Audi TX fluid leakage

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

Audi 1999 a6 quattro V6-2.8L. Thats my car. On oil change my mechanic informs me that TX fluid leakage in two places

  1. Right front drive axle seal needs to be replaced. labor is 2.4hrs - parts work out to $75.00
  2. Rear Transmission Housing seal and flange gasket to be replaced to seal transfer case fluid leakage, labor is 4.2 hrs., parts work out to 100.00

Does this sound right? I have not seen any puddle or light go up. Mechanic informs me that Tx fluid leakage - there is no light and it happens.

Any comments, feedback, jokes???

2

Those time and parts estimates don’t seem unreasonable to me for the amount of work involved. Whether those things actually need to be done on your car – well, we here at the forum can’t say. If you don’t trust your mechanic, maybe seek out a second opinion. You might ask your mechanic if it is advisable to delay these repairs. Best of luck.

3

George:
You hit the nail on the head. That’s what bothers me. How do I get an objective second opinion without mentioning there is a leak. I need to take it to a mechanic in order for this to be done. Everyone wants a diagnosis charge of $180.00. There is no way that I can diagnose without a lift because any TX fluid will drip on catalytic converter and I cant see the catalytic converter without hoist. My mechanic says delaying is at my own risk of losing transmission. The car has been running fine and this warning was given 6 months ago. I am wondering if I should take it to a mechanic and have him look at replacing TX fluid. May be that way he can tell me if there is a leak or not. There is no light in the Audi that tells me that the fluid is running low.

4

First of all, if I were you, given the sitution you describe, I’d check the fluid levels daily.

Second, you need a mechanic you can trust to do right by you.

Think about it. You can go to Walmart or Target or your bank, and they’ll usually do right by you. Why? Because they need repeat business to thrive. If they do a bad job, you won’t come back. And worse, you’ll tell other people you know what happened, and they won’t go there either. Walmart, Target, and yoru bank relies on customer good will to thrive.

Mechanics sometimes don’t think of repeat business as a motivating factor. They’ll do a well-done repair, and never see the customer again. They’ll do a badly-done repair, and never see the customer again. There’s no feedback mechanism.

So I think that’s what you need to develop is a MFM (mechanic feedback mechanism). The way you get it is to seek outpotential mechanic opinions from your friends, neighbors co-workers, church goers, anybody you have a personal relationship with. Then visit some of those mechanics, see how much experience they have working on your make/model, and then tell the one you decide upon that the reason you are going to them is because “John Schmidt” or whoever it is, a current customer of theirs, recommended them to you.

Then your new mechanic will have incentive to do good by you. Because if he doesn’t, you’ll tell John Schmidt what happened, and not only will the mechanic loose you as a customer, he’ll likely also loose John Schmidt.

At some point you either have to do it yourself, or trust your mechanic. Hope that may be of some help.

5

George:
Thank you. This mechanic is new to me. I have been to him only twice and hence no history. I can take the car to another mechanic I trust to get a second opinion but he will charge an hour which in San Fran is 180.00

6

is there a way to check tx fluid level in an audi 1999 quattro?

7

The fluid level is checked from under the car. You should have asked your machanic to refill the transmission for you and afterwards asked how much was needed, then you would have an idea how great the loss is and how often you will need to add fluid.

Number 2 in the diagram is the fluid level check plug.

8

good idea. thanks