2002 S8 Gearbox Question !!!!!

[The_Laird]

And a 'proper' gearbox service (hot oil flush and filter) is around £150 - so probably worth a try once you've had a achat with Mackies

[Ricky22buk]

Just for your own records guys the email below is the reply from Mackies. (I still don't think my car warrants the expense so just driving away until it gives up !!!!!)



The first things we look at is fault codes, oil condition, oil levels, does the oil smell burnt all these conditions can lead us to a conclusion with the transmission Richard, i.e if the oil level is low it can cause slippage, if the oil smells burnt then most likely that the fault lies internal with the transmission and needing to be reconditioned, if you have a diagnostic tool to code read the transmission system and there is codes relating to gear ratio or gear monitoring then the fault also lies internally.

Richard to reconditioned both transmission and torque converter is approx £1695.00+vat, then the costs to remove / refit the transmission + oils, it all adds up then you need to decide if the car merits the repair,

Richard without checking the car these tips i have given you are just hints to let you decide the cars fate or future.

Kind regards

John.

[tintin]

I think that's probably the sort of cautious response I'd expect from John @ Mackies - he's not seen your car, so is covering his options and being straight about the potential costs involved.

He's seen a lot of these cars, and has brought the performance of more than one back to the level it should be, though - as you've suggested - it may not be worth the cost of repair in your case. My personal experience is that it was a worthwhile investment, but it depends on the individual car and owner.

Re-reading your earlier posts and your car's symptoms, I'd say there's a fair chance that you may get away with just a gearbox flush: mileage seems to be the key however, with these often failing once the box gets not far beyond 100k of so.

[sarg]

Originally Posted by Ricky22buk

Richard to reconditioned both transmission and torque converter is approx £1695.00+vat, then the costs to remove / refit the transmission + oils, it all adds up then you need to decide if the car merits the repair,

It's a lot, but it's a lot less than a whole new car.

Wish I'd paid to have mine fixed, instead I scrapped it and paid £8.5k for its replacement which I then sold for £5.5k 18 months later (having spent about £2k 'fettling' it), I may as well have just paid out for the gearbox and kept the rest of the lovely D2 that went with it.

[moltuae]

Originally Posted by sarg

It's a lot, but it's a lot less than a whole new car.

Agreed. And, as they say, 'better the devil you know' ... even if you replace the car, you could have similar, unforeseen repair costs with your next vehicle.

While I dread these kind of failures, and spend a lot of money on preventative maintenance, I view them as an inevitable part of owning these cars. In fact, I have a savings account that I use just for car maintenance that I try to keep topped up at a level that is just above the cost of a transmission rebuild.

As I see it, when I bought my S8 at 8 years old (when the car was 8 that is, not me), I saved over 60 grand on buying new. It would take a hell of a lot of repairs, maintenance, tyres and petrol to even come close to spending what I've saved there alone. The depreciation of these vehicles at this age is so little from year to year that you should consider that as the money you've saved to offset against repairs.


It's getting very difficult to find good D2 S8s. I spent 3 years trying to find a good one in the right colour combinations, and that was 4 years ago. I suspect it would take much longer now. The price of these cars doesn't yet reflect their rarity, so they're still being scrapped when the cost of repairs exceeds their worth. I think we're reaching an interesting tipping point though where there are fewer cars remaining than potential buyers.

[Sir WIll]

One of the main reasons I bought my S8 recently was the gearbox was completely reconditioned by Mackie's and came with the £3k bill to prove it.

Even though the previous owner serviced the gearbox and looked after it, the auto still failed at 160k.

All I can say now its a comfort to have it done and the gearbox is stunning. very smooth and better than my D3 ever was.

If you have a good D2 its worth spending the money on it. These cars are made better than the ones that came after, were a high point for Audi and are pretty damn rare these days.

[tintin]

Originally Posted by moltuae

Agreed. And, as they say, 'better the devil you know' ... even if you replace the car, you could have similar, unforeseen repair costs with your next vehicle.

While I dread these kind of failures, and spend a lot of money on preventative maintenance, I view them as an inevitable part of owning these cars. In fact, I have a savings account that I use just for car maintenance that I try to keep topped up at a level that is just above the cost of a transmission rebuild.

As I see it, when I bought my S8 at 8 years old (when the car was 8 that is, not me), I saved over 60 grand on buying new. It would take a hell of a lot of repairs, maintenance, tyres and petrol to even come close to spending what I've saved there alone. The depreciation of these vehicles at this age is so little from year to year that you should consider that as the money you've saved to offset against repairs.


It's getting very difficult to find good D2 S8s. I spent 3 years trying to find a good one in the right colour combinations, and that was 4 years ago. I suspect it would take much longer now. The price of these cars doesn't yet reflect their rarity, so they're still being scrapped when the cost of repairs exceeds their worth. I think we're reaching an interesting tipping point though where there are fewer cars remaining than potential buyers.

Agree with every word here - couldn't have put it better myself

[David's8]

Agree as well. If you work out the cost of ownership (including depreciation) of your D2 over a fixed period (say 3 years) compared to a newer (but mediocre) car, you may find that the running costs over that period EVEN IF YOU HAVE A GEARBOX failure are not too different. A second hand £20k car can drop in value by the cost of a geabox failure every year.

I managed to persuade SWMBO using this argument that, including the additional fuel costs, it was going to be cheaper to run than a new Nissan Note!
It did help, of course, that I knew the history of the car I bought from The Laird.

[tintin]

Originally Posted by David's8

It did help, of course, that I knew the history of the car I bought from The Laird.

…"which made a positive difference" (implied but not stated…)

[Ricky22buk]

I'm considering trying something first before jumping into removing the box. My gearbox is perfect when cold but slips when warm and I think it might just be down to the oil level. There has been an oil leak from the drivers side of the gearbox where the drive shaft attaches, and I see from browsing online that you can relatively easily change the oil seal on that side, so I think for the value of an oil seal, some oil and a filter I will try that first.

Don't suppose anyone knows if thats a normal oil seal which would be readily available from a motor factor or bearing / seal specialist, or would it be a specialised seal only available from Audi ?