Manual transmission not smooth and oil change?

**pentaquine** · 08-02-2016 04:55 PM

Hi I'm new here and I have a 2013 S4 6MT for about 6 months. Needless to say the car is awesome and so is the gearbox. However, sometimes I notice the shifting is not very smooth after driving for a while

I live in area which is notorious for bad traffic

, so I have to do a lot of stop and go and shifting, and after half hour or so, when I shift gears it just feels like the stick (yes the stick itself) is rubbing against something, like some metal. It just feels like something is not lubricated well.

And when I took my car to dealership for 35k miles maintenance, I asked about this issue and if they're gonna change the transmission fluid. The guy told me this is a manual gearbox so there's no transmission fluid to be changed.

I mean manual transmission should still have some sort of fluid right?

**MrFunk** · 08-02-2016 05:02 PM

There is fluid. They probably meant that Audi considers is "lifetime" fluid.
I've changed fluid at my 35k service.
No MT car likes stop and go traffic. I'm sure your clutch is not happy either which is probably the main issue.

**S4'ed** · 08-02-2016 06:59 PM

lubricate the ball at the bottom of the shift lever.

**AudiS4SD** · 08-02-2016 07:06 PM

Originally Posted by S4'ed

lubricate the ball at the bottom of the shift lever.

How do you access said ball?

(Hey, watch what you're thinking!)

Sent from my iPhone using Audizine mobile app

**Dr GP** · 08-02-2016 07:14 PM

Synchros have been known to not work smoothly. Not a common problem

**Oloung1** · 08-02-2016 07:47 PM

Originally Posted by MrFunk

I've changed fluid at my 35k service.

did you have it serviced or diy? if serviced what was the ballpark charge?

**Schadenfreude** · 08-02-2016 07:57 PM

FWIW I found the stock shift action to absurdly poor. Too much play and comically long throws. Driving was much smoother and far more enjoyable after I installed my short throw shifter.

**SportVier** · 08-02-2016 10:16 PM

^ FWIW I find the stock B8 shifter to be "absurdly" good. I'd say it is a "comically" big improvement over the B7. I actually like the action better than my B7 with a JHM short shift kit.

**pentaquine** · 08-02-2016 10:52 PM

Originally Posted by MrFunk

There is fluid. They probably meant that Audi considers is "lifetime" fluid.
I've changed fluid at my 35k service.
No MT car likes stop and go traffic. I'm sure your clutch is not happy either which is probably the main issue.

Why do you change it if it's "lifetime"? And how much did it cost? What MTF did you use?

**LaCross** · 08-02-2016 11:05 PM

stock shifter is awful. its made of plastic. I installed the jhm shifter and im quite happy with it

**chi123** · 08-03-2016 01:37 AM

I changed mine just for fun at 87K miles. It was 3 liters and that fluid was also shared with the front differential. Simple drain and refill. There's a DIY on here somewhere. I stuck with OEM fluid which was actually pretty expensive but I read others like Redline fluid wasn't as smooth in cold weather.

**S4'ed** · 08-03-2016 06:32 AM

No fluid is "lifetime". Change the oil in the manual trans (and Diff) every 50,000 miles. Change the DSG fluid & filter every 30,000 miles (and the separate DSG front diff gear oil every 50,000)

**MrFunk** · 08-03-2016 07:05 AM

Originally Posted by pentaquine

Why do you change it if it's "lifetime"? And how much did it cost? What MTF did you use?

I changed it (as many others have as well) because I don't believe in any fluid being "lifetime". What came out was very dirty.
I used https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Originally Posted by Oloung1

did you have it serviced or diy? if serviced what was the ballpark charge?

I had it done at my 35k service at the dealership since they'd have it up already.
I think they charged me 1 hour labor - which is high but it's hard to get anything done for less. It's quite easy to DIY.

Here's a DIY - http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...n-Fluid-Change

I also did my rear differential fluid.