On my 2004 VW Passat 1.8t with an tiptronic transmission, the little o-ring on the ATF cooler portion on the radiator had rotted completely and suddenly failed. Left me stranded on the side of a road in the middle of Vermont driving to school.
The guy that lived nearby said I needed to move my car to the embankment ASAP or else it was a matter of when an intoxicated driver will rear end my car on the shoulder. It was flat but off and I need to pop my car in gear to just barely get it back on the road so I can roll it down the hill.
I got a lot of indication on Google that doing that will essentially destroy the transmission the moment you pop into gear without fluid. But I got a little hope that this transmission is robust enough to handle the beating.
What are your guys thoughts? It failed gracefully losing my clutch on the top of a hill, no noises or crunches or thuds. Just stopped applying power.
It depends, I’ve driven Cars a couple miles with extremely low fluid with no apparant damage. It will likely shorten the life of the trans but overall you will probably be fine