I have a 2000MY A6 fitted with the 2.4 litre gasoline engine and the Multitronic CVT tansmission. The transmission has approximately 25,000 miles on it from brand new. Recently the vehicle has started to judder when coming to a complete stop. Almost as if the clutch is not disengaging correctly. The local Audi dealer simply told me the clutch was slippping and I would need a new gearbox (£4,500!!). However when pulling away from a standstill the vehicle behaves normally. Privately I have been advised to change the transmission fluid which I'm about to do. Audi state that the CVT fluid is 'fill for life' but other posts indicate this is not the case (especially for the other autos). Does anyone have any experience of a Multitronic CVT behaving like this?
David.

 

In the UK the CVT transmission oil needs replacing every 40,000 miles and requires the gearbox temperature to be at 45C. Use VAGCOM software to do this. Also you will need a special refill tool VAS 5162. The refill method is impoertant and must be done with the engine running to as the temperature rises to 45C, excess fluid runs out. The filler plug must be secure brfore the engine is switched off otherwise a litre of fluid will be lost. I am not aware of any failures in the UK but I would chanage your oil first to see if there is an improvement. Make sure that whoever does it, they know what they are doing.

 

Thanks for the advice. Are you sure the engine should be running when the new transmission fluid is added? The instructions which I have from Audi are unclear about this. Having changed the fluid I still have the same problem but the fluid was changed with the engine off. Should I top it up with the engine running?

 

Absolutely sure. With the engine off, pour in about 5.5 litres in and then start the engine. Wait until the oil temperature reaches 40C to 45C. as temperature rises, excess oil will flow out. When 40C is reached then close the filler plug. If you switch the engine off before closing the filler, then you will see 1 litre of oil pour out.

If you let me have your address, I will post to you the Audi instructions from Erwin. The file is secure and does not allow me to e.mail it to you. alternatively you can purchase the maintenance docs from the Erwin web site for about 18Euros.

Regards

shabazmo@aol.com

 

Thanks a lot for the advice. I added a further two litres of ATF (since I know I had 3.6 litres in the transmission already) with the engine running and then rechecked the level when the VAG unit showed the ATF temp had reached 35°C. This left another 700 ml of fluid in the transmission. The car definitely feels slightly different although the judder is still there when I pull to a stop. Could running the gearbox with low fluid level have caused this problem? Could I adjust the multi-plate clutch clamping pressures using my VAG unit?

 

I am afraid that I am out of my league on CVT diagnostics. I am still concerned that you may not have the correct amount of fluid in your transmission. Have you used the VAS5162 tool and did you let the excess fluid drain away when the engine warmed up. I will try to find a CVT diagnostic manual that may help you. Also have you used the correct fluid. G052 180 A2 Audi CVT fluid.

Keep in touch and let me know how you get on.

 

Check out the audi service web site http://www.erwin.audi.com. They do a CVT self study guide for about 7 dollars. It is about 100 pages and will tell you more about how the transmission works.

 

Again thanks for the tip. I have the CVT self-study guide from the erWin site and it's great. It is also the only place where I have found a guide to oil volumes in the CVT Multitronic transmission. It states that this transmission should have approximately 4.5 litres of fluid from a regular change. Now I have checked my fluid level using the service equipment with the engine running and at 40°C and I have barely got 4 litres in there. This is after I got an extra 700ml with the engine running. The car feels different with this extra oil but the judder remains. I am very tempted to put a further 700 - 800 ml of oil into the transmission. Anyone have an opinion on whether a small additional amount of oil might cause a problem?

 

Here's the end of the story. Unusually for me it's a happy one! Having found an Audi engineer at Ingolstadt who would discuss the Multitronic gearbox it seems that it is almost unheard of for the clutch to fail in normal service. So I stripped the front end looking for other clues and found that both the front wheel speed sensors were not seated quite properly. Refixing these has completely cured the problem. I cannot explain why I did not see a VAG or dash error nor why the engine speed seemed to hang high until the vehicle was completely stopped. Either way I've avoided a £4k transmission exchange!

 

Hey is it possible that my Automatic A6 could be suffering from the same?? at decel whel braking its like it jerks and suddenly drops rpm...tried turning off the ESP and havent seen that behaviour