LexusLSguy

Hey guys,

I noticed that Audi seems to call the transmission fluid a "lifetime" just like Lexus North America to the detriment of its customers. Only in North America did they call it lifetime. Every other country had service intervals. Basically, those who serviced their transmission were not having the same amount of issues vs those who did not. I am all about preventive maintenance and have had great success with my vehicles serving the fluids regularly. I called an indecent German shop who recommended doing it at 90k miles. I was honestly expecting them to say about every 60k miles. I also spoke to one dealer who said some customers choose to have it serviced. Do you guys have any personal experience with this service?

LexusLSguy

Lol, I mean independent not indecent shop. Not sure why I can't edit my post.

Baloo588

I tried to get all my independent shops to service my transmission but they decline and says its lifetime. I am at 125k miles without issues so I am not going to mess with it.

LexusLSguy

That's interesting Baloo that they refuse. I only called one Audi dealer and one independent shop and both would service it. Of course the Audi dealer was talking about $800 for the service. Ridiculous. The independent shop was about half.

MP4.2+6.0

Yes, did it on my D3 A8 W12. Did it on my 2000 C5 A6 4.2. ZF--the tranny maker, actually did yused to have a service interval for even what they call "normal" service. But in middle of the life of my C5--and with no change to tranny or fluid, they revised position to say only needed for severe service.

From Audi's perspective it is just lifetime. Here's what that means, direct from the mouth of Fritz (the lying service meister too busy doktoring TDI's): When vee say lifetime, vee stand entirely behind zat. Just like vee do about our clean... That is, zee fluid will last exactly the lifetime of the transmission, and not one kilometer more or less. Vee guaranty it, just like so many other things vee realized to label lifetime. Presto, zehr gut marketing genius. Helps us on our make believe carbon accounting by the way too--no lie. Just trust us. Any questions, just send a note to my assistant, the Sarge, Sergeant Schultz. He vill take care of you, real good.

Less tongue in cheek, here is what ZF says these days:
They used to quote a range of 60-100K kilometers and be more specific with a reference to severe conditions--which they botched the translation of and used to label "offensive driving." I actually also own the one Audi with a ZF 8 speed that still does have a survice interval--every 35K miles on a Q5 Hybrid. There is no torque converter and fluid gets even more of a workout apparently. Having had it done (covered by AudiCare), dealer seems to basically just pull plug and do a quick single cycle drain--meaning maybe half come out on any one drain.

Finally, having drained the D3 W12 a few times, it actually doesn't drain nearly as dirty looking as older trannies used to. From talking to some ZF types, they note that with the elimination of lead as a permitted material, various internals of trannies that used to rely on it as an inherent lubricant in bearing/load parts no longer can. That lead and softer bearing material was probably part of what you would see in older fluid drains. That basically then means steel on steel in any newer design where RoHS compliance comes in. The lubricant quality becomes that much more crucial, especially if it is in a controlled bleed (rate) component as you can find in a modern tranny.

LexusLSguy

Most likely Audi is using a synthetic fluid like Lexus in their Aisin "sealed" transmissions as many call them. Not really sealed but lacking a dipstick. You know, with transmission fluid the breakdown of all the additives is really what concerns me. Not so much viscosity. In my Lexus experience with this process most would just do a drain and refill vs a flush. There seems to be a pretty common view that gradually introduction of new fluid is "safer" vs flushing. Lexus used to only charge me $100 for a drain and refill. Ah, those were the good ole days of cheaper maintenance.

Jack88

I don't go past 100k miles on anything without a transmission service, much sooner in higher performing applications. By the time you notice an issue, it's too late. On the A8, I figured every 75k miles, but if ZF recommends it sooner, that may be on the outer limit of what you should do. A 125k miles is just plain late, by a long shot, Baloo. I'd schedule that right now, if I were you.

LexusLSguy

I just found this link. I think I am going to have it done on my newly purchased CPO A8 L even though I am only 54K.

Audi Automatic Transmission Fluid - How To Change Audi Transmission Fluid

MP4.2+6.0

Yes, it's drain and refill on ZF's for several generations now. You get 45 or 50% first drain, maybe 10% more if you drop pan and change filter. A second sequential drain (after brief running) gets close to 80% if first included a filter change, and a third drain 90%. Sweet spot is probably the two drains; when I noticed the fluid goes close to the original color (now light green).

It isn't just the add pack any more either. With steel on steel running surfaces, absolute cleanliness of fluid is important too. Fortunately from seeing it directly including pan pulls, the post RoHS (no lead) ones remain pretty clean. My D4 target remains about 75K for future attention here. Rear diff too, which is usually easy. Maybe even more critical on mine with a sports diff set up that I can imagine is big bucks if anything goes wrong. Front and center diffs, often much less serviceable, though haven't looked into D4 8 speed set up there. Did it on D3 W12--via an unusual procedure that happened to work for that version--but it was not even serviceable on the 4.2s

LexusLSguy

Not sure if this applies to the Audi but Lexus owners were finding that if you pulled your car up on front ramps vs being level you are able to get 2 - 3 more quarts out on a drain. I assume many just measure the amount drained and refill the same amount.