I bought my car at 82K, and it now has 107K....should I change my A4 trans fluid first of all?

And if I have to change it, should I flush the tranny or just change the fluid myself? I'm new to trans related work.

Thanks!

 

It would be a good idea to have it changed with that many miles. You can drain it yourself but you will only get around 4 quarts by dropping the pan, there is more in the trans that can only be changed by having it pumped out by a shop. I think the 4L60e holds something like 8-10qts total, not positive on the exact amount. If it were me I would have an oil change place drop the pan, change the filter and have it flushed and filled with all new fluid. I had that done in my Trailblazer with the 4L60e at 50k miles and I'll probably do it again at 100k

 

I had a complete flush on mine it was well worth it. They hook it up to a machine and flush the old stuff out.

 

I'd also vote for having it flushed at a shop. Proper preventative maintenance always pays for itself.

 

I have heard before that having it flushed by a shop can create problems. (don't know if it's true). It can dislodge paint or other small debris in the tranny and cause problems, but like i said i don't if there is any truth to that.

 

I've heard that too, especially on higher mileage A4's. What can happen is the older dirty fluid with debris and such which is not as slick as new fluid can sometimes keep worn out clutches from slipping as much. Some people have reported that their tranny's suddenly start slipping after having it flushed and filled. It doesnt mean having the fluid changed suddenly ruined the trans, its just the older trans fluid can sometimes mask the problems of a trans in need of a rebuild.

 

If the trans has not been serviced before I wouldn't start now. It may sound backwards, but in many cases thats just the way it works. When it comes to flushing, 1 out of 100 will have a problem after it's serviced. This comes from a service bulletin I read. Any trans with over 100K on it may not like any type of fluid change. In my case, two cars I've owned have had problems after changing fluid after the 100k mark. Do a search, I'm not the only one.

 

Hmmmmm, so if it hasn't been flushed, then should I just change it the regular way (drop the pan)?

 

I had mine flushed, it made the 3-4 slip "A LOT" more noticable.

 

I would bet all the transmissions that slipped after a flush were bad from the start. Just my thoughts I have done this on all my cars and never had a problem. I fluid change isnt gonna help a bad tranny.

 

I agree the problem was probally already there I have always flushed my autos reguardless of the miles. As Greg said if you drop the pan you will only be changing abut 4-5 quarts of fluid, the 4L60E holds 14 quarts! Now as far as a flush pulling paint and dirt off IMO is rubbish seeing that your transmission is always running fluid at high veloicites when you are running it plus that is what the filter is there for. I say get it flushed.

 

How much is it to get a transmission flush? I need it flushed really bad..

I'll just take it to jiffy lube and have them fill it up with whatever they ahve.

 

I had it done once at a service station and I think it was about $70 after all the disposal charges etc.

 

I am in the middle of doing my gasket right now its not a hard thing to do at all just a little messy. I have been doing some searching and found this post and havent been able to find how many quarts to put in the guy at napa gave me three when i bought it which obviously wasnt right so could someone tell me how much your supposed to put in.

 

My Dad had a 87 Chevy Astro with a 700R4 it lasted till about 280,000 on the origianl trans, it had started to slip at about 240k miles andI dumped the oil and did a flush and the slipping went away,

so even though I have also heard the same things as u guys about not changing it because it will cause probs but in my case it actually solved the problem.