a cautionary tale...

[Dave Eaton]

a tale of woe with a happy ending.
 
a couple of months ago i had a "coming together" in my car with another
vehicle.  t-boned them.  i managed to reduce the length of my car by about
100m, and write their car off.
 
however, my car being an rs6 meant that, although the front end was stove in
only 100m, a small matter of 5 radiators were kaput (engine coolant,
transmission, engine oil, power steering, hvac).  throw in the cost of a new
bumper and the total cost of my mistake was about $30k(!)  as a consequence
of paying above normal for insurance for most of my (audi) vehicular life i
got to choose the best panelshop in town and they did a job that was
frankly, superb.  the car looked better than new, the new paint was deep,
even and perfectly matched.  the new bumper and chrome made the car look
fantastic.  net cost to me was $500 excess.  after 20 years of no claims, i
was happy and 'ahead'...
 
we had chosen to replace the transmission oil cooler, due to surface damage
(crushed cooling fins), although it wasn't leaking after the accident.
 
however over the course of the last few weeks the car began shifting
abruptly and becoming noisy in step off. frankly the transmission
performance had been deteriorating anyway, and i was bracing myself for the
inevitable expensive repair at some point in the not too distant future.
however this was much much worse.  once the car even refused to step off
even though in 'drive' and throttle depressed.  it just spun away in neutral
and then with a 'bang' we were off.
 
i had had a conversation with the panelshop about their capability to
replace the radiators and had been assured that they could do the work (i
had the t-belt replaced by the dealer whilst the car was sans front end).
but i was suspicious that the fluid lost in the cooler hadn't been replaced,
so i asked the dealer to check the transmission fluid and top up if
necessary. they came back to me with the news that the transmission was 3
litres short of fluid!  as a consequence of the top-up, shifting behaviour
was good again, but there was still a nasty whine when stepping off.
expensive transmission repair time i thought....
 
the obvious conclusion was that, in replacing the oil cooler, the panelshop
hadn't replaced the fluid.  not good.  especially as i was likely to be
caught up in discussions with the panelshop over a bill likely to be in
excess of $10k...
 
as many will know, the 5hp24a transmission is a "fill for life" unit (don't
get me starting of the stupidity of that), and as a consequence, filling the
transmission is a mission requiring an arm broken in 4 places, a ph.d and
the patience of mother teresa.
 
after going back to the panelshop with the dealers story of having to add 3
litres of fluid (total of 9l in the unit), they flatly denied being
responsible.  things got more confusing when we managed to locate the old
cooler and verify that it only contained 200ml of fluid and that the next
obvious candidate, the fluid lines, were auto sealing, and we were left
scratching our heads.
 
the panelshop were taking responsibility, even acknowledging that they did
not attempt to replace fluids lost (their s.o.p), so i was happy enough so
we took the car to a dedicated transmission shop for further diagnostics.
they dropped the pan investigated and ended up replacing the filter,
cleaning the pan, and fully replacing the oil.
 
the result is stunning - fast definite shifts, smoother operation and a
transformed car.  better than i can recall it ever being.  the panelshop
wore the costs.
 
the transmission shop confirmed that there were no leaks from the
transmission, and that the pan had not been off. given that the car has been
serviced from birth, there is no explanation of the loss of 1/3 of the
transmission fluid, other than it had been short from birth.
 
with my last car (another 5hp24a transmission) i got the tranny fluid
replaced once, but i have neglected to do so with the rs. i can confirm that
the transmission is never checked by the dealer (it's 'sealed for life'
don't you know) - and so, unless you complain about poor shifting
performance, it escapes attention.
 
the morale of the story - locate a good transmission shop, and get them to
flush and replace the fluid and filter as a maintenance procedure at
reasonable intervals (my car is 7 years old, and has 89k kms on the clock)
-particularly if shifting performance is getting sloppy.  our allroad is now
booked in for the same treatment as the shifting performance has
deteriorated, as a consequence of the towing it does.

overall a happy ending - i'm now happier and wiser than when i started - and
the car is too....
 
dave
'03 rs6
'04 allroad tdi