mrfixit54

Thanks for the great story on Tiptronic oil change. I am overdue and plan an oil change on my 1999 Tip transmission. I have all of the necessary parts, oil, and tools. Having never done this before, I wonder, are there trans oil lines that go up to the engine radiator that need to be disconnected? How do we drain or remove oil from the converter?
Many thanks for your reply

turbo510

There must be a significant amount of ATF in that cooler circuit, however I've not read of anyone attempting to drain it. The TC can only be fully drained while out of the car, by syphoning. You'll probably get the most old ATF out by not having run the engine during the previous day, allowing more to drain out of the TC and clutch packs.

Prospeeder

Just drop the pan and fill. Dont bother with the cooler. In a month just pull the drain plug and drain off 4 quarts then refill it if you want to get a little more new fluid in. Its tempting since the old fluid comes out so hideous.

mrfixit54

Thanks Prospeeder and Turbo510. I can never have too much information before going in. This is a new procedure for me, unlike the typical "oil change" this new experience can be intimidating the first time especially when you read all you can find on the topic. If you have any more to suggest, like Ross Perot, I am all ears. Thanks!

turbo510

Once you've done this a time or two, a basic drain/refill isn't that different in difficulty from an oil change, with the obvious exceptions of the car leveled on jack stands and working underneath. The full pan drop and filter change is preferred, and maybe adds another hour or so to the job, but it's what I suggest. Just remember this basic fact: Fill the pan through the fill port until ATF begins to drip out, start the engine, continue filling until it drips out again, shift between Neutral, Reverse, and Drive a few times, making sure the wheels are stopped between shifts. Pan warm, fluid still dripping out, put the plug back into the fill port, then shut the engine off. One more tip: when installing a new filter, it's rubber seal can be difficult to fit into the transmission. Coating the seal with ATF hasn't worked when I tried it, but a little Vaseline on the seal does.

I'm getting set to do this again on my 3.0 A4, with plenty of Valvoline MaxLife on hand. However, I am going to combine that with a control arms/tie rods/sway bar links change. I'd suggest that you spray-degrease and wash the pan area beforehand, and while you are working right there, disconnect the two electrical connectors near the driver's side inner CV and spray all those contacts with contact cleaner, WD-40, etc.

Prospeeder

MaxLife is great fluid. It works really well in all of the Euro car 4 and 5 speed Autos.

mrfixit54

Thanks to both of you guys, prospeeder, and turbo510. Your added comments are terrific. I have purchased Pentosin ATF; 4 quarts, and a 1-gallon jug. I hope this is enough! I wonder if maxlife is compatible with pentosin should I require more? I have no scan tool so the "pan warm" SOP approach makes this sound a bit easier. My first ignition switch intimidated but turned out to be fairly straitforward. I too have a second or third set of upper control arms ready to go in, Meyle HD. Many thanks again.

turbo510

Your 1-gallon jug; is that Pentosin or MaxLife? In either case, eight quarts is more than enough. I usually use just over six when doing this. I don't know any reason why you couldn't have a blend of both brands, because you also will when changing to MaxLife from the original fill, because of the un-drainable three quarts or so. By the way, don't use MaxLife if you are hoping for grabby shifts. My A4 changes gears so smoothly that most of the time you tell by watching the tach.

mrfixit54

Yes, both my jug and quart bottles are Pentosin. I think I will use my "pit" to do this service. It will eliminate having to jack up this heavy Avant high enough to do this work. I now know that there will always be about three quarts remaining in the system. It sounds like some of you do this service semi-frequently as this will continually remove that older fluid that just won't completely drain. I look forward to this job, and to see how ugly that filter is. I bet it weighs in heavy! Thanks for all these great tips. I will report back.

mrfixit54

Hello my friends @ Audiworld. It has been some time (August) since you all aided with your suggestions in my first attempt to replace the ATF oil in my 1999 A6 Avant with Tiptronic. It was this moral support that encouraged me to attempt what was more intimidating than it turned out to be. I did this service over my shallow pit. The Torx bit that I used had to be tapped into the pan fasteners to assure a good tight fit. The new filter was indeed tight going on. I applied a tiny bit of silicone paste on the seal. I then massaged it 3/4 into place then tapped it home with my dead blow hammer. I disconnected the two ATF lines leading to the radiator, very little additional fluid drained there even with light air pressure. My two electrical connections near the driver side CV were clean as a whistle. I pumped in six and one third quarts of ATF (Pentosin). When pan was warm, D and R selected a few times for 30 seconds, fluid still dripping/running, I closed the fill plug. Test drive was very impressive, it worked! So for now I will see how this feels in days to come. Thanks to turbo510, and prospeeder that replied to my original posts. Eric