+1 by me
 

On a $4K tranny to rebuild and install and about infinite hassle and heartache compared to a fluid choice, I just stick w/ the mfr. recommendation when it is straightforward to obtain.

You are correct that it is an insignificant savings vs. the cost of a new transmission. However, if you have a fluid that works and that I've had 2 cars go 50,000+ miles on after going 100K on the OEM stuff and it still looks new - it's good savings.

Like I said, I put it in all 3 of my current Audis around 100,000 miles (they were bought at this period, etc). I just mixed it with the OEM stuff on 2 of these cars. I have gone over 50K on two of the 3 cars, one of which I did flush out all of the old and one which I mixed old and new. On both cars, when I dropped the pan the second time after running Amsoil for 50K, I didn't even need to clean the magnets. There was really NO metal at all on them, in the pan, or anything. I'm not talking shavings....no black crud, nothing.

All I am saying is, OEM stuff isn't magic. Whether or not Amsoil is better, I know it can be cheaper and it works extremely well from my experience. I am not arguing against using OEM by any means....we all know that will work.

I am just saying Amsoil will work too.

so, if i read carefully, you have a sample of 3/3 success after more than 50k miles of mixing amsoil and esso fluid?

If so i find that compelling, if not statistically perfect....

G

never argue with clinical results!

not what jseklund claims, although i would have said, in general, the exact same thing.

he dodged 3 bullets, or so he says

Good at dodging or very slow bullets

I however, just did my second service, with 4-rings fluid, at 77k. An ounce of prevention as they say.

G

Except that on the new Audis where the manufacturer's recommendation is that transmission fluid does not require changing (lifetime fill). I guess they mean that their fluid will last for the life of the transmission. Heck, I can make that claim even if I filled the transmission with castor oil.

I'm not sure that it's ZF that claims lifetime fill - it's Audi that makes that claim I believe...not sure though. But your point is still somewhat valid.

The problem is that we make it hard on ourselves by worrying so much about what Audi says.

For instance, let's assume you are trying to change your oil and the Audi dealership is closed (like what happened to me last weekend) - try doing a search for what oil filter you should use. It will be hard to find something that is a good alternative, as viewed from the members of the internet forums. The standard response is, "Just get the OEM from the dealer. It's only $6."

I understand that you need to be aware of bypass pressure valves, filtering capacity, oil capacity, etc. - but everyone is so afraid of not using OEM that there is no good info on alternatives, should you need one....

It's just a car, with an engine that works very much like any other engine. Yeah there are tricks to know...but it's not like Audi's engineers are dealing with spaceship technology here....

LOL...I went to Amsoil for a couple of filters for my 4.2 cars....bam! Mann!

Simply put, ZF is not going to recommend anything other than factory spec oil. Factory spec oil is what it's tested with and works. They don't try other brand oils and cannot back what any other companies oil may or may not do in their transmissions. So if you use something different and get bad results, you know it wasn't the correct oil. Also, once another oil is used, they won't guarantee it won't have issues later on, as the ZF oil for 4 speeds, 5 speeds, 6 speeds and 8 speeds all have different additive packages. Some have several changes for known issues and will supersede previous oils once used.

I'm quite sure its NOT ZF who makes that claim. They specify routine service. Audi seems to know better than the engineers who designed it........NOT

Its all on their website (or was)

Last I looked...
 

in recent months ZF was now specifying service for hard use. They have modified their website from a few years ago, when indeed it did recommend periodic service in general as you suggested they did.