JohnL

I got the car working again and other than the battery being much better 12.84v not much ekse seemed different. It seems the voltage has more impact than would be expected. Before with the car plugged in I only had 12.04v when I started the process but with mains power connected. I did not adjust position of the bolt on the bottom of the operating rod.

Thanks! I will have to see if I can solve this. I do not think the top will be so accessible. How critical is the voltage? Could the voltage dropping just below 12v be enough to cause a problem and can low voltage cause an RTFM 12 or would it present with a different error?

On trying again the 28 steps complete twice with the reversing light coming on between steps 5 and 8 but it still fails with RTFM 12 at the end. The voltage is over 12v for the entire process and the only logged error is that the basic setting was unable to complete. What would be good to look at next?

The only error listed is that the basic setting was unable to complete. During the 28 steps the reversing light comes on in both runs. I will check the clearances on the ball joints. For changing the position in the elongated hole in the "ADJUST" step is moving up or down more likely to help? The car is in a car port with little space to work and it is not so easy to get under the car and so this is proving to be quite challenging to observe/inspect anything. The graph of the basic settings shows the setpoint to stay in the 3.Xv range most of the time but with drops to less than 2v twice. The voltage is pretty close to 12V and so I suspect the leaving the car charging a while to build up voltage would be beneficial before trying again.

Hi, The reversing light came on during the basic setting steps 5-8 and also when I manually selected reverse gear. On turning the car on the robot starts movement whilst the car is still in P. Does this help identify a problem? I will check for error codes again.

I got the shifter back into place and managed to manually find reverse. The basic settings still cannot complete with the following logged: 19:07:38 Group 014: Gear Selecter Adaptation RTFM! Instruction(s) 28.0 Transmission Position 12.0 (no units) 3.98 V Voltage It seems the voltage is not changing much as the 28 steps are performed. What should I look at next? Could it be as simple as a loose connector?

Hi Mankmil, Fantastic. This should be possible to try. Is there a guide here to manually selecting the reverse gear. Which direction to push and so on? Could I have worsened the problem by releasing the 13mm nut at an odd angle leaning under the car? Is it possible I could have knocked the selector out of place and so I have a new problem rather than the not working reverse switch? John

Hello, The car was running correctly and then when I tired to reverse from my driving the klaxon started pinging and the car would not find reverse. I then tried basic settings and got an RTFM! 12. The reverse light did not light at the stages reverse is meant to be found but a wire across the terminals lights the reversing light when R selected on stick. I have changed the reversing light switch on the gearbox today but still the basic settings made 28 steps twice and again RTFM! 12 is logged. The car shows N when D/E by the Tiptronic gate is selected but if you turn the ignition the car starts and immediately stops. Can it be the nut that needs to be loosened and retightened is too loose and is there anyway to make the car find the correct positions again? The voltage in the KNZ is 1.91v. The 12v power is 12.2V or so with the car connected to an external charger. I am out of my depth here and need some advice! Please help! John

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?