Greetings.

I have a 2001 A4, 2.8L Engine, Automatic Quattro (w/ TripTronic), that has 192,000 miles on it. Performance has been great, but getting a lot of conflicting information when looking into Transmission maintenance. Could some of you share your wisdom on whether to flush, or not to flush, the Transmission fluid? Any/All help would be appreciated.

Best Regards!

 

I know some people say not to change the transmission fluid if you have high miles. I did a transmission fluid and filter change on mine at about 220,000 miles because it was low on fluid. As far as I know that's the first time it had been done. It's at 250,000 miles now and it hasn't had a single problem.

 

Do not flush the trans. Buy a kit and change the oil, filter and pan gasket. It's a pretty easy process if you can get the car up so you can work under it. Drop the pan, drain the old fluid, install a new gasket without any gasket goo and then fill according to Bentley. This is routine mainteance on a 192,000 mile trans. Oh yeah, have fun! I just did mine a few weeks ago and I'm at 163,000.

 

I'd pass on flushing, but do a standard drain, pan clean, filter install, and refill.

For ATF I'd suggest Valvoline MAXLIFE synthetic. I've used that in the three family vehicles with 5HP19 transmissions, with about 100,000 miles among them. Much less expensive than OEM and works perfectly fine. However this isn't trick-shift ATF, so don't expect to feel harder shifts.

 

I can also say that nothing happened after I dropped my transmission pan, drained out all of the fluid, swapped filters, and put a new gasket on and filled it back up. I was at about 125,000 miles when I did it and now it just hit 130,000 without any issues.

I'd say go ahead and have at it. The fun part is filling it back up!

 

Yep, filling it back up is the fun part. This will make it easier if you don't have access to a lift. No need to be under the vehicle while it's running and your pumping new oil in. Just hang the hook in the fill hole and pump away. Have your drain pan under there to catch the overflow.

 

That copper tube is a great idea, but I was able to do it fine with just a flexible tube. If you hold the end bent for a bit and quickly shove it into the fill hole it'll hold the shape long enough go in properly.

 

I flushed my tranny at 80,000 and everything is fine. Old fluid is the leading cause of tranny and differential failure so if you plan on driving her for a while, flush her and change her filters/gaskets.