Hey guys, bought an 1996 a6 back in October with 122000 miles on it. Ive since been changing the oil and oil filter every 3000 miles, ive been using 90 octane(for some reason that's the highest it gets here in anchorage) Chevron with techron, ive changed the air filter once so far, im planning on changing the spark plugs soon, i also when i first got the car ended up getting the thermostat, water pump, cam belts and serpentine belt replaced.

my first question is is it worth getting the tranny fluid changed, i dont know when it was last changed by the previous owner, but the tranny seems to be in top notch condition as far as sifts go as well as the lack of any strange sounds.

second is there any other major maintenance items im missing such as some sort of engine valve adjusting?

Lastly, there isnt any way to adjust the dash brightness is there? i let my dad borrow the car for a day and when i got it back the dash board seemed a lot dimmer than before(the head light washers also stopped working), its to the point where you cant really see anything until it is completely dark out side.

thanks for any advise

 

The dash brightness can be adjusted from the **** in between the Coolant Temp gauge and the Tachometer. Maybe your dad touched it by accident.

If your tranny has no hesitation signs, stumbles, hard shifts, etc you may be better off to leave it alone. However, around here are two schools of thought regarding the transmission fluid. Changing the transmission fluid every 30-45,000 is definitely better than not changing it at all and it helps ....just like with any other car.
It is up to each owner to care about their car the way they see fit. That's why on the market you could find well maintained second-hand cars, as well as cars that already qualify for the junk yard because the previous owner just turned the key on/off.

As far as any other "major" maintenance item: there's an "Achtung" label right when you open up the hood, above the passenger side headlight... warning about changing your differential fluid every 30,000 miles.
Moving gears.... just as in the transmission... again, it comes down to what every owner considers worth doing or not.

- You can check/change your air filter, since you mentioned spark plugs.

 

thanks for the info

 

I believe in changing the trany fluid and filter. HOWEVER this trany and filter change is a total PITA. Refilling it can be very difficult and I had mine filled incorrectly by Audi so that should tell you the difficulty level in refilling it correctly. If you want to do it correctly get a bentley manual and a Vagcom start reading and ask alot of questions first. If you are shifting fine no whining or slipping. Save and measure every last damn drop that comes out of that thing and make sure at least that much goes back in. Do not let just anyone hack at your trany.

 

Hi everyone. I just bought a 1996 Audi A6 myself yesterday. And I'm familiarizing myself with the car. It's got a 135K miles on it, but she's pretty clean and well maintained.

Reading Arctic A6's car and maintenance schedule seems like a lot. What's a good happy medium that I can budget for? What should I be concerned about?

I'm planning to fill with unleaded mostly, but at least once a month fill with premium. And then do an oil change every 4.5K miles. Is that good enough?

 

You NEED to use premium. Its only about $2.00 per FULL tank anyways.

If you dont have records, I'd be looking at the Timing Belt/Water Pump/Tensioner job.

Everything else is like any other car...6k oil/filter, 12k air, etc...

 

Okay I'll use premium. Dealer told me I didn't need to. Hmm.

The car came with immaculate records. I know the timing belt will be a project in about 10 to 15K.

One more random question: I had a tape adapter lying around and used that to play my ipod. There is almost no sound coming from the drivers side when I have that hooked up. But when I just play the radio, no issues. Could something be wrong with the tape deck that is causing this issue?

 

could be a dirty tape head. Get a cleaner cassette and try it.

The dealer is wrong. Look at the Owners Manual. The 1996 AFC 2.8 has something like 10.2:1 compression which requires 91 or higher octane.

 

Change Fuel filter.. very easy and will save your fuel pump in the future...

 

Thanks Midniteoyl for your responses! Really appreciate it. I see that we have the exact same car, and at the same mileage too. Yesterday spent several hours with the car... I'm liking it!

I replaced the low beam bulbs, they were pretty dim. And I think the AC fan is next if I'm assessing what's going on correctly. There's some chirping from the AC unit sometimes... although I'm going to prolong that until that chirping really starts to irritate, or it just dies. Around that time check will have the mech check the fuel filter, hoses, turbos and whatever else...

Cosmetically, the car in pretty good condition too. The only thing that bothers me is this hole in the passenger side mirror. Shokan priced it at $145, not sure if it's worth that much trouble...

Midniteoyl: what kind of mats do you have in yours? I'd like to get some rubber mat set and one for the cargo. Be prepared for snow season and boarding...