99 C2 Tiptronic failure

About a month ago I noticed my car was jerking slightly when pulling away from a stop. It was noticeable with gentle acceleration in 2nd and then more noticeable when shifting from 2nd to 3rd. I figured it was time for a fluid change and booked it in. The shop dropped the pan and found some fairly serious debris and it was very low on fluid. It had 140,000km on it and I do not know if the fluid was ever changed. So now I'm on the hunt for a used transmission as it appears parts for the ZF transmission are not readily available. On the 99 my understanding is the transmission can be removed without dropping the engine. So assuming just the transmission is out, is there any while you are in there things that should/could be done? I was specifically thinking about the UAOS but not sure if having the transmission out really makes that installation any easier.

Quotes source post: 18164430

transmission mounts. Doesn�t make AOS easier.

If u were gonna do an uaos and a trans swap i would just drop everything. Maybe do plugs, coil packs, tubes and any other maintenance.

Quotes source post: 18164633

And water pump / thermostat

Maybe do IMS Solution or retrofit, AOS and rear main seal while trans is out? Check your oil cooler too since it is all the way back opposite to AOS. PITA to get it replaces with transmission in vehicle.

Good list from the guys. FWIW, consider replacing the oil cooler as well. Very durable part, but the seals eventually go bad. With my engine dropped, it was an under $200 replacement part that i don't have to worry about for another 20 years. So I replaced it.

I think the IMSB is there with easy access, although some say to leave those dual-row IMSBs alone.

Heard back from the Shop, they managed to find a used transmission here in Western Canada. They are leaving the engine in the car and just dropping the transmission. The labor part of the quote seemed pretty reasonable. Thanks for the list of ideas. I've done the water pump, thermostat, plugs, and tubes recently enough that those are not a factor. I decided a long time ago that I would keep the dual row IMS and not worry about it. My current plan then is to do: Transmission mount RMS Needing more research Oil Cooler In my quick reading some people recommend changing the Oil cooler, but then there are comments from a few threads mentioning that some new ones end up leaking right away because they are warped. Maybe just changing out the seals would be better? Here is a pic of the debris found in the transmission

Put the IMS Solution in there while you got the trans out. Trust me, the dual row is pretty good, but not that good. I have seen too many dual rows with 70K up fail or failing. The cost to do now will never be a better time, it will never be cheaper..

Kind of an odd question, I'm trying to work through potential scenarios in my head in regards to the IMS solution. If my engine were to fail for something unrelated to the IMS (Spun bearing, hydroloc, D-chunk, intermix etc) is the IMS solution damaged or could it be incorporated into the rebuild or a new engine?

Here is the funny thing about all of the parts the guys have suggested...they mitigate all of the items you listed. UAOS mitigates hydralock, allows you to run an extra quart of oil which helps to mitigates oil pressure instability & oil starvation, with benefit of keeping the the bearings and rods better lubed. It also helps to mitigate the intermix issue that can happen with the oem aos. Obviously the ims solution or retro will help to mitigate your imsb grenading. A new oil cooler may help to also mitigate intermix issues as well. My understanding is that if you have the ims solution and go to LN or FSI for a rebuild, you can reuse it. May also be the case for the UAOS, but I haven't officially confirmed. Hope it helps.