First Transmission Service at 141K Miles

Leroy71

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 17, 2018
Location
MI
TDI
2014 Touareg TDI
My VW dealership has always told me my 2014 Touareg had permanent fluid never to be changed. It had recently started hanging up in 3rd gear when accelerating slowly with a cold winter transmission. It would always shift but only when rpm's were elevated. I finally decided to get it changed in spite of VW. I was worried it would never move again. It came out fine but still hangs up a little in 3rd. I will have it done again perhaps as soon as 10K miles. VW does charge a lifetime price for their transmission fluid. $47.25/quart for 6 of them. I had it done for $392 at a local garage.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
That unit is a 'not anything special' Aisin automatic, and the lifetime fluid is a joke. There isn't anything special there, either.

It is a very good transmission overall (thank you, Toyota), but they do occasionally suffer from sticking or worn valve bodies. Often times a thorough fluid flush and filter change will get them behaving again, worst case is they'll need a whole valve body. This is much more common on the transverse 6sp Aisin boxes VAG uses, not so much on the big longitudinal truck boxes the T'regs use.

We use Idemitsu brand TLS ATF in them here, far less expensive and your Aisin box won't know the difference as that is one of the types than Aisin ships everything with from Japan.

In some cases, and usually accompanied by a DTC, there will be some shift solenoid issue. Volkswagen does not sell those by themselves, but Toyota does. Just have to figure out which one you need.
 

Leroy71

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 17, 2018
Location
MI
TDI
2014 Touareg TDI
That unit is a 'not anything special' Aisin automatic, and the lifetime fluid is a joke. There isn't anything special there, either.

It is a very good transmission overall (thank you, Toyota), but they do occasionally suffer from sticking or worn valve bodies. Often times a thorough fluid flush and filter change will get them behaving again, worst case is they'll need a whole valve body. This is much more common on the transverse 6sp Aisin boxes VAG uses, not so much on the big longitudinal truck boxes the T'regs use.

We use Idemitsu brand TLS ATF in them here, far less expensive and your Aisin box won't know the difference as that is one of the types than Aisin ships everything with from Japan.

In some cases, and usually accompanied by a DTC, there will be some shift solenoid issue. Volkswagen does not sell those by themselves, but Toyota does. Just have to figure out which one you need.
Thank you for the information
 

TurboABA

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 24, 2010
Location
Kitchener, ON
TDI
RIP-2010 Jetta 6spd 2014 Touareg Execline
All they did was drain and refill.
That's NFG.... there's still 1/2 the system capacity of old dirty fluid left in the rest of the system (TC, cooler, lines, etc)
At that milage and with having issues, I'd want something better. You should at the very least have the pan dropped, the filter changed, the magnets cleaned. Since you're having issues, I'd do a full flush with the proper equipment that allows you to open the cooler thermostat and actually flush out what's trapped in the trans cooler as well..... at least if you want to do it properly. Dropping the pan will also allow you to see what kind of grit and\or stuff you find in there which may tell you if you've got more serious wear to worry about.
 

Leroy71

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 17, 2018
Location
MI
TDI
2014 Touareg TDI
That's NFG.... there's still 1/2 the system capacity of old dirty fluid left in the rest of the system (TC, cooler, lines, etc)
At that milage and with having issues, I'd want something better. You should at the very least have the pan dropped, the filter changed, the magnets cleaned. Since you're having issues, I'd do a full flush with the proper equipment that allows you to open the cooler thermostat and actually flush out what's trapped in the trans cooler as well..... at least if you want to do it properly. Dropping the pan will also allow you to see what kind of grit and\or stuff you find in there which may tell you if you've got more serious wear to worry about.
I assumed their was no filter. I was going to repeat it in 10K miles.
 
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