Bit worried about gearbox oil change now...

[Shoppinit]

My car's booked in at Audi for ATF and filter change on Monday so I thought I'd take it to local gearbox specialist to have a chat.

He reckons that it's risky to change the ATF on higher mileage cars that have never had it changed because the sudden change in viscosity could suddenly reveal problems.

I'm fretting now because my box is working perfectly and I don't want to cock it up.

Any suggestions?

[philroach]

Phone Grizz at Unit 20 , see what he thinks

[Shoppinit]

I'm loath to disturb him when I won't be giving him any business (live too far away sadly )

[deanobeano]

Loads of people have had it changed with no apparent problems.

However, mine was changed (it was black, and the magnets were covered with swarf.) The gearbox failed within 300 miles of the change.

Could be a coincidence, but given the state of the oil prior to the change, I think the damage was already done.

Oh, I am confident that the oil change was done correctly etc etc

[Shoppinit]

Could be a coincidence, but given the state of the oil prior to the change, I think the damage was already done.

That sounds logical. What prompted you to do the oil change? Were you already experiencing problems?

[darrenswift]

Doug at MRC changed mine and everything seems fine. I only have 39k on the car though. The oild was black when it initially came out and there were metal fleks on the magnets etc. A couple of fills of oil later and I was up and running.
I hope everything goes well for you with yours

[deanobeano]

Strangely enough, the gearbox was acting fine, no clunks or slipps.

I had it done cos it had sat at the dealers for over six months before I bought it and that coupled with the tales of woe on here lead me to the decision to have the oil changed.

When the oil came out it was seriously hot, which could be normal, but may mean other problems with the oil cooler.

Lets see how the new box fairs...however at 5k miles per annum I think it will last a fair bit.

[MoRS6+]

Although completely opposite to you, I'm having the exact same dilemma! My car on the other hand has only just gone over the 20k mark (21k) and It works smoothly and flawlessly. Now, MRC advise changing the tranny oil every 20k, so I could in theory be one of the only people ever to have had their tranny oil maintained by MRC from new should I get it done. But it is working just swell at the moment, so not sure what to do really. Ah hell, I'm gonna get it done. Would be quite some history if I ever sold it '20k gearbox services from new' and all that. In any event, would be an interesting experiment to see if doing that extends the life of the 'box.

[Shoppinit]

The gearbox guy I spoke to said that if the oil is changed regularly as it should be, then there is no risk of "oil shock". It was only the fact that it had never been changed that worried him.

I should think you'll be fine.

[deanobeano]

Let us know how shitty the oil is and if you have hedghogs on the magnets!

[Shoppinit]

Yeah, I'll be curious to see. I'll have to ask Audi to let me watch. Not sure what the chances of them letting me do that are...

[MoRS6+]

There's always the possibility of doing it myself which is what I did on my old A6 4.2 along with a mate. I bought all the bits needed including the 20 litre drum of genuine Audi fluid (all from Audi main dealer) and we just got on with it. Was actually quite straight forward in the end. The oil was quite dirty, but the magnets had absolutely so swarf on them whatsoever. That was when it had 57k on the clock. I still have roughly half (about 10 litres) of the genuine Audi tranny fluid left, so that'd save me a few bob (assuming there's enough that is). Wonder if it would differ much, still being a 6 an' all that?? I'm still chewing over what the dickens to do. Decisions, decisions..

[Shoppinit]

That's what I wanted to do, and if I had a ramp or enough space to do it comfortably then I definitely would do it myself. It's not a hard job and you are bound to take more care than anyone else.

[andrewwilson8]

I am picking my car up tomorrow after having the gearbox completely re-built.

I had had a few instances of "limp home" and had read and subsequently hoped that changing the oil and filter could be the cure so i took it in. The garage drained all the oil and replaced it. Apparently the oil was filthy and black. Unfortunately the garage did not have a clue what they were doing and when i took the car home the box was slipping and revving its nuts off and banging and all sorts. I broke down about a quarter of a mile from my house and the car would go no further. Zero drive. I had to coast it into a side street in reverse.
Realising this was going to be serious (and the garage in question is 90miles from my house) i booked it into audi for an independent inspection the next day. The first thing they told me was that it had 4.5 litres less ATF fluid than what it should. Next was that it needed a new gearbox and would be 5500 to repair. I contacted the garage that had changed my oil, trying to lay the blame on them for only half filling the box and they totally swerved any responsibility. I was adamant that the 90 miles up the motorway with a cooking gearbox was to blame for the ultimate failure of the box.

Interestingly he cited the fact that it was because of the clean oil. He claimed that all the gunk in the oil was giving the box "grip" and that the clean oil was now letting it slip because the box was already screwed. At the time i thought this was absolute BOLLOCKS but now i'm not so sure. . .

[Shoppinit]

Well, if there was 4.5 litre down on ATF, that's about half. That could easily have killed your box. The new fluid might have modified how your box changed gear / slipped, etc but NOT killed it completely. I don't see how it's possible, unless the box was going to fail anyway at that time. I don't really believe in coincidences though. Did you end up forking out yourself?