S8 owners, transmission service ?
 

Hellow, how many of the S8 in this fórum had done the ZF Tiptronic service ?. At what milleage ?. Lifeguard 6 or 8 ?

When i bought my S8 2008 the first thing i want to do was the Tiptronic service ( drain and refill + new filter ). But it is very complicated to put down the pan, the 2 lines of the exhaust are there, and a few mechanical parts that make a big job ( a lot of hours of work ) to get out the pan.

My ZF dealer said to me to only drain and refill without touching the pan when the car has over 90.000 Milles or 83.000 Milles. Actually my S8 is over 73.000 Milles.

The tiptronic it goes perfect, very smooth in cold and warm.

Thanks all for your responses.

Regards

EISENMANN

On the D2s, it's recommended that you get this done properly by a ZF specialist who can heat the oil up, flush it through and filter it in the process (a much finer filter than the one in the gearbox).

This needs specialist equipment. I've had mine done 3 times and I now get it done every 2 years or so or every 35K miles.

I took mine to a ZF specialist. Millage was at 100k. Oil was clean and no debris on the magnets. They recommended the job every 36k. I think it will be good for longer then that... And yes it is a bigger job having to drop the exhausts out of the way but the only way if you want to change the filter and do a full inspection. Although next time I might be tempted to just change the fluids. I will get a quote for both ways around....

What I found interesting with the proper machine, is that the very fine filter that it incorporates is used as 'health check' for the gearbox. If there are no metals particles in the filter (as with mine), then all is well.

Then depending on the amount and colour of the metal particles, the specialists could give an opinion on any potential faults. For example, they recon that brass coloured bits indicate wear in the bearings.

They also, as kele pointed out, suggest a more regular change of oil and filter, observing that you wouldn't even think about leaving the engine oil and filter for 100K miles.

For a D2, it costs a little more than £100 or so; well worth it IMHO.

Further.. To give you an idea of price. I paid £414 for this job. Of which £180 was labour. Not dropping the exhausts and just doing the fluid would definitely reduce the labour cost. Maybe I could have got the job done better (or cheaper) elsewhere but then I have to factor in fuel costs and travel time when choosing a garage.

Hellow, thank you for your responses. I opened a few days ago the same post in AudiWorld fórum ( D3 A8 / S8 ) and there one man give me all the thecnical explications ( incluiding photos ).

Regards

EISENMANN

You need to drop the pan to change the filter - not sure that they are going on about.

I have done this job on my old S8. You obviously need to have the car on a ramp and the facilities to pump oil up into the sump either via a gravity feed or using a pump, but there are more complex tools (alluded to above and witnessed by others on here) out there that make it easier (however the workshop manual is not written with in them mind so not a prerequisite) albeit they will make the job easier/smaller margin of error if you are in the business of doing this work regularly.

I would suggest there is a reasonable scope for getting this wrong (it took me two attempts until i was satisfied i had done the job right, and i consider myself a fairly accomplished mech). The issue is you need to fill it fast enough and plug it before it reaches a certain temperature at which fluid expansion will happen and it overflows - you need to go through a gear sequence with the engine running to pump fluid around it before this happens measuring temp in VCDS. It is all a bit against the clock.

You also need to be very sure you get the right filter - some have a longer neck which starves the oil intake as ends up flush against the sump but other than that look identical.

In summary i would echo the above comments and and say its a specialist job i would only entrust to one.

Exactly, use a specialist.

I would do some research on these companies in Spain that are part of the ZF service network that work with cars and auto transmissions.

http://www.ttasl.com/
http://www.transmisevilla.com/
http://www.jedsa.com/
http://www.hinega.com/servic.html
http://www.casalsnadal.com/

If none can help then consider taking a trip to ZF Germany as these people have done.

http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/527361
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...rvice-DORTMUND!

Please keep us updated! +++

Hellow, next monday i have to leave the S8 to de Audi dealer to resolve two little things. I will said them to change Tiptronic oil and filter. If they do not want to do it, i will speak with the boss of the Audi dealer.

I will inform you what is the result of the transmission service.

Regards

EISENMANN

You may find that audi tell you the job is "not possible" as the gearbox is sealed for life! A ZF specialist will have a very different opinion on the subject...