Audi 5K auto tranny tip

["Jim Dhillon" <jdhillon@cibc.onramp.ca>]

Hi all, 

My auto tranny on the '86 5K was beginning to act up - symptoms were
sluggish shifts, free revving of the engine with no drive occasionally..
very scary! I had a friend in the tranny business so I called him to see if
he could rebuild it and what he would charge. He told me that very likely
the tranny was gone, but before I did anything, try some TRANS MEDIC (I
believe it's a Solder Seal Gunk product). I did so and it made a slight
improvement. Calling him back, he said to try a fluid/filter service before
bringing it to him. I did this and whaddya know! It works like a charm.
Unfortunately, the effect only lasted a couple of weeks. Seems like the
fresh fluids plus the cleaner/lubricant must have loosened crud in the
tranny which again restricted the filter. Repeated the fluid/filter service
and put in some more TRANS MEDIC. Drives perfect! This time the effect
lasted! I drove it for about 1000 miles after this and then did another
fluid change, this time with straight tranny fluid only. Has driven great
ever since!
My friend also told me that the crud loosening problem is common with
trannies which haven't had a fluid change for a while.. doing a fluid
change after a long period risks an inoperable tranny. Moral of the story -
FREQUENT tranny fluid changes prevent problems!

regards, Jim