pcmarks

Hey everyone-

I've been vacillating for quite a while between wanting to change the tranny fluid in my A6 versus just leaving it alone. It's a 2005 with the 3.2 engine and has ~206k miles. If it had fewer miles, I probably wouldn't be concerned. But due to the high mileage and the fact that the tranny works great as-is and shifts smoothly from all gears, I'm hesitant to fix something that isn't broken. I've also heard conflicting info on whether you should worry about swapping the fluid and filter in higher mileage cars (reputable mechanics who say it's a bad idea, lots of horror stories, etc.), so I'm hoping someone can set the record straight. If you were me and hoping to get at least another 30k-50k miles out of the car, would you take the risk of changing the fluid/filter or just not worry about messing with an already good thing? Thanks!

KevinGary

At that mileage anything you do may have consequences. I would leave well enough alone. I would also pray that the timing chain tensioners and guides hold on.

Sverige

Personally I would leave it alone if it’s working fine. How much of the car’s history do you know? Is it possible the tranny fluid has already been changed in the past?

pcmarks

I know a decent amount about the car's history-enough to know that is was pretty well maintained by the previous owner. I may be able to get in touch with him and ask about the tranny. But either way, it sounds like I'm hearing from everyone that I shouldn't touch it regardless...

dzywicki

I'm in the opposite camp. If changing your transmission fluid causes catastrophic failure to your trans, then you had issues to start with. I can understand some of the arguments I have heard (e.g. friction material from the plates gets mixed in with the fluid and if you remove it, you will have problems etc.). I would change it and then you know. Or, you could drain a little bit (that is hard to do on these transmissions) and check the condition. Only way I could think to do that is get the car up on jack stands and loosen the drain plug just enough to let a little fluid out. Not ideal, but an idea.