fudge Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 Further to my last post and as suggested by my son NikW some pictures: (1) You need some good (and strong) axle stands - you are going to be under the car for some time. (2) This is why you need to change the oil regularly. You MUST use the special Audi oil available from Stealers in 1 litre or 20 litre packs. Also available from http://www.lubricants.org/?path=item&id=378 only in 20 litre packs (Esso ATF 71141 which is what the Audi oil is) quite a bit cheaper. Do NOT use any other oil. It is not red (as many ATF oils are). My Merc 500SL uses the red variety of ATF oil and was still clean red when changed at 45K miles). Furthermore you cannot check the level or refill from under the bonnet. (3) There are 2 cross-members on the S8 which need to be removed - you cannot manoeuvre the oil pan past them. (4) This is what the pan looks like when you get it off. You will see that the magnets on mine were clean - but so I would hope after only 45k miles. You can also see that the oil drain plug is not at the lowest point; if you dont take the sump off you leave more dirty oil behind. The filter change is important; if it becomes even slightly blocked you will get problems. In my view, based on helping do the job on 2 cars, there is no substitute for dropping the sump and changing the filter. I dont understand how you could do a pressure flush and, on the evidence of my son's box at 85k miles there was quite a lot of sludge which flushing is not going to remove from the magnets. S8ed was surprised that a newbie produced what he (kindly) described as a "top" post. The reason is easy; if I believe I have something worthwhile to say, I post. Otherwise I just watch with interest and (sometimes) amusement. I have been a car nut (or is it geek) all my life and this is by far the best enthusiasts car forum I have come across. The A/S8 forum is one of the most active. Is that a reflection of the enthusiam and interest of the owners or do we have more problems than most? I hope that it is the former. For what it is worth, I belive that ATF oil changes without a filter change are a false economy. Exactly when such a change should be done is a matter of opinion, my money is on 40 to 50 k miles but I suppose you could do just an oil change at 25k and then drop the sump and change the filter at 50k if you wanted to play safe. Bearing in mind what a gearbox costs and the number of people who have had problems, I dont think we can simply follow Audi's advice and see it as a "lifetime" fill unless we wish to further increase the stealers' profits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ska Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 Two questions Richard: Have you ever pulled apart the old strainer/filter and seen what it looks like inside? (just curious) And if the correct ATF is not red then have west London Audi just sold me 5 litres of cherry aid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fudge Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 It would appear that I cannot attach multiple pictures to my last post - you have only got number(4) attached is (1) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fudge Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 It would appear that I cannot attach multiple pictures to my last post - you have only got (4) attached is (2) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ska Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 You could post the picis in the test forum in separate posts then copy the url and paste them into your edited post above, maybe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fudge Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 The correct oil for my son's 5 speed 4.2 (32 valve) 1999 A8 pre-facelift and my 4.2 (40 valve) post facelift S8 is definitely golden brown see Picture Number (2). Not sure about your cherry-pop but I would ring a different stealer with your gearbox code from the code sticker in the boot/service book and check the part number. The filter is metal cased so not easy to pull apart. My son's looked fairly contaminated at 85k miles but there is no way of checking if this was affecting the fluid flow rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ska Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 I'll have a look at my filter when I have it changed next week. Then I'll take it to work and ask one of the techies on the shop floor to disect it, should be fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teacake Posted February 17, 2006 Report Share Posted February 17, 2006 [ QUOTE ] For what it is worth, I belive that ATF oil changes without a filter change are a false economy. Exactly when such a change should be done is a matter of opinion, my money is on 40 to 50 k miles but I suppose you could do just an oil change at 25k and then drop the sump and change the filter at 50k if you wanted to play safe. Bearing in mind what a gearbox costs and the number of people who have had problems, I dont think we can simply follow Audi's advice and see it as a "lifetime" fill unless we wish to further increase the stealers' profits. [/ QUOTE ] I agree 100%. And at the risk of labouring the point, anyone changing the filter should change all related seals/gaskets as well, most especially the "filter to transmission gasket". This has part number 01L-325-443 in most gearboxes, I think. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willg60 Posted February 17, 2006 Report Share Posted February 17, 2006 My last 5 pence worth on this .. If a jobs worth doing, it's worth doing properly! The stealers are shakey on the whole ATF thing and I think some people are also being miss-guided by specialists (because they are specialists people feel obliged to believe them). Do the job properly if you want peace of mind, give the box a good flush and replace every possible service item you can, especially the strainer. Finally, there are people on here who have done the procedure themselves with great success, they have spent a lot of time documenting the proceedure and I think the best thing you can do is take their (I mean people like Richard) advice, as it's non-bias, well educated and totally specific to the A8. I'm so intriegued by the ATF change that I wish I had the time to perform the procedure myself on my S8 just so I could more understand exactly what's involved! The S8 might be gone in a week or so .. I'll keep an eye on the forum, always interested to hear about peoples experience with these cars. Thanks to all for their advice, there is no substitute for first hand experience, and I would always take the advice from people on here over anyone else, no matter how specialist they claim to be! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikw Posted February 18, 2006 Report Share Posted February 18, 2006 Ska, am I right in thinking that your car is a 2.8 V6? If so it probably has a totally different gearbox to the 3.7/4.2 V8. This may explain why yours uses red fluid. Willg60, sorry to hear that the S8 still has to go. Perhaps at some point in the not-too-distant future you'll feel the urge to find another one with a gearbox you're happy with? You already know how to look after it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ska Posted February 19, 2006 Report Share Posted February 19, 2006 Your right Nick its the 30v V6, but the parts department bloke said it was the same for all Another reason not to beleive the stealers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted February 19, 2006 Report Share Posted February 19, 2006 I always thought the ATF for the Quattro 5 spd gearbox was silvery stuff. My old Audi V8 Q had a 4 spd box and used the red Dextron III/IV GM fluid. I changed mine on that, and it took 5 litres. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teacake Posted February 20, 2006 Report Share Posted February 20, 2006 I think this may have been asked before, but has anyone got access to the official Audi instructions for doing the oil/filter change i.e. the actual list of tasks/parts that the Audi dealers themselves use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencerbruntlett Posted February 20, 2006 Report Share Posted February 20, 2006 Ok, as promised here is my feedback on QAS bristol. So they have the Mega flushing machine and they can do full rebuilds if required. However before they did this they took a sample of the oil from my gearbox to test it and after the 60 odd thousand miles I have done the oil was just like new!!! Their recommendation was that changing the oil would be a waste of time an money as their analyser said the oil had not lost any of its integrity, was not contaminated in anyway and was at the appropriate level suggesting there were no leaks. He said if it was his car he would leave it just as it is. Good enough for me. So they charged me £28 labour for the check and sent me on my way. I realise this is a complete contrast from the other stories on here so what conclusions can I draw: 1.) My gearbox will blow up in 100 miles and the specialist will have lied....unlikely though given he had the chance to make £109 and turned it down 2.) Some of you have just been very unlucky? 3.) The replacement box fitted to mine after 72k is in someway different from the orignal fitted? 4.) As mine does 90% motorway cruise and I hardly every use the Tiptronic the box has an easy life? 5.) Who knows??? However the details of the place I used are on the website below and the guy to speak to is Jon Lovegrove, found him really helpful, lets just see if my gearbox is working a year from now! http://sitebuilder.yell.com/sb/Displaycompany.do?p=homepage&id=SB0001211497000160 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikw Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 I don't suppose you were able to see a sample of the oil, were you? The killer fact when changing the ATF on Dad's car was its colour after less than 50k miles (black). It would be interesting to see what conclusions your place in Bristol drew from a sample of oil out of a less well-behaved 'box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencerbruntlett Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 I didnt see it but they said it was clear and red I think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 Red??? Red is bad. That is more likely to be the old Dextron stuff. I would get it cahnged if I were you. Not from them though. Go to a dealer and get them to change the fluid. Should be the same as the Audipages Transmission Fluid Change Procedure colour. Only about £2/300, so go do it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikw Posted February 22, 2006 Report Share Posted February 22, 2006 Probably a fuss about nothing, but given the stakes I think I would want to verify the colour of the fluid with your specialist, Spence! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amenophis Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 I had a look at ErWin some time ago (Audi factory manuals) and there was a different recommendation depending on the gearbox code (some were 'change every xxx thousand' others were 'sealed for life' (!!!)). My friendly ex-Audi mechanic with 20+ years experience says that he would still go for a change every 40-50k. At the end of the day, a fluid change is much cheaper than a new gearbox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ska Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 Welcome to TSN m8 You've proly found this topic discussed to the ends of the earth, bottom line is; and your right keep changing the fluid I just had mine done today... ... and guys the fluid we put in was clear goldish in colour what came out looked at home in a sewer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SneakyMcC Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 Welcome to TSN Amenophis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huss Posted March 3, 2006 Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 [ QUOTE ] Welcome to TSN m8 You've proly found this topic discussed to the ends of the earth, bottom line is; and your right keep changing the fluid I just had mine done today... ... and guys the fluid we put in was clear goldish in colour what came out looked at home in a sewer [/ QUOTE ] Ska Where did you have it done and how much...if you don't mind?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronmcl Posted March 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Got the car back after the filter and oil changed. What a difference! Even smoother than when I first got it. No more clunking and banging when changing up or down. As expected the oil was black, the magnets looked like hedgehogs and the filter and pan were coated with a fine black residue. Btw the part numbers for the 3.7 are different from the ones on the AudiPages which are for a 4.2. I'll post them here shortly for info. Also photos. In the meantme a big thanks to all at TSN who helped with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fudge Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Great news! Makes me wonder how many stealers have changed A8 gearboxes (at vast expense) when a simple oil and filter change would have cured the problem. This confirms my view that a change every 40k miles or so is essential on this gearbox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teacake Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Could anyone who has had the oil and filter change performed by a stealer PM me if they've got time to answer a couple of questions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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