George Rochford

My 97 manual says that the recommended automatic tranny fluid change is 45K miles *except A4*. Audi will change the brake fluid at 2 year intervals but not the tranny? What gives? <br>George <br>97 1.8TqAS TAPII<br>94 911 Carrera 4

Dale B

I think they are using synthetic ATF, which should have a longer life than regular ATF. I think most manufacturers these days say the the change interval for even regular ATF is at least 60K miles, sometimes "lifetime." Of course, we all wonder whether the lifetime could be longer if the fluid were changed. Personally, I would be tempted to change it at about 50,000 miles or so. That would go for the manual trans. also, since they don't have a change interval for it either.<p>The German makes seem to be unique now in recommending brake fluid changes. (I'm sure there must be others somewhere). Most makes ignore it completely, to the detriment of the brake system's life when the car is about 10 years old or so.<p>There are some consumer groups, non-profit orgs., etc. (Consumer Reports isn't among them, actually) that report maintenance costs for various cars over the first 5 years or so of the car's lifetime. Cars with higher costs are, of course, considered BAD by the public and the magazines. So, the result is for the car manufacturers to cut back as much as possible on maintenance needs. That's why you see some American cars now that need no tuneups or service other than a few oil changes before 100,000 miles. That's a real positive in the minds of people that consider their cars to be some sort of necessary evil applicance. Just my opinion.<p>Dale

Dale B

The ATF fluid is only supposed to have designation ESSO EGL 71141, VW/Audi part number G 052 162 A1 (for 1.2 liter), or A2 (for 1 liter). The color is supposed to be yellow and no additives are to be used. The proper level for ATF is checked by removing the porper bolt from the BOTTOM of the trans. pan. There are two bolts there. The one that looks smaller and is located more toward the center of the pan is the drain plug. The bigger one near the end is the inspection and fill port. This fill port has a baffle surrounding it to keep fluid from draining, unless there is too much fluid. To add fluid, you have to stick a bent hose or nozzle up through a hole in baffle so oil will go into the pan. (There is a special VAG tool, of course, but it looks like one could improvise).<p>To check ATF level, the trans oil temp. must be between 95 and 113 degrees F. (The proper scan tool or software can check this from the OBD II port). Trans. must be in Park, engine idling, Climate control system OFF, vehicle level. If oil doesn't run out of the inspection port, add fluid until it does. Obviously, this isn't easy and the average person shouldn't do it. (Unless your trans. leaks, there should never be a problem anyway). Whatever happened to dipsticks?

Bob Petruska

Dale, are you saying that there isn't a dip stick for the auto trans.....if not, OUCH! I can just see owners with slight leaks further down the years that have no way of knowing that they are extremely low except by checking as you outlined which they won't.....there goes the trans!<p>I just can believe some of the stupid designs that the Audi engineers come up with.<p>I have a manual trans, that's why I asked!

Dale B

At least I can find no mention of it in the owner's manual, and I think other people have mentioned that there isn't one. (I have a manual trans also).<p>It really isn't that big of a deal, I don't think. After all, manual transmissions generally don't have dipsticks either, and they can also leak. Same with differentials, and I've never heard of a dipstick there. The auto. trans, of course, depends on its fluid for the hydraulics to work; it's not just for lubrication. So, the owner of an automatic may get a warning that the fluid is low when shift quality starts changing. <p>The best thing to do is to be aware of what is leaking from ther car. This is relatively easy if you park in a garage with a concrete or otherwise smooth and clean floor like I do. For people that park in an apartment lot or similar, it could be a problem.

Rich

Those same damned Audi engineers that are so overconfident with their Auto trans fluid as to make it a pain to check or replace (to the detriment of transmission life over the long haul) have also put a special lock on the manual trans fluid that requires a special factory tool to open. My dealer said they didn't have it, and weren't optimistic about ever getting it open otherwise. This "maintenance free" crap is nice, except that I wanted to switch to Redline fluid that was better for cold climates, and wasn't able to. Since my stubborn German Stick was also shifting poorly, I thought the Redline would be a nice change. All the dealer could do was try to check the level of the factory fluid (which was down) and add some. How was I to know if the poor shifting was due to less than full manual trans fluid from the factory (until my transmission craps out eventually after the warranty expires...) The transmission is the only part on this (otherwise fabulous) car that ever worries me....<p>Rich<br>'98 2.8Q sport, stubborn German Tranny