keman

Photos here, newest at the bottom

120k on the clock, bought locally for a steal, needs some work but needed it anyways if that makes sense. interior in very good shape, paint is kinda peeling. No rust anywhere, Nevada car, baked in the sun but the solar roof seems to have kept the interior cool. they probably used a sun shade on the dash. It was a dealer's car for about 7 years. Non audi, they apparently didn't quite know audi service procedures but it seems like they at least ran synthetic and changed it every 5k. Has all the original nav cd's and various different owners manuals. full sized spare has original tire on it, completely unused. Original timing belt and water pump, someone put green coolant in it about 500 miles ago. Very glad to have caught it, the two have literally refused to mix and I flushed everything out until it ran clear. I'm doing the following

Replace
timing belt
water pump
oil cooler piece of crap plastic water pipe / gaskets
coolant thermostat
coolant (drain, flush, fill)
front crankshaft seal
both camshaft seals
both camshaft position sensor seals
timing belt tensioner
all four timing belt idler pulleys
serpentine belt
serpentine belt tensioner -w- pulley
serpentine belt idler pulley
spark plugs x8
engine air filter
cabin air filter
both front upper suspension control arms, L/R
windshield washer pump
headlight washer pump
fan clutch
rebuild fan clutch pivot bearing
sway bar bushings
power steering pump
power steering fluid drain/flush/fill
drivers front cv axle shaft/joints
engine oil
engine oil filter
auto transmission fluid
auto transmission filter
headlight HID bulbs L/R
rear differential fluid

3 weeks from now:
replace brake flex hoses F/R
brake fluid drain/fill (it's nasty)
bleed brakes
replace front/rear rotors
replace front/rear brake pads

8-12 weeks:
valve cover gaskets
timing chain tensioner gaskets
timing chain tensioner guides

I got an S6 that's getting almost the exact same work right next to it so I'm sorta doing them both at the same time. I got slowed down all summer from work but this winter has seen the heaters in the garage on and the insulation I installed in the fall makes them actually work. Here's to hoping the original 5HP-24 automatic blows up and I can put an 01E into it. Starting to gather parts for that swap right now. This is the first D2 S8 I've ever had this far apart and so far it's been a fun blast from the past. I love working on it because of how much room there is to get at stuff that on other models is so tightly crammed in there. The lack of corrosion makes everything come apart like it isn't almost an antique. Stuff just breaks free without drama.

Special thanks to:
SBCrazy's D3 4.2L D.I.Y. Timing Belt Job
audipages A8 Oil Cooler Removal and Reinstall

jfrahm

Sounds good. Check out the threads on the TransGo valve for the 5HP24 and possibly the lower valve body replacement if you want the trans to live. You could probably sell it for $1500 demonstrated as working OK. Even if the trans has been rebuilt I'd do that valve swap and if the lower VB was bored out I'd put in a new casting ($150) and the $50 Transgo valve vs having the same problem eventually with the Sonnex valve.

Stromaluski

Looking good!

keman

thanks for the tip. Another friend with more experience on these also suggested it and when I saw the price I couldn’t say no. Not with having to drop the pan for the filter change anyways.

I did some research and I think I understand what you’re saying. Basically if the trans is a rebuild it’ll have a larger valve already, and I’d want to ditch that to put a regular valve body back in with this valve?

Shifts before I started this work are oddly firm. Particularly at very light throttle. Old gm b&m shift kits come to mind. I couldn’t remember them shifting that way when new, now I see the transgo says it can eliminate that behavior. And that is possibly the behavior that breaks things?

Very curious to see how it drives afterwards. I’ll keep that price in mind for the trans, it would be nice to sell it before it breaks for that.

jfrahm

Correct, if it's been rebuilt and the valve body reamed oversize for the Sonnex valve, this valve will not work. You'd have to buy that $150 Front Lower Valve Body casting and migrate the valves into it (not too hard). Measure the old valve to check for sure.

This casting IMO is also important to install if the one on the car is badly worn, I think in my case on my S8 there was wear on the middle section where the smaller disc on the valve lines up, I could feel it being cupped and it was possible to get the TransGo valve to hang up on certain clock positions. If you planned to keep the car a while with the auto trans and this work had not already been done I recommend just doing the casting anyway.

The firm shifts are interesting, maybe the valve spring has been shimmed or it's full of Lucas or something that is spiking up the line pressure.

On my S8 this casting was worn at under 100K miles but was OK on my A8 at 150K, the S8 does shift a lot and I drive around in 4th in the A8 until I hit the highway to reduce shifting so maybe that helped. The S8 also came from California and might have done a lot of stop-and-go traffic. I've also run Lubeguard Red on the advice of this forum in the A8 since I got it, maybe that stuff helps or maybe it does nothing but the original A8 trans is still happy at 198K miles.

Cheers,
-Joel.

keman

Interesting on the lubeguard red. I've heard also that valvoline maxlife multi-vehicle is rated for these transmissions, but I found that out after I got a bunch of the expensive pentosin atf. Seems crazy to me that it works, even crazier that some say it's just dextron III ? Is any of this true?

I'll check the bore out when I go to put the valve in, I've come this far to do so much, can't skimp on it now. I want to put an 01E into it but who knows how long it'll take to find all the parts. Might as well see how long this one can last, 198k miles is incredible. You've given me new hope. I also don't have access to a lift like I did on my S6 for doing it's swap, so I've no idea how I'd get the trans in and out, will be building a platform for a jack I guess. So having it last longer will give me more time to figure this out.

jfrahm

The factory fill from back when (1995?) was semi synthetic and I am sure modern ATF is way better. I use Valvoline Maxlife myself presently and it meets the spec, which at this point isn't hard to do. Maxlife ATF (plus Lubeguard Red) has been in my 2001 for 35K miles since I did the TransGo valve.

I heard that the old factory fill was pretty much a semi-synthetic Dex III and that seems fair but I never researched it. People used Mobil 1 ATF with good results back before it had the LT71141 spec on the label, back in ye olde times that was a great ATF and it served me well in many vehicles. I usually do drain and refills on auto transmissions rather than full flushes and did one on my A8 with Mobil 1 ATF on the mid 2000s. I do not know if the current Mobil 1 ATF is still a standout, but in those days I felt it was the best I could easily find on a store shelf.

Dr. A8

I'm not sure you could get the trans out the bottom without a lift. For my A8 I just pulled the engine/trans out the front together and that was still a pain. Very difficult if you try to leave the subframe in. Just take it all out together if you go that route. I'm in Lindon so if you need a hand let me know. I've got a couple jobs that I need to do on my cars ('99 A8 and '01 A6 4.2) so it would be nice to have a buddy in the area that knows anything at all about these cars lol.