Moonlightblue

Has anyone put together an unofficial maintenance schedule for the Q5? I mean for us Q5 owners who are a bit meticulous about preventative maintenance. I prefer not to just go by the Audi maintenance schedule, as from my experience, car manufacturer's will tell you to change oil and other fluids at much longer intervals than is wise if you plan to keep the car for a long time.
One example is that Audi (as well as BMW) will tell you the ATF and differential fluids don't ever even need changing, when changing them is actually a good idea. Same thing with coolant flush, spark plugs, air and micro-air filters, lubricating the sunroof rails - Audi will tell you to do em' like once every 40k-50k miles when they probably need to be done much sooner than that.
If someone has a good sense of what this car needs to best prolong its life, and when to do it, please post it. Thanks!

Moonlightblue

I'm considering Audi Care Select (for 55k and 65k miles) and looking at Audi's "Major" and "Standard" Maintenance Services, and I don't see anything there about changing the ATF, or the Differential Fluid, or the Transfer Case Fluid, or a coolant flush, power steering fluid, hoses or a fuel filter. I know that brake fluid changes aren't included, but when are these others supposed to be done? Pardon my naivete as I'm coming from an 03' BMW 3 series..

MurrayA4

Atf although identified as "lifetime" probably wise to swap it out around 100K miles, particularly if you do a fair bit of "city" driving.Brake fluid you're best looking at around 4-5 years.You can get it analyzed electronically at any decent independant.Coolant goes a long way,Probably around 7-8 years would be appropriate.
Filters particularly fuel follow Audi's recommendation tres important ! As for all the other fluids, leave them be.If they're not happy they'll let you know.
Cheers

Moonlightblue

Resurrecting this old post to see what others may have to say. I'm at 63k miles now and know for sure that brake fluid should be changed every two years, not every 4-5. What about the other fluids? Anyone change their ATF before 100k miles? what about the transfer case fluid, and differential fluid? And, am I missing any other fluids that could be changed for preventative purposes? I'm thinking I might want to do the ATF soon as the other day while on the freeway, I was up to about 65-70 mph, and my RPMs wouldn't fall down below 3800. I couldn't figure why. I ended up manually shifting upwards, and then slapping it back into automatic, and then the RPMs returned down to normal. But that RPM needle has always been jumpy since I purchased this vehicle (used at 29k miles).

shokhead

I grew up NEVER changing brake fluid and all my cars never failed to stop.

MP4.2+6.0

I grew up with my first 73 Audi I got after 5 or 6 years of no maintenance by prior owner beyond oil changes. By ten years the insides of the brake bores were ever so slightly rusting and tearing the seals--from having disassembled and rebuilt them in my no money days. Drums on rear then, disks now, but same Ate stuff at its core and same general master cylinder with ABS now glued on downstream. Brake fluid is hydroscopic, hence the longer term issue there. Pay me now or pay me later. If you want more dramatic evidence, Google for the Nismo that Car & Driver stuffed into the track wall at about 130. They spent pages 'splainin' why it wasn't their fault when the fluid boiled.

shokhead

Cars on a track isn't cars on the street.

MP4.2+6.0

Pay me now or pay me later. Laws of Chemistry didn't repeal rust results from old hydroscopic fluid, nor Laws of Physics repeal boiling points lowered by water. Meantime the C&D guys indeed found that literally slam, when it boils you are all done. Having experienced brake fade either on older vehicles or higher performance, you at least prefer it to fade instead of pedal basically just going to floor. Add towing to it that I do with factory Q5 set up and yet more stress even w/ braked trailer.

Lots of professional info out there that says by one year, some water in fluid already that degrades it some at margin, more so in more humid areas. LA (or NorCal) isn't New Orleans.... At 2-3 years, can be pronounced enough to drive the change intervals. Yes you can "get away with it" driving to work, the mall and soccer field, and with some mediocrity in braking performance in elevated temperatures. Spirited driving over a good run, results can vary. In out years, expect to spend more in general on internal hydraulic parts regardless.

agm18

I have used a brake fluid tester for years without problems. It will let you know when to change the fluid when it has water contamination. Cheap insurance. Changing fluid every two years is a little excessive if there is no water in there.

MP4.2+6.0

Back to the earlier more general actual questions for the reply that renewed the thread. Other than your ATF issue, honestly most of this is what drives better results in second and third hundred thousand mile periods. Not all that likely to fail in first 100K. My cars mostly stay in family from first buy to final last rites, so I take more interest in it.

You didn't mention the coolant at all. Audi has not had a spec on that for many years after they got burned by the early G11 stuff in mid 80s into 90's. Typical for "long life" coolants now almost always used in various flavors would be 5 years/100 or 150K. I've seen/had the spec from the vehicle manufacturer on family Toyotas, GMs (Dexcool) and others. I am actually more suspect of the newer Audi/VW spec coolant (G13) found from about end of 2013 run than the preceding G12++ spec. Newer spec is Eco driven as much as any materials science. But old spec gone from market now anyway, so only G13 choice is available, whether dealer or other brands.

ATF: First and regardless, I would check (or have checked) the fluid level. That is the most common reason for odd shifting like you seem to describe. Or honestly, more simply get fully under there (or mechanic up on lift) and see if you find signs of a leak. It isn't low unless it leaked basically. A problem w/ the increasingly common pump motor oil out/no drain plug approach is also there is no real and periodic look underneath with belly pan/other covers off to see early signs of leaks. For changes, thread earlier covered ATF. ZF says for "severe service" in the 100K km (62K miles) range. Influences folks like me to think 70-100K. Hybrid we own is actually the only Audi ZF conventional 6 or 8 speed with a fluid change interval--every 40K. Apparently because of no torque converter to buffer some of the drivetrain shocks. There are some design changes to tranny internals, especially in Europe around lead and other metals, that have probably led to some nuances here, but a lot deeper dive than this thread. To do it right on an Audi, you really should do it in at least a 2x or maybe 3x drain cycle (Audi says 3). You only get 50-60% of it out in any single drain. with rest stuck in torque converter and a bit in internal passages and such. Filter is only once; most want to do filter but some technical nuances and practical observations say maybe not as much as in older era. Fluid is pricy, unless you get into equivalent spec debates, and is especially discouraging if you price through a 2 or 3x drain approach. Hence again first advice is just look for leaks/check fluid level. Fluid check is a specific procedure BTW, done under car. Yet again why the easiest just look for leaks can be a starting point proxy for whether level is likely low--plus the leak to be fixed.

Rear diff: About the easiest one to service of anything in drivetrain, and it gets noisy if anything much goes wrong. I do them by 100K miles. An hour or so work.

Torsen (mid diff) and front diff: While I have done some, honestly unless you really know what you are doing, I would skip absent a leak. Front diff is often hard to even reach fill port--never open a diff drain port until you have opened the fill port... Some ZF's use common fluid with center diff but not others; manual gets into that sort of detail. Also close to statistically zero front diff fail posts on any of the board I have been on for 15+ years now (5, 6 and 8 speeds). Torsen is tricky both to simply drain it on various of them, and then most probably don't understand the friction modifier used by ZF. Probably more end up subtly screwed up where the benefits of Torsen get undone than are helped. In general, my sense of 20 years of quattros across 5 of them is that for front and mid diff, most of the (occasional) issues are just seals, most commonly rear tail and not so much I hear of at that in last 10 years.

P/S: not mentioned, and both my Audi's have electric racks now anyway. Few deal with it when it is the older hydraulic fluid, and it is often hard to even get out except if a hose fails anyway. Given the frankly Rube Goldberg shaft drive set up a lot of Audi FSI motors use now for auxiliary pumps, anything in that shaft drive related set up that fails now costs a bunch more labor (plus the part) to deal with. Electric racks have their feel criticisms, but not sorry to see what tended to be a painful Audi repair area at higher miles go away. Electric rack is pricy, but way more bolt in bolt out from what I see than the old racks hopelessly buried on top of drivetrain right at firewall. Hoses on rack side are no fun either.

A/C (also not mentioned): No special service besides the interior dust and pollen filter. But the nature of the system with low fill capacity in the Eco- era is it is more vulnerable to bigger issues with relatively small amounts of refrigerant loss. Expect it may well need a recharge by 7-10 years. Air will suddenly feel more humid, more musty and slower to cool by summer as it reaches the tipping point to needing it done. Forget the magic can store shelf stuff unless you want to risk a four digit compressor job. The equipment is standardized, so indy shops can do it. Fill is by weight, so the key to good service is for shop to first evacuate, and then refill to spec. I doubt anyone ever does it except when it craps out, and then a lot of now second, third or even fourth owners seem to cheap out with the can stuff and roll the dice.