mustangbuffs

Hello all,

I have a 2000 A6 Quattro 4.2L My tranny recently started dropping reverse and then today it worked fine. So Im thinking that the next step is to replace filter and fluid. Ive been reading alot of stuff about only using Audi fluid. But I thought how could it be possible that with all of the great oil companies out their no one can make a oil thats compatible with the zf tranny in my car. So I decided to contact royal purple. I spoke with Chris Barker at Royal Purble and he told me that Royal Purple Max ATF is 100% compatible with Esso LT71141. Any one out their use Royal Purple in their tranny, Or any other tranny fluid from a different manufacturer?

Bye the way Im only the second owner of the car and the previous owner took this car to the dealer for everything. I was lucky enough to have the dealer mail me the entire service history on this car. Everything was done according to Audi service recomendations(including the tb service!) The only thing that was never done was a tranny fluid and filter(probably because Audi claims its lifetime, of coarse we all know thats bull**** and most likely the reason Im having trouble with it now.)

5v/cyl

Why not just get this kit with German fluid: http://www.blauparts.com/proddetail....004-C&cat=2253

You will also get all the new seals needed and a transfer pump. You will also need a VAG com to get the fluid level right.

mustangbuffs

Thats actually a really good price. It would only be about $15usd more than getting it seperate. It would be more conveniant to order from one company. Thanks for the info. I would probably have to get a few more quarts of oil as pretty much everyone states you need about 9 quarts for a proper service.

Ken F

I just did mine yesterday. Upon recomendation of a good friend who owns a transmission shop, I bought a case of fluid from Audi. His recomendation was not to mix fluids, especially because of the cost of rebuilding these transmissions. He said that even with the "good friend" discount, it would probably be 3-4 thousand.

What he suggested doing was to drain the pan, and put in the 4 litres to top it off then run it for 200 miles. Then we will do it again, and that would clean the inside, and at that point we would drain it again, do the filter, and refil with fresh again, estimating that this would get probably 80-85% of the fluid replaced.

If you were going to have the complete flush done by pumping all new fluid through it, maybe you would be okay, but why try and save $60-80 and ruin a $4-6000 transmission?

YMMV

Ken

4Driver4

Ken -
I think your procedure is probably overkill. IMHO, the filter is usually the issue: the fluid is dirty but ok, but the filter is packed with crap. Changing the filter is far more important than changing the fluid.

Ken F

Agreed 4Driver4 about the filter, and I appreciate your opinion. However the fluid in mine smelled pretty bad, as such, I wanted to change as much of it as possible.

However, the major point of my post was to point out not to mix fluids.
My friend is one of the most mechanicly intelegent people I know, and has been to school on all kinds of transmissions. He regularly rebuilds Allison automatics (half the size of my Audi), and never has to crack a book! I tend to listen to his opinion....so was just passing along some of his wisdom shared with me.

Would you agree about mixing fluids??

Ken

4Driver4

Absolutely. I always chuckle when people ask about using other fluids. Wanna know if the fluid is compatible? Use the exact same thing that came in there from the factory. It's compatible for sure.

mustangbuffs

Their are so many companies out their that specialize in performance oils like Redline and Royal Purple. What Im trying to do is find a better alternative to factory oem. Its been well documented that simply changing your engine oil to oils from Redline and Royal Purple can give you better fuel economy and better power so I figured it also would help my transmission. I just find it difficult ot believe that Audi is the only one who knows how to make a oil for their transmission which incidentally isnt even made by them. If you go to Mobil website you see all kinds of links at the bottom to their sister companies. Esso is one of them. I was reading a different thread that said MObil was contacted and that Mobil Multi Vehicle transmission Fluid is the Same as whats bottled under Esso. I have contacted Mobil 1 and ZF about the issue. I will keep you posted on their answers. Another reason that im trying to find a different fluid is that I cannot find Esso anywhere. Im trying to avoid having to order something in advance when I could just simply go and find it somewhere in town.

Thanks

4Driver4

The logic is sound, but my hesitation is based on two things:
One, it is impossible to get all of the old oil out, so the new oil needs to be ok not only in place of the old oil but when mixed with it.
Two, transmission oils vary a lot more than engine oils do, and the stakes are high if you screw it up.

mustangbuffs

Good point. The stakes are high. Im going to wait and see what ZF says about it. I figure they would know more than Audi what to put in it. Audi after all says its lifetime and we all know thats bull****. So Ill take ZF's recomendation over Audi anyday. Ill update when I get a answer.

Thanks