[INGENIEUR]

I am almost at 120k with my 2002 Passat (4Cyl. 1.8T, AWM, Wagon) ... I read through a couple of threads about ATF change and think I can do that myself with good instructions. I checked on a quote from the dealer. His response was: ATF change on my car would be recommended at 80k. It would cost $220 and explained after me asking that they would not drop the pan and not change the filter. They would "flush" the system and with that "wash" the filter. That sounds pretty half-baked to me, not ? For one flushing this old system is said to have more potential to cause problems than doing any good, and I don't think you can flush-wash the filter that well ?

I do consider just draining the as much fluid as possible and then refill with the correct ATF ... however, the difference to a complete job would be only not to have to drop and reinstall the pan. The tricky part of refilling the transmission from underneath the car won't go away.

Questions:

Have you ever heard of a "we only flush" response from a VW dealer ?
Would you think that drain / refill would be enough at 120k ? (The car shifts without any problems like on the first day)
Where are the best (most secure) points for the jacks to be positioned for the ATF change / running the car on jacks ?

 

[scotts13]

Answers in order: no, not really, and I don't know.

The official VW policy is that the transmission is sealed, and never needs service. When my transmission pan leaked, my dealership recommended I replace the transmission, because changing the fluid or dropping the pan "would probably ruin it anyway." Seriously. ZF, the manufacturer of the transmission, recommends a fluid change every 60,000 miles, and say NOT to "flush" the transmission. I have a hard time comprehending how someone would think you could "wash" the filter while in the transmission. Ignore them.

My recommendation, if you want the most life from your transmission, would be to follow ZF's plan. Drain what you can, drop the pan, replace the filter, gasket, and plugs, and refill with OEM fluid. Or, do nothing. Mine was working fine at 200,000 miles before it was serviced.

 

[cam.rayburn]

Car has to be on jackstands front and back. Or ramps and jackstands but it needs to be level.
There are many how to write ups on this subject.
This is a pretty good one taligentx.com: Passat - ATF & Filter Replacement
A filter is not that expensive and its pretty straight forward to change. If you just change by draining it, you dont get the gunk out of there like on the trans pan magnets or the heaviest stuff that will stay on the bottom.

 

[ylwagon]

I'm sure the ATF "flush" is simplest, quickest, and most profitable for the dealer, but if you want it done right, the filter should be changed too. As to jack-points; there are stamped indication marks on the rocker panels to show where the jack goes, but use a real jack, not the aluminum emergency thing. Lift the car with the floor jack's pad so you have room for your jack stands to be placed under the marks. I've always supported the car directly on edge of the flange, however a more proper way would be to support on pieces of steel channel shaped like the pad of the emergency jack.

If you are concerned about mixing some of the undrainable old fluid with alien ATF, use the OEM trans fluid. If not bothered by that, then I suggest Valvoline MaxLife synthetic at about one-third the cost.

 

[TurboJim]

Sounds like their intention was to back-flush the system. That is run ATF in the opposite direction it normally flows in.

As far as cleaning the filter is concerned back-flushing would only remove contaminent that is on top of the filter media. If the contaminent has imbedded itself in the media you're not going to dislodge it with a normal amount of pressure. Too much pressure and you'd be blowing holes through the media.

How important is it to change the filter? That I don't know, but with the pan removed it's a simple process.

 

[INGENIEUR]

Thank you for the replies. I had the taligentx write-up already bookmarked. That's a good reference. I will do the ATF change myself - with an ECS Kit and dropping the pan.

 

[bluesilk]

the dealer response reminded me about some engine flushing scandals (at some quick oil change type of chain stores) many years back.

 

[John_E]

The first time you change the fluid, do a pan drop and filter replacement.

After that, just drain-and-fill.

My Mercedes E320 driving friend was wisely told by his indy mechanic that he should change the fluid at 60k miles, even though DaimlerBenz says "lifetime." He said, "I have three E320s in my shop right now, all with blown transmissions at about 80 or 85K miles."

 

[wong93719]

Just did my 2002 1.8T today with the taligentx writeup. I decided to change it because I noticed some rough downshifts at red lights. Got the kit from Blauparts and I ended up using about 5.5L. 141000KM and the fluid was black and smelly. Dropping the pan changing the filter is definitely a good idea. I went for a spin after and it is smooth shifting at the lights now.

 

[dkonz]

Just did my 2002 1.8T today with the taligentx writeup. I decided to change it because I noticed some rough downshifts at red lights. Got the kit from Blauparts and I ended up using about 5.5L. 141000KM and the fluid was black and smelly. Dropping the pan changing the filter is definitely a good idea. I went for a spin after and it is smooth shifting at the lights now.

Is there any disadvantage to using a non-oem filter? Also, is there a disadvantage to the less expensive synthetic transmission fluid? The stealership wants 280 for filter and fluid while o'reillys wants 25 for the filter and 16/ltr for fluid.

 

[ylwagon]

Is there any disadvantage to using a non-oem filter? Also, is there a disadvantage to the less expensive synthetic transmission fluid? The stealership wants 280 for filter and fluid while o'reillys wants 25 for the filter and 16/ltr for fluid.

I guess that would depend on the particular non-oem filter and ATF, but I've used Meyle filters and Valvoline MaxLife Dex/Merc ATF in my cars and am perfectly content. My A4 has done around 100K miles using MaxLife, total on the trans is 236,000 miles, and it shifts at the full 6,200 rpm a few times every day. Total cost for fluid and filter is around $70~$80.