I was trying to e-research the whole transmission fluid/filter/failure conundrum that has such a persistent, viral presence on this board...and the BMW boards...and Jags..(hence attached jag ref) all because of wonderful ZF incorporated. For the A6, HP19F or HP24A, from what I gather.

A poll was posted to one of the BMW forums, produced somewhat interesting if not determinative results.

For any that care to contribute comments as well, if your trans failed please list mileage. If it is doing fine after some type of intervention/service, please state approx miles since that service.

If you had a repair other than fuses/electrical, other than water damage/TCU, other than full R&R or rebuild, please list specifics- cost, shop that did the work etc., and maybe we can hone in on specific components that fail and fight back against the $8K pitch for a new/rebuilt trans.

There are a bunch of shortcomings in the way the poll is set up- its for anecdotal information.

ONLY SELECT a "FLUSHED" or a "FILTER AND FLUID" option for each service, not both. Want the pressure flushing to be the variable in play.

 

There is no reference to TC failures, as there is even a TSB=> TC should be included!
BTW - ZF suggests service at 80k km.

 

bump. not many failures posting up. On the BMW forum (also ZF trans), seemed to be a bout 8%, but sample size was small (not this small).

 

I would be very interested in providing information for this thread as I'm currently going through a tranmission failure on my 2000 4.2. I purchased the vehicle from a salvage auction so I had no way of knowing that the transmission was blown. The other side to it is, I don't know what the details of the failiure were, but I did take the pan off last night to find tha the plastic shelding that holds the wiring together in the oil pan was nearly melted off. This tells me that my trans overheated severly.

All I know is that the fluid that came out is nearly black and I have no forward gears, only reverse.

JR

 

FLuid drained, filter changed at 60K. I'm at 85K now and no problems. I did have water damage that gave me a new TCU, but trans not affected otherwise!

 

What is this water damage that everyone is writing about?

JR

 

The critical issue is time or milage when the trans work was done..

 

I had my fluid and filter changed by the dealership at the scheduled mileage according to what the owners manual states. This was done at the end of my 4 years of ownership. Not sure what the exact miles were, but it was done a bit earlier mileagewise because my car is a low miles car. Transmission went out on Friday feb 27th. Have not heard from dealer yet as to what exactly went wrong. My car is an 02 A6 2.7t with about 54k miles on it. Now that I look back, I am not sure if that was brake fluid that was done or transmission. i have a feeling it was brake. Sorry about confusion.

 

I had a leak from a broken seal on my cowl panel (at the bottom of my windshield), and it filled the entire passenger side of my car with water underneath the carpet. Incidentally, the TCU is located in a box underneath the carpet of the passenger side footwell... It can happen from clogged sunroof or cowl drains, and in my case, the unsealed cowl vent...

 

So how long ago was the service performed. Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought all our cars had "lifetime sealed service-free" transmissions, aka, the dealer won't open/service it. I thought the manual said this also... ??