I recently changed my transmission oil to Redline MT-90. This car has 135k miles and I bought it at 108k miles with NO service records. So I'm not sure whats been done before.

The oil came out fairly clean for transmission oil and still had good viscosity to the touch. (don't know if that matters). In other words it looked like it wasn't 135k miles old.

NOW the shift gates don't feel as smooth. It seems to take a little more effort to slide into the gates and it doesn't have that "self finding" feel.

I'm I crazy or is there a trans oil out there that would shift and feel better than Redline (besides Amsoil) that perhaps is what was in there before I drained it? I'm surprised with how immediate and apparent the shift feel changed.

Any thoughts? Should I go out and buy audi OEM oil or Amsoil?

 

I recently changed it in my 6 speed A4. ECS Tuning said you could use MT90 or MTL, they recommended MTL based on my grandma driving style and climate. I couldn't see any change one way or another after the change, but the stuff coming out looked perfect at 85,000 miles which made me kind of feel it wasn't worth messing with.

I used MT90 in my BMW and immediately noticed a decrease in shifter feel, maybe try the MTL from Redline.

 

Vishnu,

I have the same exact car, 2003 A4 Avant 1.8Tq 5-speed manual. I recently had some bearings changed in my transfer-case, which required refilling the transmission fluid. The mechanic ended up replacing the fluid twice. The first time they replaced the fluid, I noticed the same thing - unsmooth shift, especially into 1st and out of first into 2nd when the fluid was not warmed up. The condition improved after driving for a bit. My mechanic replaced the fluid a second time with light viscosity fluid. This helped quite a bit and the shifts were VERY smooth. The next week, I got a call from my mechanic and he said he under-filled the tranny and I needed to fill it with another 800ml. I did so, and the shifts got notchy again (only when not warmed up). 5000 miles later, the shifter has smoothed out a bit.

Basically, judging from the story, it sounds like the problem could either be viscosity of the fluid or amount of fluid in the transmission casing. At this point, I am thinking it is the later. Perhaps there is too much fluid.

Anyhow, just thought my story might help you arrive at a solution. Good luck!

 

You could always try draining some and replacing it with some of the lighter MTL, see how it feels after that. I know some people that did a mix of MT90 and Shockproof.

 

Thanks, good feedback. I realized my original post was made less than 100 miles after changing the fluid. With a week on the new fluid, it seems to be a little better but still not like before.

I'm going to wait a couple thousand miles before doing anything else. I'll let you know what I decide to do if the problem remains. I'll probably add a little MTL (and/or drain fluid if necessary to maintain capacity).

Also, I put in 3 quart bottles. With the pumping apparatus "leaking" about 5-10%. So I doubt I overfilled it (capacity is 2.95qt). I was actually a little concerned that I under filled it because fluid wasn't seeping out of the fill hole after I completely drained three quart sized bottles. But sounds like that wouldn't cause these symptoms.