joneze93tsi

I've read the audipages several times already but had a few specific questions for those S8/Facelift A8 owners out there. Going to be attemtping this probably tomorrow, and have a few last minute nervous questions.

One thing it says is to run it through PRD432 Ect. Which of course, I only have PRNDS. Do I need it in "S" for 30 seconds as well, or is that just a "software" position ?

It mentions to do this twice, and then check it with Vag-Com. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

How much fluid does it push out when in reverse? Should I have a clean catch can just incase?


I'm trying to find a simplified post I read once on here which was roughly:

EDIT: Here:
https://forums.audiworld.com/a8/msgs/12840.phtml

This posts completely skips the gear changing, but goes along with monitoring fluid first.

* Do intial fill, start car, and fill until it starts coming back out.

* Monitor with Vag-Com until up to temperature.

* Run car through gears, and ensure that there is only a "slight" over-fill at the end of the cycle, and you are done.

Seems about the same. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated, hate to screw up my beloved new child.

Push That Tush

I wouldn't change it unless I was having problems with it.

joneze93tsi

I was "lucky" enough that the previous owner had a service plan on the car until 100K. The tranny was replaced/repaired whatever approx. 12k Miles ago.

If for no other reason, I wanted to verify the health of the fluid in there and establish a baseline from which to change it every 30K going forward.

Luckily, the fluid that came out was a ligh honey color, only slightly darker than stock and the magnets were free from any metal.


I can at least now verify the correct fluid and fill level going forward and hopefully this tranny will last me the rest of my years with this beautiful car.

skiracer

If you wait to change your fluid until you have problems IT'S ALREADY TOO LATE (eg. you already have a problem). I understand that if you have 80K plus miles on your tranny and you have no problems, it is likely that you should leave well enough alone to maximize lifetime. However, if you have the opportunity to perform fluid changes as a preventative maintenance item starting early in the life of the tranny, then that is recommended by no other than our local tranny expert Tozo. As for you initial questions:

1. "S" is a software setting only, no difference in the fluid channels in the tranny.

2. You should run the transmission through the "gears" while monitoring Vag-com; you don't want to wait until the fluid is all the way up to temperature first, because it will be too hot before you get the transmission overflow/fill plug back in and it will result in an under fill condition. You want to be sure to get the fluid level full and the plug in with the fluid within temperature specifications.

3. It has been my experience that there isn't much fluid pushed out while running through the gears, but I always have a catch pan under the fill port because you need to have it full enough to overflow (and the only way to know that is to overflow it)!

Good luck!

Push That Tush

I have 97,000 miles on my 99 and I only did the filter/atf because the filter was clogged (knock on wood). From what I started seeing over the past year, it looked like just the filter had to be changed since new fluid seemed to be doing more harm than good.

ryoung

Same here at 33k intervals.

TonyA8

I changed mine at 94k for first time, no problems.

JMohn

Have you considered changing the fluid and filter again? If your filter was clogged, perhaps the new fluid flushed more particles out of the system?

What kind of fluid did you fill it with?

Do you think that once the transmission has a certain number of miles on it with no fluid changes, it's best to leave it alone?

Sorry for all the questions, there seems to be some debate on this issue and I'm just trying to gather as much experience as I can

Push That Tush

I think some people on here still have their original transmission and they're at about 140k plus. I used to recommend the entire atf/filter job but am thinking about sticking with just a filter change because of past posts I have read about 2nd or 3rd atf changes resulting in rebuilds. I would ask Tozo for his advice, I've seen him recommend just filter changes.

CalG

For those in the camp of "if it ain't broke, don't change the fluid" voicing an opinion that new fluid with fresh "chemistry", like detergents and suspension agents, will stir up the debris that has collected in the nooks and cranys of high milage transmissions and valve bodies?
Certainly there can be no argument that the enhanced lubrication properties of fresh fluid will be good for all the mechanical functions of the transmission. Plus, clean fluid "should" flow better than the fluid that is burdened with sludge. Some would say the "Hunt and Thump" symptoms are due to low flow rates. I have seen no references that would suggest that fresh fluid would be detrimental to rubber parts like piston or shaft seals etc.

Perhaps a useful yet conservative approach would be to change the filter regularly, and only exchange that fluid lost in the service with fresh.

My own experience with 100K miles plus transmissions,(A8, A6 and a GM 4l30e transmission) is that fluid and/or filter changes cause no problems.

Dissassembly of a high milage 5HP24a transmission Valve Body (VB)shows lots of accumulated grey sludge, but no sign of anything collecting on the several screens and filters within the VB. Also, all restrictors show nice round holes with now buildup.

Information is good.

Regards

CalG