Gearbox Service

[sarg]

Originally Posted by ScottB5

I spoke to Audi UK yesterday and they confirmed that my box is tiptronic and sealed for life. "Audi does not suggest any form of servicing or maintenance for your box" was his words.

As already said, their definition of lifetime is 7 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Cars are only designed to last this long, regardless of what we think, therefore any servicing schedules will only be worked out for this long.

A gearbox should last 7 years/100k without a service, therefore it is deemed to be "sealed for life"

None of that makes the statement right.

I do know that Mercedes have recently reversed this advice and are now doing gearbox fluid services as part of routine maintenance.

My BMW DCT box is also "sealed for life"

[Somerandomguy]

The sucky machine is connected up in the ATF circuit so that it pumps in as much oil as it removes. This means that all the oil is replaced, including from the torque convertor.

The official flush method only removes about half of the ATF per flush, so requires three empty and refill cycles to get most of it out.

The other factor for consideration is which ATF to use as there are 3 specs. The yellow ATF (original fill spec), Blue and now Green. the blue was original fill for the W12 but was then specified for other D3 boxes to resolve a hooting noise, this has now been replaced by the green. The TSB for the hoot made it clear that a software upgrade to the gearbox was required for the blue fluid, but theres no mention of this for the green.

Price wise, the yellow fluid is the cheapest, at about £18 per litre I think,then the blue and finally the green is £34 per litre - three flushes gets very expensive as youll need 12-14 litres. The yellow is Lifeguard 6, the blue is Lifeguard 6+ (Audi part. G055162A2) and the green is Lifeguard 8 (audi pn G060162A2)


I did bite the bullet and changed the ATF myself and it was fairly easy to drop the pan, change the filter and refill three times, but the exhaust on mine doesn't get in the way.i also made a filling tool as you have to fill from below.

I havent updated the software on the ECU as I used the green fluid and ELSA doesnt reference the update. If i was to do it again, i would go for the yellow oil to keep the cost down.

[PsYcHe]

Just dropped the car off at Mackie's this morning to be phoned about 10 minutes later with the joyous news of:

ZF recommend an update for the 6-speed boxes in these, so not only is there a software update (more time), but to go with it, they recommend changing up to the Lifeguard 8 oil which is more expensive.

I did have the option to stick with the Lifeguard 6 and no software update, but there have been a few cases of gearboxes shuddering when coming down the gears as they age which is why ZF recommend the update. He did say it wasn't essential, but it did add just shy of £200 to the price!!

[ScottD3]

how much is Lifeguard 8 per litre then?

I doubt that software update will be sent to Audi.

[PsYcHe]

£34 per litre according to random's post..

[ScottD3]

read his post and completely forgot he mentioned 8.

I've been trying to find someone locally that uses a flushing machine and willing to do the software update.

Found a company that does the flushing but not the software or does the software update (at £100) but not the flushing.

[snapdragon]

Some reasonably priced options here...
http://www.incarmotorfactors.co.uk/e...ry=lifeguard+8

[M-A8]

Originally Posted by PsYcHe

Just dropped the car off at Mackie's this morning to be phoned about 10 minutes later with the joyous news of:

ZF recommend an update for the 6-speed boxes in these, so not only is there a software update (more time), but to go with it, they recommend changing up to the Lifeguard 8 oil which is more expensive.

I did have the option to stick with the Lifeguard 6 and no software update, but there have been a few cases of gearboxes shuddering when coming down the gears as they age which is why ZF recommend the update. He did say it wasn't essential, but it did add just shy of £200 to the price!!

Interesting...

This might be a stupid question...How is the gearbox soft update related to gearbox remap??? Is there a point to do a soft update if I'm planning to do a gearbox remap later on this year?? Will remap delete the update??

I'm planning to do service before remap as I'm still thinking about it, just need more answers. I like the idea of launch control, full power in mid revs range, quicker shifts.

In regards to service, still deciding between 6 and 8.

[HPsauce]

I'm sure I read an article that said a software update and different fluid (LG8) went together.
The newer fluid has better characteristics, but different enough to require some functions in the gearbox to work slightly differently to be effective and minimise wear..

[ainarssems]

This might be a stupid question...How is the gearbox soft update related to gearbox remap??? Is there a point to do a soft update if I'm planning to do a gearbox remap later on this year?? Will remap delete the update??

I am pretty sure they modify whatever software you have. So if you have old software they will remap old, if you have updated they will modify updated software. However if you remap first then do update you will loose remap or it might even be that it will not be possible to update without reverting to standard old software.