The fluid would be changed during the valve body repair. I think what he's saying is that the tranny shop wants to try only changing the fluid, to see if that fixes the problem before proceeding to the valve body repair (which would require another fluid change).
It is commonplace to try a fluid change first, however I've never seen it help on a Cayenne, and the Cayenne's fluid is much more expensive than standard ATF. Keep shopping around until you find someone who will just fix it.

 

Ok, maybe I was too fast to respond.

They want to test the cheaper alternative of the 2, just flushing and refilling the fluid.........its only 400. I have read were this was attempted several times with no real positive effects until the valve body was fixed.

I am at 133k miles. I should just get the rebuild done and refill the fluid once....

 

If yo do a full fluid service, i .e. new filter, gaskets, o-rings PLUS drain the ATF cooler, you will get 99% of the old fluid out and you can get away with reusing the fluid if you have to swap the VB later. You can use Aisin T-IV fluid which can be found for much less than the Porsche fluid. Or Mobil 3309.

If you are DIY'ing it though, be aware, the biggest PITA about this job is refilling the tranny with fluid as you need to pump it up into the periscope hole in the pan. I have yet to find a decent tool for the job. The closest 'best' tool is the one Mityvac makes but yo still have to hand pump it. I suggested to them that they should offer a compressed air version.

Harbor Freight sells a hand pump for about $10 which my tranny guy uses.

 

It so happens that the Porsche refill tool is a Vag1924 tool. Here it is for $89.95 http://www.worldimpex.com/search_by_...&x=-432&y=-202
You might try a local VW or Audi dealer and see if they will sell it for less, it is real handy.

 

That looks interesting but it looks like it might be gravity feed, which is also an OK way to do it. Can't tell if it has a valve on the nozzle or not. Do you have any idea?

 

It is gravity feed with an on/off valve at the nozzle, so you can shut the flow off when it starts streaming out of the fill hole.

 

Just as Tim said, it is a gravity feed with a 1/4 turn valve at the end. The end Hook tube (Hooks over the periscope fitting in the pan to fill) is replaceable with different size ends. If you buy the Audi/VW one you will have to cut a small amount off the end as their periscope openings are larger. If you get the tool from Porsche it will come with the right ends. Or you can purchase the end piece here: http://www.toolsource.com/vwaudi-dri...-p-105567.html
I sawed the end off of mine and now it wants to fall out if I'm working on an Audi. Just need to purchase a new end.

 

Great info guys. There's a million ways to deal with the tank. It's the end pieces that are hard to find, especially the on-off. I think I will purchase one.

 

Worst $455 I was ever talked into spending by a shop I used once.

Once.

 

I've not done the valve body (but will need to at some point as the 5-4 shift occasionally clunks under load), but I have done a partial fluid replacement. It's messy, but not rocket science.

It's been 6 months since I did it, but I seem to recall I was able to drain about half the trans fluid from the bottom. I decided to do a partial as I didn't want to fuss with undoing the cooler lines. I bought a couple cases of Mobil 3309 on Amazon, but suppose I could have also used Toyota T-IV which is supposedly similarly affordable. The original plan was to follow up with another 1/2 drain/refill in a couple months, but that hasn't happened yet.

As others have mentioned, the trickiest part was getting the fluid back in the trans.

Plan A: I bought a $10 hand pump from the auto parts store but after what seemed like a thousand pumps, the plastic parts broke without having accomplished the full mission. Also, it was a PITA pumping and keeping the hose in the fill hole -- messy and difficult.

Plan B: DIY pressure fill pump. I cobbled together the following collection of parts/scraps from Home Depot for about $30-$40:
- Cheapo/small garden sprayer (~$10)
- 1/4 turn water shut off valve (~$10) -- like the one behind your toilet, but get the one that is "inline" as opposed to having the outlet at a right angle to the inlet. And make sure it's 1/4 turn, that makes life much easier and doesn't have a rubber
- Coil of flexible, soft copper tubing ($ cant remember) -- I actually bought 2 sizes, 3/8 and 1/4, but I believe I only used the 1/4. You only need about 12", and could possibly use hard plastic line or flexible tubing instead. You might also be able to buy a short section from a hardware or plumbing store and save a few bucks.
- 10ft of vinyl tubing (clear) to attach between the garden sprayer and the "fill wand" -- essentially the shutoff valve with 1 foot metal extension that pokes up into the transmission
- Misc fittings to connect the shutoff valve to a vinyl hose which connect to the sprayer
- Hose clamps/zip ties and rubber tire valve (optional)
- Roll of blue paper shop towels -- trust me, you'll need these -- it's messy.

With the above, I essentially removed the spray wand from the garden sprayer and replaced it with the metal "fill wand". I bent a small 90 degree "hook" at the end of the copper tubing to better aim the flow into the fill hole. The copper tubing gets connected to the valve with the compression fittings that come with the valve, and the other end of the valve gets connected the sprayer body with a length of vinyl tubing. I could have probably spent more time on the fill wand and made it look professional, but as it's not likely (hopefully) to see much use, I stopped at good enough.

I also drilled a hole into the top of the plastic sprayer body and pulled a rubber tire valve through. That allowed me to attach an air chuck to keep 10 psi in the tank with and air compressor rather than having to keep pumping the sprayer (which is not easy when you're working under the car). I cleaned/dried the sprayer well and filled half way with 3309. Connected air pressure and stuck the tip of the wand up into the fill hole with the engine off and transmission cold. With the valve open, it took a minute or two for it to fill the trans (much easier/cleaner than 1000 reps of the hand pump). I found that pointing the wand in a certain direction gave a "clear shot" and resulted in minimal spillage/dripping while filling. Eventually it starts to overflow the fill hole indicating that it's full (and ready for the next step). Shut off wand and replace fill plug (loosely).

I then started the engine and ran the transmission between R and D for a few minutes (with foot on the brake), then let it idle in P for a total of 10 mins at which point the trans was ~40 degrees C (as per spec and my IR thermometer). With the engine running and car in P, I crawled back under, removed the fill plug, and proceeded to reinsert the want and fill another liter or so into the trans (until it spilled out again). Replace/retorque the fill plug and consider it job done -- much easier than filling with the hand pump and totally worth it.

SAFETY TIP: Wear face shield, goggles, hat, rubber gloves and long sleeves -- it's hot under there after the car has run for 10 mins. In particular, watch out for the exhaust/converter. The fluid is hot, but not scalding assuming you are in the c~40C range. Be safe; use common sense.

Based on the above and what I've read regarding filter/valve body replacement procedures (mostly just dropping the pan and undoing some bolts), I'll plan on doing that repair at some point and getting the opportunity to refill the trans again. Should hopefully just be an afternoon job.

If anyone is interested, I'll post a picture of my Home Depot filling rig. Hope that helps someone.

 

I probably should have added that the total cost of the case of 3309 fluid and the Home Depot wand was less than $150 (closer to $110, I think) and took an afternoon. I think I could redo the drain/fill procedure now in under 2 hours (and maybe under an hour if it was a competition).

 

Ok, I just replaced my 2nd Cardan shaft @ 160k miles, 2nd one after 65k failure.

I have my appointment at my local valve body re-builder, familiar with Aisin and this tranny failing. I bought gaskets fluid and the filter from Autohauz.

95539701600 Oil Sump Gasket $82 dollars
ATF0T4 ATF, Automatic Transmission Fluid; Type-IV; 1 Quart $6.39 7 total $44.73
95530740301 Auto Trans Filter$56.28
95532544300 Transmission Filter Gasket/Seal; O-Ring for Filter Post

Labor estimated 900-1400, if I damaged anything internally.

Im thinking my 3k in repairs, should keep it running up to 250k.....

"Condo paid for, no car payment......."

 

how much for the rebuild? Is he doing all the sonnax updates?

 

I did not ask that specifically but gave him the model number etc and said he has fixed alot(they are in Toyota's and VW's).

His exact statement is "....900-1400 installed, if there is no internal transimission damage. We will do a diagnostic to tell you from the start once I see it. We are backed up 10 days with similar Aisin's, can you wait?".

 

1589 worst case.........Ill try it.

I have capped my overall spend before trading this one in at 3k. It's paid for.........

Hell I might just set it to off road only mod, put in 2.5 inch spacers and some 34-35's again and leave it at the family farm for boat towing and duck hunting vehicle.

Great little bugger of a SUV for the past 8 years.