I have a 2004 Audi A8L. I have noticed in the morning-cold start- that my transmission seems to be shifting abnormally. Once the vehicle warms up it seems to be fine. I have seen numerous comments that this transmission does not need any service for the life of the vehicle.

Is this something that I should be immediately concerned about? Should I have the transmission partially flushed-pan drop and filter change. Or is a complete flush the better fix?

One other item that I would like any information on. the car function button does not operate but all other buttons on the MMI function properly???

Please any ideas would be appreciated

Great information on this site!

 

Zeek, welcome aboard! They don't mean the life of the car, they mean the life of the transmission, which could be 125k miles or so.

Do you know how many miles are on the car and when the trans was last serviced?

The transmission mfr will share a very different story about servicing frequency

 

http://www.zf.com/media/media/docume...hselkit_EN.pdf

There's a general servicing bulletin from ZF. Not sure if it's the correct one for your vehicle, but you'll get the idea in terms of frequency...

 

You didn't describe that abnormal shifting. VCDS scan may help here. In the meantime I would suggest pan drop, filter and fresh 6 liters of Lifeguard6. That should help.

Button wise, you may try cleaning the board. Take out ashtray, unscrew single Torx screw hidden behind it and pull wooden trim with command head.

 

All,
Thank you for the information.

The car has 146,000 miles and I am not sure when the transmission was serviced last. The abnormal operation could best be described as searching for a gear in between 2 and 3. The issues only lasts for about the first 2 miles of driving and then all seems normal after that.

I have spoken to my local Audi dealer and they stated that they would not perform any service on the transmission and would only do RR on the transmission.

Was there a TSB on this specific transmission- 2004 Audi A8L? I have seen heard of one where it states that you need to replace the fluid with a different fluid in the transmission and have the computer re-flashed to have the transmission recognize the new fluid.

Again great site and appreciate any ideas!

 

Mishar,
Is the board directly behind the ashtray once removed. What would be the best product to clean the board?

Thank you

 

This board is all about not going to a dealer because they will always propose the most expensive resolve of a problem, or start replacing parts until they find what's wrong, with you paying, of course.

Transmission: Your/our car is $15K car at the best, so looking for a perfect fix has no sense price wise. There is TSB recommending replacing gold ATF with blue ATF, involving software update that can be done only at a dealer. $2000 and it is still your old transmission, just patched, no guaranties. Same result, no guaranties either, you can get for $200. Just flash ATF with same fluid (6 liters of Lifeguard6) and replace filter.

Button: The board is just under those buttons. To get to it you have to pull wooden trim with buttons and cup holder. It is much easier than it looks. Just a single screw behind the ashtray.

 

When cold the transmission is in "warm up" mode which means it holds on to gears a little longer to get the engine up to temp quicker. This is likely what you're experiencing as mine does similar and always has. I have less then 75k on mine.

 

2-3 shift issues are not the subject of the hoot fix approach per the TSB. The hoot fix is technically a thorough fluid change (3x drain basically) and a computer reflash. That is specific to higher gear shifting than 2-3, typically accompanied by a hoot or whistle type noise during the shifting phase.

Nonetheless you might get a benefit from a simple drain and refill of fluid, along lines of Misha's response. You will renew the various additives in the fluid to an extent and may clean up some kind of varnish or gum sorts of issues in the solenoids that control shifting. A guess of what you have going on is either a slightly weak solenoid that controls the 2-3 shift or a slightly distorted sealing gasket between the valve body where the solenoids are and the trans. case. Low percentage chance it is internal wear of some clutches or bushings. The first two are fairly advanced to fix, but can be done by a tranny place that specializes in ZF transmissions (found especially in Audis, BMW's and Jags, plus some others) without taking tranny out. Last two require a rebuild. As Misha implied too, all this stuff is best guess sort of work; no guaranteed fixes.

Net, if it bugs you, I would start with the simple fluid drain and replace and see if it helps. After that, if still present, check back in again and/or get to a specialized ZF shop that knows the six speed trannies.

 

Thanks to everyone for the quick responses! This site is amazing with all of the information on these type of vehicles. I am new to the Audi world and this type of information is priceless. I will try the pan drop and filter change and let everyone know the results.