Werecar

I was at my mechanic the other day having one of my shocks swapped out, and I told my mechanic how I wanted to have the trans fluid changed to try and smooth things out a little bit. I've been getting jerky shifts when the engine is cold, stuff like that.

My car has 188,000km (110,000 miles), and my mechanic said that a fluid change could go either way: it could get things moving a bit better, or it could disrupt the balance between piston wear and built up dirt in the transmission and cause too much fluid flow and make things worse.

He said if the car had fewer kms (around 120,000km) it wouldn't be an issue, but at this age it's kind of a toss up of how things will go.

Has anyone else heard this reasoning? The way he explained it it made sense, and I tend to trust him, but if anyone here knows better I'd like to know. I haven't read anything before about this idea.

If what he says is true I'm more inclined to just leave it alone.

5v/cyl

I've heard that before all to often and it doesn't make any sense. Dirt is not holding the tranny together.

I think that idea comes from people who don't change the fluid until the tranny starts to act up. Then they change the fluid hoping it will fix it, but the tranny dies a short time later. The fluid change had nothing to do with it and the tranny was just already dying before the change so it would have died regardless.

Change the fluid/filter since your already overdue. Make sure he knows to use the correct German fluid and a VAG-Com to set the fluid level.

finiki

Makes sense to me, as parts wear margins grow, spaces between components get larger, rubber and plastic shrink, metal wears.... and the debris accumulates. Change your fluid and you change your newly formed and adapted tolerances. I agree with the Indy. You definitely need to have the level checked. Your symptoms sound like you may be low on fluid

amiram

shocks are sometimes caused by air bubbles in the gear's oil system. Check oil level correctly

Werecar

I'll get the fluid checked next chance I get. And if it doesn't come back as low then I'll think a little more about swapping the fluid entirely.

Thanks for the help.

joenok

I´ve seen this discussion on other forums as well, and most mechanics i´ve spoken to have told me to do the service.
If the tranny is allready trashed, it won´t help. -But if filter is clogged, and that causes issues, changing oil definently will do the fix.

Doing this service in a few days myself, got 146000km on the clock.
ZF says the Hp24- series Tiptronics needs serviceing every 60k km.
I don´t really have that much rough shifting, but hope to get better concience

Werecar

What's involved in checking the fluid level? Is it something I could do myself? I found one guy online who said to just remove the fill plug and stick your finger in. If you feel fluid, it's fine. If not, it's not.

That seems a bit too simple to me and I know temperature plays a big part in fluid level. If I can just put a scan tool on and check my temp before checking level that would be good, and would provide me an excuse for getting some diagnostic software.

Mr. Timewise

The engine must be running to determine transmission fluid level. And the fluid must be at a temperature above ambient.

DO NOT REMOVE THE FILL PLUG unless the engine is running. When the transmission fluid is at 40 C fluid will begin to spill out as the fluid expands from the heat. Replace the plug immediately.

Read this:

http://www.audiction.com/audi-mainte...-fluid-change/

joenok

Changing tip fluid on my 03 2,7 in a few days. -One thing i´m wondering:
I have a ramp setup that sets the car in level up in the air, on it´s wheels.
Is it important that the wheels are airborne, or can i do this as i´ve planned?

5v/cyl

Doesn't matter. Wheels on ground or in the air as long as it is level. I run mine up on four ramps and put suspension in level 4 for plenty of room underneath when changing.