I'm going to buy the required parts myself too. I wonder if Audi fluid is just re-bottled lifeguard 5? I'm going to use either of them whatever happens.

When I spoke with Chester transmissions they said they use fluid that's imported from Canada (didn't specify the make). I think that's where they got their flushing pump from too.

Interesting. Let us know if you know exactly what they use.

I went there twice (from Reading!) and they know what they do. Apart from forgetting to tighten security wheel bolt, which I fixed myself later. They are not cheap, but I see value of servicing transmission there.

Just found some interesting info about ZF and Audi fluid. Is it frowned upon to post a quote from another forum?

Post a link, unless it's not "public".

Specifically mustangbuffs post at 8.42 am

http://forums.audiworld.com/archive/...t-2802578.html

It seems they are saying that Audi fluid is actually ZF lifeguard 5. They list the same Audi part number.

Yes, for the 5HP24. More specifically it very clearly says to use nothing else.

Indeed. I had wondered if they were the same fluid. Strangely the Audi fluid is almost half the price of ZF lifeguard 5 fluid.

I spoke with a technical guy at ZF today and he confirmed that Audi fluid is indeed ZF fluid. He also said that due to the design, it isn't possible to totally flush a transmission with a machine as there will always be fluid left in the Torque Converter.
He said the way they get as much fluid flushed as possible is by doing a "double flush" which is first carrying out a normal drain and fill with a new filter and associated bits, continue with the engine running for a couple of minutes to circulate the new fluid, then drain and fill again. The temperature should also be continually monitored through the process keeping it at 40.

I'll be servicing mine asap.

I forgot to mention that he said the 5HP boxes are generally very reliable. He also said a lot of premature failures are caused by MAF sensors giving readings that are slightly out of tolerance (wouldn't throw a fault code or CEL) and cause the transmission to shift at the wrong times. The only way of testing is by logging data and comparing to correct values.

I have read something about that before and that most people would change the MAF after fitting a new or rebuilt transmission. . . .