how do I change my automatic transmission fluid? My 96 a4 shifts hard into second when cold then stops when warmed up. thanks

 

you dont, it will cost you a ton of money and time, and oh yea is never supposed to be touched... 14 quarts, 50$/quart, no way to drain or fill, atf doesnt wear out

 

It doesnt cost a ton of money. Its probably wise to change the fluid just like the coolant even though it is a lifetime fluid as well. Its a good idea to change the tranny fluid either semi often, or not at all... It depends on how the car was taken care of before you had it. If its never been changed and has over 60 or 70k miles it could be wise to change just the fluid, but not the filter if you have an automatic. I dont know if the manuals have a filter, but over time little peices of your clutch wear off and float around in your fluid, over time those peices wear down on your internal parts alitte, but create a buffer between them. If you change your filter, or all of your fluid, you will lose those peices and the tranny will wear down fast(er). Ive done so many searches on the subject, this is what i gathered.. Its not $50/quart!!!!! More like $10 or $15... The atf like any fluid wears out/breaks down/burns up over time. what do you mean no way to drain and fill?

 

Its actually suposed to shift that way when its cold. There is a technical service bulletin on the subject .. Customers were complaining about it to audi and they say it shifts harder when its cold at first. Its because when the fluid in the tranny is cold and hasnt cirulated properly yet, it needs to shift differently so there isnt as much slipping between gear shifts. You know how when its warmed up how slow the shift is normaly between 1st and second??? Its preventing it from doing that because that much "slipping" or slow shifting can hurt the tranny when the fluid hasnt circulated all the way... Its a cold start program the TCU runs when the temp of the fluid is at a certain level-less than 40 degrees i think.

 

ok first of all, the trans fluid is not a lifetime fluid, cmon guys what lubricant is lifetime sheez, anyways, the ATF has additives added to it, to protect the transmission, transmissions fluid is a heavy detergent based fluid, over time the fluid detergents will break down and thats why you need to change the fluid, its recomended at about 50k intervals, anyhow to change the fluid its a involved process on these transmissions, there is a drain plug and a fill plug on the transmission, our transmissions do not have dipsticks. basically what you want to do is get the fluid change kit from blauparts,and change it, neglecting your auto transmission is terrible thing to do, and will result in expensive repair, service that **** anyhow i dont wanna explain in detail what to do when you can go to this website and see for yourself, http://www.blauparts.com/parts%20dep..._vag1924.shtml

 

oh yea, and the technical service bullitin for it wasnt something it was spose to do, it came down to the temputure sensing strip in the tranny not sensing temp correctly and shifting hard when cold. still not something they were fixing unless the trans needed an overhaul.

 

The TSB in my Bentley manual says differently.. Id post it but im not at that computer.. And that website that you linked to for the "Special Tool" is a rip off.. They are charging $30 for a pump you can get off any spray bottle and a clear little hose!! Plus, you are going to need more than the 4 litres i think of fluid that they include if you are changing the filter.. And the shipping is kind of high for parts that i can get pretty much anywhere.. Anyway, does anyone have a pic of the auto tranny from under the car?? Id like to see exactly where the drain/fill plugs are on it.

They are probably making close to a $70 proffit on those "kits."

 

Remember when you change the atf on an auto you can't remove ALL the fluid. Some (nearly a liter) stays in the torque converter and won't be removed without a full flush.