Am I crazy

I have bought 2 2015 TDI Q5's this week. One for the wife and the other for me. Hers is dark blue metallic with a brown leather interior and 49k. Mine is Daytona gray with a beige interior and 71k. The records show they were maintained by Audi dealers. I do most of my own service work. Does the trans fluid have to changed like a DSG? What should I keep on top of? I have been driving an '04 and keeping it up.

I have a 2015 at tdi.

Transmission is listed as "lifetime". ZF recommended 60 - 90k for someone I read before. I did my diffs and tranny @ 55k since mine is used to tow.

The q5 has major and minor services. Minor is air filter, cabin air filter and oil which is vw 507 spec oil btw.

Major is above + fuel filter and sometimes brake fluid.

Services are every 10k or 1 year whichever us first.https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.audiusa.com/content/dam/audiusa/Documents/maintenance-schedules/Audi-Maintenance-Schedule-Model-Year-2015-v2.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjzssvvp5DoAhUTZDUKHR2kCwoQFjAAegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw2te--0OOZjPOHvzhtYBe7h

I've read that the fuel filter should be changed every 20k to protect the HPFP. Is that a good habit? I fell in love with how they drive and the fuel mileage. I have had 2 Touaregs but both were gassers. The only thing I find as weird , is that the car doesn't have a dip stick but relies on a sensor to determine if you need to add oil.

Its good practice to change fuel filter in the fall before winter. Unless you put on lots of miles. its cheap reassurance. also should always have one for each vehicle on hand.

I would recommend the ZFs get serviced every 60k (ZF themselves recommends every 100k km, which is pretty close to 60k miles).

You can do it a couple different ways. Flush it with a machine, hooked up to the cooler pipes, or drop the pan and replacing the filter.

I prefer the latter method, because the later 6sp and all 8sp ZF transmissions do not have the filter attached with screws to the valve body like the 5sp and early 6sp did. So, in some cases, the filter can drop down due to the little orange seal that holds it up in the transmission shrinking/hardening over time. While the filter cannot completely fall out, at it will land on the pan first, it can cause a less-than-ideal ability to do its job of being the fluid pickup, and cause the pump to suck air. This causes over time an aeration of the fluid, which of course is not good.

If you take the pan off, and the filter falls out with it, you know it had come loose. And was just "sitting" in the bore. You'll have to get up in there and remove the old seal. The new one will be on the new filter already. And get a new gasket, and do NOT overtorque the screws, or it'll bend the pan and it will leak forever and require a new pan.

The drain plug seal and check/fill plug seal are not available by themselves, they are part of the plug, so I recommend getting new ones... especially if the check/fill plug is the plastic one. You for sure won't want to reuse that and cause a leak.

The fluid is not cheap, but there are some aftermarket alternatives that are a direct replacement for the ZF 6/8HP juice. You'll need a device to push the fluid back in, same as most other modern autoboxes.

There is a forward brace that has to come off to access the pan, as well as the rear transmission mount assembly (which requires the rear of the trans to be supported during service with a suitable jack).

The car will need to be level for checking/filling.

Easy job, not a big deal really.

Thank you Oilhammer. You have helped me on my BEW Beetle in the past. Does the trans refill like a DSG where you basically force the fluid from the bottom and bring it up to temp before you close it up?

Same principle, yes. Main difference would be that the drain plug and fill/check plugs are two different things in two different places.

Thank you for the information. I haven't found what weight oil to use. The Audi manual says to bring it to them. The only spec I have found on the oil is VW507.00. Is there a specific weight or is the 507.00 only one weight?

There are 0w30 and 5w30 507.00 spec oils, most are 5w30. We run Pentosin Super Performance III here, which is 5w30.

Thank you for the information. I'm still learning about these cars but am very happy so far. I got scared when studying how to do the rear brakes. I called my son and he told me not to worry. His scanner would put the electric motors in service mode so I will be able to change them when needed. It is all about the tricks on how to work on these cars.

Yes, lots of cars have EPB now that require the calipers be placed in some sort of service mode. Some MB products (and presumably others) allow you do do so without a scan tool, with a sequence of pressing buttons in the car in a particular order, then the info center tells you the calipers are now in service mode. I wish they all did that, but any proper scan tool can do it when needed. And it actually is EASIER that way, believe it or not, because you do not have to manually crank the caliper pistons back in. You just squeeze them in, the motors did the hard work for you already.

oilhammer said:

So, in some cases, the filter can drop down due to the little orange seal that holds it up in the transmission shrinking/hardening over time. While the filter cannot completely fall out, at it will land on the pan first, it can cause a less-than-ideal ability to do its job of being the fluid pickup, and cause the pump to suck air. This causes over time an aeration of the fluid, which of course is not good.
If you take the pan off, and the filter falls out with it, you know it had come loose. And was just "sitting" in the bore. You'll have to get up in there and remove the old seal. The new one will be on the new filter already.

Click to expand...

Thanks for this info. If it's still sitting up in there does one need to pull it out and replace or just leave it well enough alone?

I've got a 2013 Touareg that has an 8 speed aisin, which will or won't have this issue?

I'm looking at a 2016 A6 that sounds like it would have this issue?

One either/both, will I need to drop the pan multiple time to get a full change or you think just once is enough every 60K?

I would pull the old seal out, yes. The new one will be on the new filter.

Changing it every 60k should be perfectly fine.

The Aisin transmissions are completely different, share nothing. They sometimes have valve body problems that require replacement.