D3 A8 Auto Box

[beemerboy9]

I have a Sept 2004 4.0TDi which has recently been suffering from a jerky downchange going from 3rd to 2nd and 2nd to 1st when bringing the vehicle to a gentle stop.

Kevin, a master Tech at Hatfield Audi, drove the car and agreed with me. The car was first checked for contamination of the gearbox oil as there is a potential point of failure in the gearbox oil cooler. All was well in this respect, and the oil was changed to blue oil - 11.5 litres at £24/litre! - and there is an accompanying ECU remap to change the boost characteristics to compensate for the thinner oil.

The bill including 2.25 hours labour came to around £550. I have an understanding relationship with Chris Marsh on the service desk (I make it a policy to always deal with the same person) and his pleadings with Audi customer services brought forth a 50% contribution even though the car is out of warranty. It also helped my case that there is an official technical bulletin about this comparatively rare occurrence and that I get my car serviced within the dealer network within the "over 3 years old" labour scheme.

I will pick the car up later this week and have been told to let it "bed in" to the new oil for 1000 miles.

I believe that I have had good service from Audi and the chaps at Hatfield.

[RichardW]

I also have a 4.0TDi almost a year older than yours but mine has only covered 47k miles. I have begun to experience the same symptoms as you albeit thus far only on the change from 3rd gear to 2nd gear (the change from 2 to 1 is completely smooth). I would be very intererested to hear if the remedial action at Hatfield Audi has solved your problem and the reference of the technical bulletin if you have it. I had heard about the expensive "blue fluid" in posts on the AudiWorld USA forum but not up to now in the UK!

Edited June 13, 2009 by RichardW

[donaldkiddick]

I have a 2005 3.0TDI with just over 38K on the clock and I'm experiencing the clunky 3 to 2 downshift and also a jerky 1-2 upshift on occasion. I was going to book it into an independant to get the ATF changed as he reckoned it would be worth doing at 40K. I thought he was just trying it on as the service schedule only mentions the multitronic ATF change with nothing for the tiptronic.

I'd be interested in that TSB too.

[beemerboy9]

Hi both,

The 3-2 downchange is much improved and the 2-1 is extremely smooth now. I have only driven it 80 miles since the oil change and it need to be driven a lot more for the gearbox control unit to fully bed in. The gearbox has been reprogrammed such that it must be maintained on blue oil for the rest of its life.

I don't know the Technical bulletin number, but if you ring Hatfield Audi, ask for Chris Marsh, he should be able to give it to you. I would recommend using you local dealer. Once the master tech agrees that there is a problem the A8 team at Audi Customer Services is quick to make a call on a contribution (10 minutes) - and having your vehicle serviced at a dealer helps considerably.

Good luck and let us know how you get on,

John Bentall

[RichardW]

Thanks to Beemerboy9 for his advice, since my symptoms were identical to his I took my car to Northampton Audi. They changed the car to Blue ATF oil and reprogrammed the gearbox ECU software to suit the new oil. The new oil (ATF G 055 162) has a lower friction value than the original (G055 005) and, in order to safely transmit the engine torque the new software (SVM Code 4E02A004) increases the clutch pressure. The car then has to undergo an Adaptation Drive to reset the gearbox logic. The end result in my case is a gearbox that is now perfect again - smooth seamless changes both up and down the box. The Reference Bulletin is Technical Product Information 2009737/7 dated 9 Jul 2008. The Master Tech (Nigel) also cxhecked the 2 MAF sensors (these can affect gear change quality) but both were OK. This is not something that could be done at an independent - they would not be able to reprogram the gearbox ECU and the gearbox would be quickly ruined if the old sodtware is used with Blue fluid. My car (4.0 TDi) has only covered 49k miles and the oil drained out appeared to be in goood condition (not black or discoloured). When I did a precautionary oil change myself on my previous facelift D2 S8 at 43k miles the oil was black but the gearbox was still working perfectly.

[david1]

Richard following your post I am tempted to give Northampton Audi a call regarding my D3 which hesitates at standstill and then takes off, ie stop at a set of lights then press pedal to go and nothing happens momentarily then wooosh off we go. My car is a 2003 V8 3.7 petrol model although I am not sure if the technical information you mentioned would be for my model. I would choose Northampton on the basis of your result and there are times when I question the knowledge at Wayside in MK. Whats your thoughts?

[RichardW]

I did not experience your problems so cannot comment on the likely fix. I have no experience of W*****e but there have been many adverse comments on this forum. If you go to Northampton make sure you discuss the problem in detail with Nigel the Master Tech personally and NOT just with the service desks. I found him to be excellent to deal with and he has been on the manufacturers gearbox course. Be warned it may be expensive - my bill was just ove £700!!! but when you consider that the Blue ATFluid is about £26 a litre and with a full flush you need about 16 litres you can see where the cost came from (Northampton discounted my labour bill without being asked!). I would recommend them.