Help Please Quattro S-Tronic maintenance

[Brennan]

Guys could someone help me, I need some advice on maintenance of a Quattro S-Tronic.

I have spotted one that I’m considering buying, the car has fairly high miles but being a diesel this shouldn’t be much of an issue and the car has a full service history. I’ve never owned an auto car or a 4WD car before so I’m a complete novice when this car falls under both of these categories.

I have been reading some horror stories of the S-Tronic/DSGs breaking in spectacular fashion so the fact they are prone to failing concerns me considerably, especially when this car is out of warranty.

Also with the maintenance, I read the gearbox oil has to be changed every 38-40k miles and being a Quattro, differential fluids as well need changed on the torsen system?

Like I said I’m a complete novice on this, so if someone could be able to explain this properly to me before I buy it and get really out of my depth, it would be much appreciated.

 

[Brennan]

Edit: The car is a B8.5, just read that these have the new crown gear Quattro system

 

[Mario]

Official word is the S-Tronic fluid needs changed every 38k (no age limit) and all other fluids (mechanical gear side of the gearbox & rear diff) are "filled for life" which is ******.

Our car has is a B8.5 (2013) S-Tronic Quattro with only 16k on the clocks, but as it's passed the 4 year mark I have done it anyway.

For me, personally I would change the S-Tronic oil every 38k or 4 years (whatever comes first) and the mechanical gear oil / diff oil every 60k or 6 years max.

However as I said above, according to Audi it's only the S-Tronic fluid that needs done every 38k, nothing more.

Oh, and S-Tronic units from late 2012 / early 2013 onwards are more reliable than the older ones.

 

[Dippy]

I can add that the hypoid oil (which is not in the service schedule) is common to the gearbox gears, the crown centre diff and the front diff, which are all effectively in the gearbox "package". I'd agree with Mario that it should be changed at some point, however I don't think it is related to the s-tronic horror stories you have read. Certainly the ATF oil (for the clutches) is critical.

The DL501 s-tronic 'box fitted in the B8 came out in 2009. It was revised sometime in 2011 and then again sometime during the facelift after 2012. Statistically it is the first version which gets most reports of failures, but there still are reports for the later versions. I have seen owners reporting issues for cars as late as 2015, although those were probably built in 2014 since the Americans tend to quote marketing model year rather than build year. There is no doubt that some of the reported problems are at least in part due to lack of maintenance and there are owners who have reported that minor functional/performance problems are resolved merely by renewing the ATF oil and filter.

So I recommend that you be wary of buying any car which has not had its scheduled gearbox service(s). Furthermore don't rely on word of mouth or "FASH" - you really want to see proof that it was done (i.e. an invoice). This is especially important for pre-facelift cars. And if it is a 2009/10 car then be aware that it seems fairly certain now that the design of the gearbox fitted to cars in those years was in some way inferior. Whilst I am aware of many owners of 2009/10 cars who have not had problems, I also know of some owners who have had problems, and the consequences are bad.

 

[Brennan]

Thanks for the great info guys.

The car is September 2013 so I guess it has the better more reliable S-tronic then ?

 

[jdp1962]

Thanks for the great info guys.

The car is September 2013 so I guess it has the better more reliable S-tronic then ?

Yes, in theory, Aaron, but follow @Dippy's advice about seeing an invoice to prove the S-Tronic gearbox oil have been changed at the 38,000 mile mark. No invoice, no sale.

 

[Booboo]

£200 for S-TRONIC oil and filter changes at the dealers. I had mine done recently.