ThaboTheWuff

Ok so I'm still not exactly clear how to refill it (I'm a little slow when it comes to reading and visualizing) BUT I was outside working in the garage and since we've been taking about temperature / oil etc I decided to warm up the car / gearbox for 20mins. The night she misbehaved I just jumped into the car and literally threw it in reverse - it wasn't a particularly cold though about 35F.

So of course now she's warm she show no signs of hesitation, loss of power. Just drove her a mile and got her in 4th gear, no thump. Also pull her into our street at low speed and she did the usual shift from 1 to 2 at 300 RMP!

So the hypothesis about low oil may be true?
Now I know she's not entirely buggered perhaps I'll do the entire refill thing with new filter - god that Subaru is SOOOO bloody noisy but I did just change tie rods, ball joints and she is as smooth as butter at high speeds (as smooth as Nokian H2 can be at 80!)

That oil is expensive and I hear to use only the OEM from Audi right? $12 / Liter - these guys have Febi for $9/l http://tinyurl.com/yco4boee I see a black OEM Audi brand for $25/L on Amazon yikes?

ThaboTheWuff

In her former glory near Crested Butte,CO.

jfrahm

I use Valvoline Maxlife ATF.

ThaboTheWuff

That a joke right !? Ok on closer inspection I do see an Audi certification on the bottle for sale at Walmart Guess if it works then why not.

ocles_inc

I understand the temptation of a quick fix. Yes, you can just buy a couple of quarts of the magic fluid and rig up the whole audipages pump, tube thingy, get the box up to temp and attempt to add some more fluid, if the fluid being low is the issue. It'll be satisfying to be able to rule out low fluid as a cause, anyway.

You already have several nice people guiding you as to how to do this, so I'll not join in as such (though you're welcome to ask me questions if you like). One piece of intel that I do offer here is that a ZF 5HP-24A transmission low on fluid is a noisy thing. I recall being under an A8 in the last month or two, doing the fill-up procedure and commenting to my tech "dang, this thing is noisy" to which she calmly replied: "That's normal, Keep pumping in fluid. It gets better right as you reach the right fluid level." And sure enough, it did. It's hard for me to describe the noise; it's sort of like a howling sound.

As to getting it to the right level of heat, from a cold overnight I start it and then let it idle for maybe 10 to 15 minutes. That typically gets the fluid temperature to between 30 and 50 Celsius.

Anyway, I own several D2s so if you wanna trade yours in, let's talk. If you buy one from me then I warranty the transmission for 3 years against the classic "A" drum failure. Whatever you do PLEASE don't take it to a junkyard. Finding an A8 in a junkyard is like ... finding Audrey Hepburn turning tricks in a dingy alley. Something just seems wrong about it.

~Tanya

ocles_inc

Lovely vehicle :-)

ThaboTheWuff

Hi Tanya,
happy to report that fluid and filter arrived an hour ago, and I'll be doing the change! Thanks for the advice as I have no check engine lights or limp mode on, just the one time it was cold and stuttered in both forward and revers. I immediately stopped driving it and it's been sitting there for the past couple of weeks. Funny as I've read your post and was telling my significant other that she/ the D2 that is, is not going to a junkyard but to a rainbow bridge of sorts in Nevada!

While I've been waiting for the fluid to come for the past couple of weeks (and been driving the bloody Subaru Outback that actually drives smoother than the D2 now thanks to new ball joints and tire rods) I actually almost bought a 2000 D2 in Littleton, CO. It was immaculate but I almost got caught out with the oil cooler pipe coolant leak thing, classic signs AND I managed to take a photo of the work done by previous owner and call them. They were very surprised and said yes it leaked coolant and the mechanics wanted 2k to fix it. Sad really as the guy selling it was an ex cop, nice enough guy and price was right but why he seem to be fibbing about the coolant leak (coolant was low and he said he topped it up) I don't know but classic signs, owner before the folks I called up had it for a few months, he'd had it for a few months too. Don't lie (he said he got if for his kids who need a vehicle to transport items for their bar back and forwards from Costco !!!) Just tell me it got a bloody leak and I would of almost bought it if he'd been honest!!

So I'm a little hesitant to buy anything else but I'd need a D2 with:

• obviously a sorted transmission -
• stability control -2000+
• newer shocks as
• newer timing belt and oil cooler pipe issue fixed
• new front suspensions parts - my current D2 has had various controls arms replaced and it makes a huge difference in handling and
• body needs to be I good nick, my D2 for all its oil leaks, tranny issues etc looks great
• parktronic would be nice

All the D2s. I've seen here in Colorado have been sold by non enthusiasts who have zero idea about these cars and have been stung by taking them to the dealer for services it seems.

But then perhaps I should give up on my dream and get a used Leaf for $6k !

ocles_inc

Hello again,

> happy to report that fluid and filter arrived an hour ago, and I'll be doing the change!

Yay! I'm cheering you on.

> Thanks for the advice as I have no check engine lights or limp mode on, just the one time it was cold and stuttered in both forward and revers. I immediately stopped driving it and it's been sitting there for the past couple of weeks. Funny as I've read your post and was telling my significant other that she/ the D2 that is, is not going to a junkyard but to a rainbow bridge of sorts in Nevada!

:-)

> While I've been waiting for the fluid to come for the past couple of weeks (and been driving the bloody Subaru Outback that actually drives smoother than the D2 now thanks to new ball joints and tire rods) I actually almost bought a 2000 D2 in Littleton, CO. It was immaculate but I almost got caught out with the oil cooler pipe coolant leak thing, classic signs AND I managed to take a photo of the work done by previous owner and call them. They were very surprised and said yes it leaked coolant and the mechanics wanted 2k to fix it. Sad really as the guy selling it was an ex cop, nice enough guy and price was right but why he seem to be fibbing about the coolant leak (coolant was low and he said he topped it up) I don't know but classic signs, owner before the folks I called up had it for a few months, he'd had it for a few months too. Don't lie (he said he got if for his kids who need a vehicle to transport items for their bar back and forwards from Costco !!!) Just tell me it got a bloody leak and I would of almost bought it if he'd been honest!!

I've seen similar. A late friend of mine was a great guy and highly ethical until it came time to sell his truck. Then it all went out the window. I'm not sure why. I wasn't born or raised in the US to some things about US culture strike me as arbitrary, like things in which it 'somehow seems to be generally accepted that it's OK to behave in an unethical way like, trashing rental cars, being mean to sex workers, lying when selling a car, bullying people when they're new in a school or organization, being mean to LGBT people and so on. So .. I sympathize. I don't understand it either.

> So I'm a little hesitant to buy anything else but I'd need a D2 with:

• obviously a sorted transmission -
• stability control -2000+
• newer shocks as
• newer timing belt and oil cooler pipe issue fixed
• new front suspensions parts - my current D2 has had various controls arms replaced and it makes a huge difference in handling and
• body needs to be I good nick, my D2 for all its oil leaks, tranny issues etc looks great
• parktronic would be nice

That's nicer than any D2 A8 I own or have ever owned :-) My newest two are 1999 models.

> All the D2s. I've seen here in Colorado have been sold by non enthusiasts who have zero idea about these cars and have been stung by taking them to the dealer for services it seems.

I really can see why owning a D2 A8 put a person between a rock and a hard place. The dealer is (not always, but sometimes) prohibitively expensive assuming he's even close by. Independent mechanics are not just clueless but they often translate their cluelessness into condescension where they lecture at length about how these German car makers are all idiots and Audi engineers especially, and everything is unnecessarily complicated. One guy so got on my nerves I almost paid him for the whole job just so he'd stop insulting me car and I could leave.

> But then perhaps I should give up on my dream and get a used Leaf for $6k !

"When you lose your dream, you die" -- my favorite quote from Flashdance. People who grow up outside the US devour US cultural stuff, like movies. I did.

~Tanya

ThaboTheWuff

ThaboTheWuff

One more question.... I notice that the grommet or whatever exists to stop the tranny fluid leaking out of hole where all the wires exit the transmission seems to be leaking fluid. Is this common, perhaps the source of my low fluid.

I've also notice that after leaving the fluid to drain overnight there is no way 8-9l came out. I guess I will see how much it needs when I put it back. The fluid that came out is a dirty red color, NON OEM I assume.

Hoping to have her back on the road in next couple of days, quite a job!