Gearbox Service

[tintin]

I completely agree with Psyche and Sarg, if your gearbox needs serviced, this is really worth investing a relatively small sum in having it done properly.

Or putting it another way, the gearbox (along with the engine, maybe..) is probably the single most expensive, complex, and problematic part of the car, and your '8 will only be only worth scrap value if it is f**ked up by messing with it.

A "new" box from Audi is c£6k, so it's a worthwhile investment of a few hundred pounds to get a specialist to keep it running right.

[sarg]

Originally Posted by tintin

I completely agree with Psyche and Sarg, if your gearbox needs serviced, this is really worth investing a relatively small sum in having it done properly.

Or putting it another way, the gearbox (along with the engine, maybe..) is probably the single most expensive, complex, and problematic part of the car, and your '8 will only be only worth scrap value if it is f**ked up by messing with it.

A "new" box from Audi is c£6k, so it's a worthwhile investment of a few hundred pounds to get a specialist to keep it running right.

Let's not forget I speak from experience here, my D2 gearbox failed just THREE days after it was 'serviced' by a VAG specialist - the emphasis being VAG specialist, not a GEARBOX specialist.

I had to scrap the car.

After it started playing up, me and my brother di d a second DIY flush of the gearbox oil as there was some suspicion that the garage had royally screwed it up, but it didn't help. DIYing the job is very hard to flush all the old oil through, and you will need at least DOUBLE the required amount of fluid to do so, so it doesn't really help you save any money either.

[briang9]

Originally Posted by sarg

Let's not forget I speak from experience here, my D2 gearbox failed just THREE days after it was 'serviced' by a VAG specialist - the emphasis being VAG specialist, not a GEARBOX specialist.

.

I would agree with this, very important to get a transmission specialist as opposed to a VAG specialist, the local Audi indie around here refers all his customers to Mackies for anything transmission related. Looks like you might have found a suitable ZF agent in any case.

Guess you may have been here already....lists the ZF Approved Agents

http://www.zf.com/eu/content/en/grea...e_cars_uk.html

Good luck

[M-A8]

Oh my God...there is so much mess in my head right now

I was reading your posts through out the day and now I'm not only confused but paranoid as well, plus now I don't want to trust my specialist on top of it even if I know they've got huge experience in servicing and rebuilding gearboxes, and I did seen them couple of times working on A8 and 10plate A6 gearboxes

Brian, I looked at your link and it looks like I've got at least 2-3 ZF approved specialists around London.

Originally I didn't want to service mine 3 years ago as other A8 owner told me about some little thing which if isn't done right it can **** the gearbox, so I got scared.

Now, I'm 100% sure I want and need to do it. I trust my VAG garage in every aspect, I know they've got all the required equipment, sucky thing etc, and experience on D3s gearboxes, BUT an Automatic transmission specialists doing only that so they would be the guys to go for????

Really confused, another headache for the weekend on top of my cold which I got after washing car last evening at 8pm in just a wet t-shirt
no no...I've had my pants on as well (thongs ) and I was all wet as it was windy not because I'm experience in wet t-shirts competitions

[HPsauce]

Originally Posted by M-A8

I trust my VAG garage in every aspect, I know they've got all the required equipment, sucky thing etc

Is this the place in Harrow and do they know D2's?

I'm getting close to needing "The full Monty" of major service and cam belt. At which I'd also expect the water pump and various other bits to be done too.
I've recently (as noted) had the gearbox fluid changed (drain, new filter, refill) but might also do it again if they have that machine.

[briang9]

Originally Posted by M-A8

Oh my God...there is so much mess in my head right now

I was reading your posts through out the day and now I'm not only confused but paranoid as well, plus now I don't want to trust my specialist on top of it even if I know they've got huge experience in servicing and rebuilding gearboxes, and I did seen them couple of times working on A8 and 10plate A6 gearboxes

Brian, I looked at your link and it looks like I've got at least 2-3 ZF approved specialists around London.

Originally I didn't want to service mine 3 years ago as other A8 owner told me about some little thing which if isn't done right it can **** the gearbox, so I got scared.





Now, I'm 100% sure I want and need to do it. I trust my VAG garage in every aspect, I know they've got all the required equipment, sucky thing etc, and experience on D3s gearboxes, BUT an Automatic transmission specialists doing only that so they would be the guys to go for????

Really confused, another headache for the weekend on top of my cold which I got after washing car last evening at 8pm in just a wet t-shirt
no no...I've had my pants on as well (thongs ) and I was all wet as it was windy not because I'm experience in wet t-shirts competitions

Bit too much info in there

Sounds like you may be lucky and have a VAG garage who also seems to know there way round transmission as well Just checked some of the ZF Agents on that link I posted and I am not sure they all do servicing, maybe just parts and complete boxes.

[M-A8]

OK, I'm a idiot !!!
Don't know if thats because of the cold/flu I've got since this morning, but at least I've got some excuse which is better than nothing.

So, I said they've got that stuff as once I've seen in their garage sucky thing look a like machine so I asked whats that, and for some reason I remembered it as the sucky thing for servicing gearboxes

So I called them 5min ago just not to look like a tw@t ( a bit to late now as I called them after my last post, imbecile) and it wasn't that, they dont have it as they flush them or whatever, couldn't really heat a thing as line was breaking up (I live in SE London where is no reception, amazing stuff) plus they had some serious issue with the system so me being on the line at that time wasn't helping their situation. Instead of drilling their head they asked me to call them on Monday if I've got some questions. I don't like being under the pressure especially I had two other things to ask.

Anyway....I heard something about even Audi not using one, but probably thats why ZF and Mackie guys are the best guys to do it as mentioned before because they do JUST the gearboxes.

Will know more on Monday, but at this moment I trust you guys with your expertise and experience

QUESTION:
How important is to have this sucky thing during the service/oil&filter change???
Is that better than a flush???

I'm trying to gather some more info before calling them on Monday.

BTW, I did seen them working on gearboxes so it's only my memory which is a mess not my eyes as well ...well I wear contacts so my eyes are ****ed, but I wear my lenses all the time

I do apologies for misleading you few posts back

[M-A8]

Originally Posted by briang9

Bit too much info in there

Sounds like you may be lucky and have a VAG garage who also seems to know there way round transmission as well Just checked some of the ZF Agents on that link I posted and I am not sure they all do servicing, maybe just parts and complete boxes.

You know what Brian, I couldn't find any info about servicing as well, just parts and repair kits
Back to the starting point

[Architex_mA8tey]

I'm not being dramatic guys but like TinTin I have also had a gearbox replaced in my D2 and for a gearbox service even though I am in the south I would not hesitate to drive to either Chester Transmissions or even Mackies to make sure the new gearbox is serviced properly, no where else in the UK would have my trust for properly servicing it using the correct machine. As others have said it has got to be worth it for the peace of mind. I'm planning to do mine at somewhere around 30-40,000 miles on a regular basis if I ever do those mileages!

[ScottD3]

My A4 is in bits on the drive cause the gearbox started to slip, then burnt itself out and now its being broken .

I guess I'm a little bit paranoid about auto boxes added with my lack of trust of anyone working on my car/s, mixed in with a little bit of wanting to save a couple of quid here and there its a bit of a struggle for me.

You are all right, it should be done by a professional and not me with a spanner and a ramp.

It looks like there is a couple of ZF sites in Bristol, which is closer and I got family there, so a place to stay if needed.
I will be contacting them in the coming weeks.