What Tranny Oil Do i Need

[thetruthc32]

I have a 2005 A6 3.2 with 72k miles and i think the previous owner never changed the tranny oil. I want to do this asap, what oil do i need and what else do i need to get.

[nuctech]

I think the politically correct term is "transgendered" oil. LOL!

[390wheel]

get it at the dealership (autoparts stors will not have the right stuff. if you put any other atf in there YOU WILL DAMAGE THE TRANS)

[04A6SLine]

agree.. my friend who used to work for Audi has told me tranny fluid must be change at dealer.. they need some type of temperature meter...

another note.. what are the tranny fluid interval?

[Affinitive]

Starting in 05, they started using two new types of fluid when the 6HP19 tranmission was introduced. One being either a blueish color, which is still only available at the dealer and running in cost of about 68 dollars per liter/quart. Ouch. The other being a yellowish color like similar to the older fluid which also is only available at the dealer at a cost of about 42 dollars per liter/quart. (Still pretty ouch). The filter and pan gasket are also still limited to dealer. Unfortunately the C6 chassis cars are still new enough to where hardly no one has done services, so it will still be a while until pentosin will start selling the fluid to the aftermarket like they do with the older type of fluid.
Like the older transmissions, they claim the fluid to be "Lifetime" fill. Yeah, without service, lifetime ends up being about 100K when the tranny fails. Realisticly, and what I tell all my customers, the transmission should be serviced in the 50 - 60K range or earlier in extreme cases. Once you start getting beyond that, you really are starting to compromise the longevity and performance of the transmission.

Back to the fluid type, I've recently tried to figure this out as well as I have a customer who just got done with his prepaid maintenance and at 55K, his fluid is starting to look pretty ugly. The dealer was not able to tell me which fluid it takes by checking the VIN number, it actually goes by the serial number of the transmission unless you can tell what color the fluid started out as, not likely though at 72K as it's probably completely black by now. Even with my customer, when I took a small sample of his fluid, I couldn't tell for sure what color it started out as. So you need to get underneath it and get the serial number of the trans ID tag.

Unfortunately it is VERY important to use the dealer fluid and not use the old style fluid. The reason being that the new 6HP19 transmission does not have a separate fluid for the front differential unlike the older 5HP19 and all other ZF transmissions which kept the gear oil for the differential seperate from the transmission fluid, not they just share the same fluid. Soooo, long story short, using the older fluid which costs about 20 bucks a liter will likely cause the differential to fail and in turn ruin the transmission.

Old fluid part# - G 052 162 A2 used in all pre 05 ZF transmission with seperate gear oil. VW's japanese built transmissions (04 and up for some FWD apps.) use G 052 990 A2 (which is actually red in color)

New -
G 055 005 A2
G 055 162 A2 (or A3)

Also, any shop with a VagCom can change the fluid as the fluid level is temp specific.

C

[Affinitive]

Ohh yeah, don't quote me on this but I believe that the 09L serial number trannies will use the cheaper yellowish fluid and the 09E will be the more expensive blueish fluid.

Don't quote me on that though. And I believe you'll need about 8 liters for a service. Maybe a little more, doubtful to be less.

C

[04A6SLine]

o.k... got a C5 2.7t and on my way to 56K right now.. so how much does it cost for the stealership to change my tranny fluid?

[Affinitive]

Too much, go to an independant Audi/VW specialist that is good and will use the proper fluid. But it still ain't like a honda civic though. No $99.99 trany flushes at the monkey lube for these cars. You can put off the servicing the differential (front and rear) and the transfercase until you get closer to the 100K range. I usually recomend those every other trany service since they use top notch synthetic gear oil.

Pricing depends on what part of the country you're in.

C

[Affinitive]

ohh yeah, when you do find an independant who buys parts from world pac, tell them to look up the transmission pan gasket and filter as if they are buying for a 01 P-Car Boxster with the tiptronic (any 986 tiptronic really. Not sure about 987's). This way, they will get the nice OE ZF green gasket and filter at a cheaper price as oppossed to aftermarket stuff which is kind of hit and miss as to wether the gasket will leak later down the road. P-Car used the same 5HP19 transmission as Audi and VW and a slightly modified version for the 996. I know it sounds strange, but when the filter is out, you'll find the "P-Car" filter will have all the same ZF part and ID numbers on it. If they don't buy from World Pac, then you should probably find someone else.

C

[oc-drop]

KY works well with girls, should be the same with a tranny...

ohhh wait...

[ukr77]

agree.. my friend who used to work for Audi has told me tranny fluid must be change at dealer.. they need some type of temperature meter...

another note.. what are the tranny fluid interval?

If you have a VAG COM it can be done at home with little effort, but with a little pre-planning. I tend to do mine in the cooler seasons and after sitting overnight. Drive it straight into the garage, and drain. That way the trans is still cool. This will allow you the maximum amount of time to top up your fluid after you run the trans through the gears and still be within the correct trans oil temperature. For the C5s the fill is a 'stand pipe'. Basically your final top up is for it to spill out at a required temp (filled mine to 38C if i remember correctly).

If the trans is too warm....by the time you do your first fill and run it through the gears, the temp will be too high and your final level will not be accurate if it spills out higher than spec temp. YOu will have to wait several hours for the fluid to cool. I do mine in the winter. I fill till it spills, run it through the gears according to the manual....then fill to spill, then back the car out of the garage for a few hours....or an hour or so if it is -20c:-). Drive it back into the garage, runn it through te gears again, then with engine running and in park, final fill, watching the vag com for 38C and pump fluid in unti it spills. done!