newbie A4 B5 question

[Les Norton]

Am in process of buying a A4 B5 1999 automatic 1896cc Estate Diesel.
There is no handbook is it possible to download a handbook somewhere?

Plus is there a site that can tell me a bit more about the car i have - I know its an automatic and B5 and 1896cc diesel size engine Automatic, not sure how many gears it has as when i do searches by registration number i get offered quatro and non quatro (sorry not had an audi before) only found parts companies searches plus DVLA that i can search that way.

The first job i want to do is change the oil and filter on the auto box.

Had a good look around the site and can't see any varient history page if there are any have missed them although did find a how to page on the A4 that unfortunately was unable to link to photobucket.

[Sam]

Moved to the cleverly named A4 B5 section.

Welcome to VWAF

[warptechno]

You could have a look at this: ATF fluid flush - tiptronic B5 VW Passat and Audi | VW TDI forum, Audi, Porsche, and Chevy Cruze diesel forum I never got round to attempting it myself but it is doable. Vagcom is highly recommended as you need to have the fluid up to the right temp when doing the necessary fills.

[green A8]

For a handbook try searching on good old fleabay. I assume that you mean a genuine Audi publication? The one that came with my old June 1999 Avant 1.9 TDi (AFN) had the Audi part number 981.561.8D5.20 and was printed in 07/97. Failing that there is of course the well known Haynes offering, again search ebay for one, there's usually a coice of a few on sale at any time, Ill dig up the Haynes publication number and post it later. In either case neither publication cover in any detail how to change the Automatic oil and filter, from memory haynes point you in the direction of your local friendly Audi dealer, due to the over complex nature of this highly specialised job. Audi's idea of DIY seems to revolve around changing tyres, bulbs and fuses. For all other problems contact your local friendly Audi dealer.

You could try a google search for more info, I'm pretty sure I found an in depth write up of how to change the transmission fluid and filter on an A8. You will need Vag-Com/ VCDS as the transmission fluid has to be at a specific temperature to do this job correctly. (At least on the A8 not certain about the A4)

Hope that this is of some help to you

[jbh325i]

I do have a spare leather case with all the books that came with the cars when new.

Im not very well clued up on the Auto boxes but the good old AFN engines are pretty bullet proof lumps

[green A8]

I'm not the seller, so I'm not trying to make a fast buck. It may be of interest to note that there are a several of booklets including the Owners Manual for sale on ebay right now. Item number 161208987021 is one I noted down. I think it's at around 99p+£4.00 P&P (when I looked earlier on today) There are others though, all are more expensive, priced between £9.99 and £30.00! All you have to do is search 'Audi A4 B5 Owners Manual'

Hope this info is of some help to one or more of you.

[jbh325i]

priced between £9.99 and £30.00! All you have to do is search 'Audi A4 B5 Owners Manual'

is that used ones!!! thats mental.. I wouldnt pay that much so I wouldnt ask any one else to. if the boy wants the one I have spare he can cover the p&p and ill be happy.

[green A8]

Yes it's mental all right, but that's ebay for you, a 'bargain' to be had in every listing...NOT!
I've picked up full service packs(excluding the service history book) from scrap cars in breakers yards for free, worst case, the old 'give us a couple of quid for 'em mate' type transaction. I think £30.00 is way OTT but there you go, somone will end up buying them, or maybe not.

[Les Norton]

got the handbook ok, not from that seller but £2.99 so can't grumble, just came today

[expat2000]

Am in process of buying a A4 B5 1999 automatic 1896cc Estate Diesel.
There is no handbook is it possible to download a handbook somewhere?

Plus is there a site that can tell me a bit more about the car i have - I know its an automatic and B5 and 1896cc diesel size engine Automatic, not sure how many gears it has as when i do searches by registration number i get offered quatro and non quatro (sorry not had an audi before) only found parts companies searches plus DVLA that i can search that way.

The first job i want to do is change the oil and filter on the auto box.

Had a good look around the site and can't see any varient history page if there are any have missed them although did find a how to page on the A4 that unfortunately was unable to link to photobucket.

Morning,

I have the same car apart from mine is a pre-facelift 98 model, mine has the 4 speed auto box which I have just done a oil and filter change on. It's not too bad a job but the Haynes not a great deal of use as there are a variety of engine and gearbox options covered and not all will be appropriate. See thread Odd vibration top gear only

It's not too bad of a job, can be long winded but I was taking it slow and steady as not worked on this car before. You will need the following though:

VAGCOM cable, (I got a cheap chinese one from ebay and it worked well, make sure if you plan to run it on a newish laptop that it includes the appropriate windows drivers, mine came with Vista and Windows 7 drivers on disk)
VCDS software, I downloaded the free "lite" version and its excellent Ross-Tech: VCDS-Lite: Download
Laptop
Filler pipe plug/cap, I got the filter and sump gasket from ebay but the filler cap only seems to be available from audi, it's pretty cheap though (here in Norway it was a fiver so I would expect its only a couple of quid in the UK, I had to virtually destroy the old filler cap/plug to remove it so plan to replace it)
A three foot length of about 10mm plastic/rubber pipe to help refill the gearbox :-)
The car must be level so I used 4 axle stands.

There are quite a few demos on youtube, couldn't find the exact one for the four speed auto box but you will get the rough idea from them.
Draining the box, removing the sump and replacing the filter is pretty much as you would expect, the filling and checking the level is the tricky part as follows:

The drain plug has a tube above it in the sump and the level is correct when the oil is just coming out of it so the level is checked with the engine running, box in park, with the gearbox oil between 35 and 40 degC.
With the whole lot back together put about a litre of oil in, I found the easiest way to fill was a length of hose from the oil bottle in the engine bay down the side of the engine into the fill pipe, the fill pipe is on the side of the gearbox sump pan so you will know see what its like when you have the sump off. Start the engine then put more oil in (maybe another 2 litres) and wait for the gearbox oil temp to climb to the correct range, run the box through all gears with the brake on (this is where you need the VAGCOM cable and VCDS to check the temperature info here for how to measure it Ross-Tech: VAG-COM: Automatic Transmission Info)

When the oil is up to the correct temperature top it off with oil until it just runs out of the inner drain plug/overflow. Replace drain plug with engine still running (yes I got that one wrong, as soon as you stop the engine the pump in the gearbox stops and the sump fills back up and oil gushes out of the overflow )

All done, made a huge difference to mine, I think the old oil had been in the car from new so the change was well worth it.

Any queries just ask; I'll be gald to help.

Stuart