mechanism. In my car it is held in place with a cable tie and I would like to fix it properly in case I ever need to do the basic setting again. Because it is held on with a cable tie it is not so easy for me to remove to examine. Here is a picture of the part: