ezveedub

Haha, from my ZF contact (not a tranny shop either), Audi recommends exactly what ZF does or gives to them. If something changes, and it not specifically given to other companies that ZF venders to, there can be mix-matched info. AFAIK, there is no service interval for ZF transmissions with lifetime ATF fluid in North America. This would apply to ZF 5 speed and up automatic transmissions. The ZF 4HP18s and older used Dextron, which was 15K service intervals.

Now with that said, the "Lifetime Fluid" has no specifics as to what "Lifetime" actually is, life of the warranty period, life of the car, 100K miles, etc. From what I was told, anywhere in the 75K miles and up, you may want to replace the fluid. Mind you, I have seen ZFs go well beyond this and into the 150K mileage area with original fluid and have no issues, but if it gives you peace of mind to flush your ATF, there is no problem with that at all. Just don't be obsessed that it has to be done by a certain mileage interval, as there really is none.

4Driver4

I agree with this. Engine oil is lifetime too. If never changed, it will last the lifetime of the engine.

What is the difference between regular fluid and lifetime fluid?

Everytime someone tells me I am wasting time and money changing my fluid, I feel terrible for wasting the money...and I've changed the fluid twice! ;-)

ezveedub

On Audis, regular fluid for a ZF is Dextron red ATF, which went out about 1997 to 1999, when the 5HP series came in, they used the ESSO LT 7114 spec ATF. That's being sold now as ZF LifeGuard5 ATF.

With the lifetime ATF, you no longer need to replace ATF at 15K miles any more. But when you get to maybe about 75K miles, it wouldn't hurt to replace the ATF, pan gasket and filter. I usually examine the magnets in the pan and what the fluid looks like. It will generally tell you what condition your transmission is in. If the ATF is really black, you know you have some wear on the clutch/brake linings. If you see any metal fragments, you know something is not right inside and it may be time for a teardown and rebuild. In general, the Lifetime ATF will last until something fails in the transmission, which means the ATF is going to get drained anyway if the transmission is going to be repaired. I would say, if you have gone 100K miles and never had any issues on the original ATF fluid, then change it. IMO, it will only help a mechanically sound transmission go another 100K miles at that point, or until something fails, but it won't be ATF failure related.

MP4.2+6.0

What they actually currently say--see p. 3

http://www.zf.com/na/content/media/u..._11_en0700.pdf

ezveedub

It's basically the same thing I've been saying.

Just Me

The service document i downloaded in, oh, 2007-8 actually had tighter service recommendations than 80k. It also called out the ZF fluid under its original esso name and number. No time to look now.

ezveedub

The Esso LT 71141 ATF will actually change names to Mobil LT 71141 shortly, depending on who you get your ATF from. Obviously, ZF packages the oil in their own container, so either name is not really used.

MP4.2+6.0

I probably have print outs somewhere from some years back off ZF's site, but still remember clearly their prior recommendation on the 5HP units did call for a periodic change regardless of service use. Now they have shifted stance to a severe conditions/use standard for periodic changes.

jseklund

I've been doing a major overhaul on my girlfriend's 2009 A6 Quattro 3.0T and now that I'm putting it all back together, slowly, I decided to drain and refill the tranny fluid since I had to open a few lines to get the front off. I was pretty certain I replaced this car's tranny fluid with Amsoil ATF (just drain and fill with new filter, not a flush) when it was purchased with 105,000 miles on it. I couldn't remember if I did that or if it was compatible - so I decided to do some research and this thread came up. The fluid in the car is definitely red, so I knew it wasn't Audi. I decided it may be helpful to someone looking for the same info if I updated my thoughts almost 9 years later.

The cars I mention above all lived happy lives. My personal A6 I got rid of with 365,000 miles on it and it still ran. I never had a transmission issue, it was smooth as could be even at 365,000 miles and I changed every 75-100K with Amsoil.

My mom got rid of her A6 after buying a new car. She probably had about 200,000 on that car, no tranny issues or even a hint of tranny issues being approx. 1/3 of the way into the second Amsoil fluid change.

My gf's A4 was a 2001 that died in 2019 - but never had a tranny issue. The car started having various issues with things just breaking and my dad had a stroke during one of the periods the while the car became inoperable and it sat for a while, and then my dad gifted her his old 2009 A6 so we decided to just dump the A4. No tranny issues, made it to 180,000 miles with about 80,000 miles on the Amsoil ATF.

Now, my dad's A6 he bought with 105,000 and I drained/refilled the ATF with Amsoil at that point. It has about 178,000 miles on it, and as I said I've opened it. The fluid came out bright red, looking brand new. No metal or black at all. Never had a tranny issue. I have to drop the pan still to get a full look, but judging from what's come out now, it looks really good with about 73,000 miles on it.

I just purchased more Amsoil ATF and will be draining and refilling with that at some point in the next few weeks. I will update to let you guys know how the pan looks when I drop it.