S8 Gearbox service, where to go in the Midlands

[Will22]

Anyone got a good place to go to get my gearbox serviced in my S8

I don't mind having to travel a bit to get it done so long as it's done right.

Prices and numbers would be great.

I asked my local Audi dealers but they said that they wouldn't change the filter because it didn't need to be, when I said it does they asked if I was an Audi tech, I said no and there reply was "we are"

They wanted £450 for the job

[nikw]

These will be the same people who insist that a new gearbox is the only solution when your existing one starts to play up! If that was me I'd be pretty confident that I have more experience of the inside of A8 gearboxes than them, techies or not.

I don't know of any gearbox experts, but an alternative would be to print out PaulW's excellent guide and give it to whoever your trusted mechanic is. Anyone with a little technical competence and the time to do it right (i.e. leave it to drain overnight) will find it an easy process to follow.

[Teacake]

[ QUOTE ]

I asked my local Audi dealers but they said that they wouldn't change the filter because it didn't need to be, when I said it does they asked if I was an Audi tech, I said no and there reply was "we are"

[/ QUOTE ]

Utter planks. I can't even begin to express how pathetic that makes them sound.

I'd second the idea of handing PaulW's guide to some-one you can trust, but make sure every part listed is changed.

[Will22]

I thought that the box in the facelift S8 has to be filled with the oil at a certain temp.

I like someone that has done the job before to do it ie. good Audi dealer or specailist

[ronmcl]

Farrgan iceholes!

As others have discussed recently, name and shame! Who are they?

[Botang]

DG Motor Services in Wellingborough (01933) 227277 did mine and I know they have done other A8's too.

If you give them a call ask for Toby

[nikw]

The oil has to be at 40-45C in order to get the level right. The first time I did it I just estimated the temp by how hot the sump felt (hot, but not very hot), the next two times I monitored it using VAG-COM.

Botang's specialist Toby has VAG-COM, so no worries there, and from what I've seen and heard I would have no qualms giving him the work.

[showtime]

you can just fuill the gearboxes with the oil at ambient/room temperature but you need to check the level with the engine running & the oil at a set temperature.

Renault use a very similar system for their auto boxes!

BUT in conjunction with a local transmission specialist it has generally turned out Better in the long term to just fill the box, drop the level plug out straight away (engine running of course) let it drain to level & refit plug, then add a litre of oil! this extra litre of oil seems to really help the boxes last longer & cope better, hardly any probs ince this method adopted

not sure if Audi boxes would react the same tho, but after seeing it working first hand on many boxes i'd be tempted to give it a go

[nikw]

Not so easy with the '8 though - the fill and drain plugs are on the bottom of the gearbox sump pan, the fill one being higher up than the drain one.

The only way to do what you suggest would be to pump extra oil in then very quickly withdraw the feed pipe and bung the plug back in before the oil pours out again.

As it happens, when I last changed the oil on my 'box I did put the plug back in before all the extra oil had come out, reasoning that a little extra wouldn't do any harm. I'd guess I have around an extra 0.25-0.5 litre in there.