Fociracr

SO about a month ago I decided to tackle the DSG fluid change myself. I'm very mechanically inclined (fix airplane for a living). So I did everything by the book drained the old fluid, took pan off to gain access to internal filter, replace that, installed the pan with a brand new gasket and brand new bolts and torqued the 15 bolts 10nm. I filled it up and used a vag-com to reach the desired temp. to drain off the access. Well about a week later I kept smelling DSG fluid while sitting at a stop for awhile, so I decided to crawl underneath and check for leaks, sure enough it was leaking right between the pan and the transmission, right past the new gasket, so I thought I must have not done something right, so I snugged the bolts up more to see if its going to stop, sure enough it kept seeping past the gasket still. Well I decided to get another gasket and redo the whole job. So I did everything per the manual again 10nm for the bolts blah blah, well another week later and I smelled the DSG fluid again, now mind you I used alcohol and a clean rag to clean up any spills that may have gotten around the DSG. I crawled under the car again and sure enough its still leaking so I snugged the bolts down some more and it's still seeping between the pan and the transmission. So I'm at a loss, do I take it to the dealer (my dealer in town is horrible so the closest other one is an hr away) and let them mess with it, or do I install another gasket using another new gasket AND RTV this time. I'm just not sure what to do.

gk1

Best guess...it's the wrong gasket? Maybe? Are they looking up the part by VIN?

Fociracr

All three times i bought it from different vendors. europaparts, genuine audi parts and this last time i got it at ecs. All the right part number even confirmed by audi.

gk1

That is an odd problem. I believe they do not recommend using any RTV because if it gets into the trans that would be worse than a leak...unfortunately you may be best served by having a dealer take a look.
And you are sure it is coming from the gasket and not higher up and leaking down?

Fociracr

Yes I'm quite positive, I can take a clean white rag and wipe between the two surfaces and have some fluid on it, I would find it weird if it was leaking from somewhere above since it's never leaked from above before I did my oil change and also there isn't too many spot it could leak on the upper side unless my casing was cracked. I kind of wish I would have never dropped my pan and to replace the integral filter. I know permatex ultra black is oil resistant so I'm going to try and give that a shot. I just really don't trust my dealer.

gk1

Yup, I know what you mean it sucks when you do everything right and it still doesn't work. Warped pan would be my only other guess, but I assume you checked for that.
I can understand this. However since they are paid to get it right and have everything at their disposal to do so it is sometimes the only choice. And if any issues bring it back until they get it right. I know it can be painful and expensive but may be the only option. Ultra black may end up just being a bandaid and you wouldn't want it to give up at a more inopportune time.

ninsei

Hi. Did you ever happen to come to a resolution?

Fociracr

So I ended up monitoring it for a few weeks for leaks and didnt see any from the pan, but I still kept on getting a strong smells of DSG oil when i came to a stop (about every 5th time i stopped). So I decided to do some more research on the transmission itself and come to find out there is a breather valve on top of the transmission, looks like a little nipple and sits right under the firewall on top of the trans. Well it had residual oil around so Im guessing it maybe be releasing pressure around there, making it smell like DSG oil since I didnt see any from the pan. I never ended up using any RTV on the pan itself the only thing I did was tighten the pan bolts to a higher value than the manual tells us to do. I think the recommended tq was 87in pnds and I did 110in pnds. Im guessing your having leaks?