iceberg83

i just purchased a 07 A4 S-line with 150k. the previous owner had the timing belt and water pump changed just before i bought it, along with pads and rotors all around. however, he did not know when the last time the trans fluid had been changed.

the trans seems to operate fine. i understand that Audi recommends the fluid to be changed more frequently on these transmissions, so i was calling around some reputable indy shops in my area who specialize in german cars for a tranny flush quote. there are 2 reputable shops i spoke to who have been in business a long time and get great reviews. here is what i was told:


shop 1: yes the fluid should be changed every 40k in CVT trans, it requires more frequent changes and usually the CVT trans will operate much smoother with good, fresh fluid. we would do a full flush, not just a drain and refill. we would cycle fluid through the trans to replace 100% of the fluid throughout. priced at about $600 since the fluid is so expensive and we use extra fluid during the flush process. (contact - shop owner, older man)


shop 2: if there is no problem with the trans, we do not recommend changing the fluid. sometimes changing the fluid creates problems. (contact - some broad at the front desk, wouldn't let me speak to anyone else, she claimed everyone was busy, but they would tell me the same thing)


so my question is....who is right, and what should i do?? i really think the broad at shop 2 had no real knowledge of CVT transmissions. ESPECIALLY since i told her the year and model of my car (which could have 1 of 3 different transmissions) and she did not ask me to specify what trans it had. seems strange to me!!

your thoughts??

Kris Hansen

Honestly, call a dealer, see what they say. The CVT is.. problematic from what I understand.. As much as I am a DIY guy and love indies, I like to hear what the dealer recommends..

Darkwing_siin

@iceberg83 whatever you do I would not try to get into that headache of the transmission 1st you need a special tool for the Trans,it ion drain and somehow you fill the Transmission from the bottom which was a pain and then behold the I got a P0722 cell when it was all said and done smh well that's just my $ 0.02.

iceberg83

yeah the drain/fill plug is on the side of the trans, you need to fill with some sort of a syphen/pump tool which i have used before.

for right now i am leaving it alone, as i honestly am not experiencing any of the issues i have heard about from other owners. i also know that the big recall they had were for transmissions up to year 2006 or 2005. after that, they started using the better clutch friction plates and updated software in the trans which seem to be less problematic. i spoke to a friend who works at an audi dealer...he hooked me up with the head mechanic. his suggestion would be to not "flush" the tranny, just drain and refill. also recommended changing the filter at the same time. i guess sometimes if the filters get old and accumulates alot of debris, the filter will fail allowing that debris to re-enter the trans and cause problems. so really the filter needs to be maintained.

he said what he usually does on these tranny's is lift the car, remove the filter housing allowing fluid to drain from there (not the drain plug), then after about 4 quarts drain out he just installs the new filter. once everything is tightened up he then removes the drain/fill plug and adds the 4 quarts back in.

Dolamite

The procedure isn't hard at all and you don't need extremely special tools. The only thing you'll need that may be a unique item is at obdII or vagcom to monitor transmission fluid temp. The procedure is all over the internet and on this forum's search. Just pay attention to what you are doing.

Junius

When I had my B7, I changed my transmission fluid at 140,000 miles, which costed me about 250 with my independent mechanic. The first few days, the transmission felt like it was "readapting", and after about 3-5 days, the transmission felt very much smooth. So. I would go for it and change it.

OKStriple

I think of the CVT at being somewhat 'fragile' so thats one thing that I go strictly by the book and allow the dealer to change it. I had it done at the 45,000 mile service and plan to again at the 75,000 service (those are the scheduled dates in my manual). I actually had mine done at a VW dealer since the Audi Dealer is 45 minutes away and the VW dealer discovered that the Audi CVT uses a different fluid than the VW CVT.