- This topic has 31 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 7 months ago by
.
-
Topic
-
Last week I was looking up documents on Alldata (and the owners manual) for a 2001 Jetta, to decide how often to swap out automatic transmission fluid. I was surprised to read in both of those documents that VW does not recommend replacing automatic transmission fluid. Ever.
That seems pretty strange. Is their horizon so short that they don’t believe that their vehicles should live long enough to require that kind of maintenance? Or, do they disagree with the fundamental assumption that old fluid can lose protective properties, and changing it out may lengthen transmission survival? Do you think I should change the fluid anyway, ignoring the manufacturers advice?
-
Replies
-
Sometimes changing an automatic fluid makes the transmission act worse and start slipping, it all depends on the transmission and thing to weather it will harm or help things out.
That’s cool, somebody who knows something about fixing cars AND how to drive computers. There are some rare birds in these trees, ha ha.
haha I can fix just about anything as long as it fixable and I have done tons of motor and car work in general from everything with tune ups to full engine swaps and transmission swaps. fun stuff!
Rock On! banana:Don’t go against the manufacturer reccommendations unless you have an actual problem with your transmission and need to open it. VW’s have (for lack of a better term) forever sealed transmissions. The fluid is good enough to last a lifetime. Opening that transmission can make things worse. I have a 2001 passat and a 2005 touareg. My whole family has VW’s. I have alldata and it does show you the steps to follow if you need to do a transmission fluid change, but again, that’s if you really need to. Leave it alone, trust me.
[quote=”EndSupremacy” post=31166]Don’t go against the manufacturer reccommendations unless you have an actual problem with your transmission and need to open it. VW’s have (for lack of a better term) forever sealed transmissions. The fluid is good enough to last a lifetime. Opening that transmission can make things worse. I have a 2001 passat and a 2005 touareg. My whole family has VW’s. I have alldata and it does show you the steps to follow if you need to do a transmission fluid change, but again, that’s if you really need to. Leave it alone, trust me.[/quote]
This is a variant of a general theme, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. I love that advice, and what you said above is what I’m doing. However I feel uneasy about that because if flies in the face of advice for most other vehicles. And, more than ever, I’m realizing that auto makers don’t see a 10 year horizon for car life as being “their optimum”. So, I guess I’m saying I don’t trust the advice of VW in this case. Why would their transmissions be any different that any other? Are they saying that they don’t believe the mantra that transmission oil should be changed in any vehicle?
I’m not sure what’s going on with German cars. I believe Porsche now says their coolant never needs replacing. Of course, they do say to change it when doing any service work on the cooling system…..which you will probably be doing a lot of because you never changed the coolant. I believe Toyota was also saying that you don’t ever need to change the tranny fluid unless the vehicle is driven under ‘severe’ conditions. Just remember, they make $ by selling you parts and/or another car, not by making your car last 30 years!
You do bring up some good questions, but again, unless their is a problem or your transmission starts to slip, leave it be. I know you said thats what you are going to do, I’m just repeating myself. My friend had to change out his transmission on his 96 passat. I don’t remember what was the problem. It goes without saying, when you need to work on your transmission, thats when you put new fluid and filter in.
[quote=”EndSupremacy” post=31518]You do bring up some good questions, but again, unless their is a problem or your transmission starts to slip, leave it be. I know you said thats what you are going to do, I’m just repeating myself. My friend had to change out his transmission on his 96 passat. I don’t remember what was the problem. It goes without saying, when you need to work on your transmission, thats when you put new fluid and filter in.[/quote]
VW does reccomend ATF on dsg… every 40 000 miles!
DSG boxes break more often than your brake discs, no kidding, stay clear of them.They say they’ve fixed it after 2009 y. models.
This has been talked about over at my cars forum. I own a 2006 Passat and while it says that the transmission fluid is lifetime, later VW sent out a letter correcting that saying to change it every 40k miles.
[quote=”nodashi123″ post=31926]This has been talked about over at my cars forum. I own a 2006 Passat and while it says that the transmission fluid is lifetime, later VW sent out a letter correcting that saying to change it every 40k miles.[/quote]
Usually Alldata will have all of the official TSB’s, and so I checked again. Evidently Alldata didn’t get that memo.
Incidentally, they also don’t recommend a standard interval for timing belt replacement on the 2.0 engine, except for the TDI. Of course they suggest replacing the timing belt if it is found to be worn. Evidently the engines we are talking about must be non-interference engines.
I’m not sure off hand about your vehicle, but generally on the V6’s, V8’s, and V10’s are interference engines. VW does have timng belt intervals for these engines.
Some things are just low maintenance because technology improved the last 30 years.
If you insist on going against manufacturer recommendations and are not experiencing a problem, at least use OEM tranny fluid. I think many mishaps occur because people think oil weight is all that matters.
The ZF transmission in my car is not serviceable for the first 100000 miles (at $200/quart it should last a long time :S) it says in the manual and it comes with iridium spark plugs with the same longevity (they say, however those I will be checking up on).
Some things are just low maintenance because technology improved the last 30 years.
If you insist on going against manufacturer recommendations and are not experiencing a problem, at least use OEM tranny fluid. I think many mishaps occur because people think oil weight is all that matters.
The ZF transmission in my car is not serviceable for the first 100000 miles (at $200/quart it should last a long time :S) it says in the manual and it comes with iridium spark plugs with the same longevity (they say, however those I will be checking up on).
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.