Looked through the auto tranny forum and didnt find what I was looking for anyway. Friend of mine keeps getting the run around from the mechanics about her tranny. Its not a dsm its a VW Jetta but I know we have some geniuses on auto trannies at our disposale here. Anyway when you first start up the car she says it doesnt want to shift worth a crap, but once its all warmed up good, engine and tranny, it shifts ok. What could this be? Mechanic said the tranny is shot then he offers to take the car off her hands for 200 (fishy??). Im thinking of buying the car, either rebuilding the tranny myself or having it rebuilt or buying another used one. I would like to tear into it myself Ive rebuild manual trannys but never an Automatic and it would be a good education and experience. Anyone care to give a brief description on the basic functions of the auto tranny internals and its parts. Nice and brief in your own words. Otherwise I'll have to read through a million posts to get what I need. Thanks for the time.
Automatic Tranny Question
TALONLVR
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Looked through the auto tranny forum and didnt find what I was looking for anyway. Friend of mine keeps getting the run around from the mechanics about her tranny. Its not a dsm its a VW Jetta but I know we have some geniuses on auto trannies at our disposale here. Anyway when you first start up the car she says it doesnt want to shift worth a crap, but once its all warmed up good, engine and tranny, it shifts ok. What could this be? Mechanic said the tranny is shot then he offers to take the car off her hands for 200 (fishy??). Im thinking of buying the car, either rebuilding the tranny myself or having it rebuilt or buying another used one. I would like to tear into it myself Ive rebuild manual trannys but never an Automatic and it would be a good education and experience. Anyone care to give a brief description on the basic functions of the auto tranny internals and its parts. Nice and brief in your own words. Otherwise I'll have to read through a million posts to get what I need. Thanks for the time.
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2,224 Posts
Re: Automatic Tranny Question/
Just because a trans rebuilder says it needs a rebuild doesn't mean that it does right? And they wouldn't try taking advantage of a woman now would they? Change the fluid + filter (especially if it's past due) and see how it does. Actually 1st just make sure the fluid is at the proper level + ckk its condition. Can you pull trouble codes for it? And can you better describe what you mean by it doesn't shift good when it's cold?
Definately don't let her give up on her car because some mechanic wants to buy it for $200. Some places want you to either pay for a full rebuild or they simpy offer to buy the car for dirt cheap. Either way they get rich and that's how some unscrupulous people operate. Get on your local VW boards and get pointed to a shop that has a good reputation but 1st chat with owners of the same exact car because chances are someone's had the same problem and can help. Rough cold shifting doesn't necessarily indicate major internal problems anyway especially if it runs fine at all other times.
Just because a trans rebuilder says it needs a rebuild doesn't mean that it does right? And they wouldn't try taking advantage of a woman now would they? Change the fluid + filter (especially if it's past due) and see how it does. Actually 1st just make sure the fluid is at the proper level + ckk its condition. Can you pull trouble codes for it? And can you better describe what you mean by it doesn't shift good when it's cold?
Definately don't let her give up on her car because some mechanic wants to buy it for $200. Some places want you to either pay for a full rebuild or they simpy offer to buy the car for dirt cheap. Either way they get rich and that's how some unscrupulous people operate. Get on your local VW boards and get pointed to a shop that has a good reputation but 1st chat with owners of the same exact car because chances are someone's had the same problem and can help. Rough cold shifting doesn't necessarily indicate major internal problems anyway especially if it runs fine at all other times.
Very well put. Im stopping over to her place tonight to check the fluid and see how it runs and see for myself what its doing. I'll start checking the VW boards to see what they say. Anyone here have the problem I described above with any of their vehicles? What was the cause? My dad says its possible one of the pumps in the tranny could be going?? I'll have to investigate further into the workings and mechanics of the auto tranny. Thanks for your input though.
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166 Posts
sounds very fishy to me. of course some mechanics always go for the easy prey and make money off of it. I would do some more research before letting her get rid of her car for $200.
I would check, and see if there's enough fluid. Then change filter. It could be bad seals, or a bad pump. You can always try to rebuild it your self. It's not that expensive, and it'll be a good learning experience. I just did my first tranny rebuild, and it wasn't so bad. There's some good info on howthingswork.com on how auto trannys work.
Just took the car for a test drive. Started allright, for a moment it felt like the torque converter wasnt dissengaging properly upon idle but was fine once it warmed up. It was a little slow to engage drive but not too bad and improved upon warm up. Upon the drive the only gear that caused problems was second. It would dissengage rev high then grab hard. According to Wikepedia.com the older trannies would do that when the bands got lose, but do trannies in 97 still use that older technology? I think this one is probably using electronic clutch packs.
Im going to try to flush the tranny fluid and swap out the filter to see if that eliminates the problem. Couldnt check the fluid because instead of a dipstick VW just put a removable cap and in the book tells you to stop at your local dealer to have them check it with a dipstick. Sounds like they engineered it so you had to go spend money to have it checked. I wonder if I could just fab my own or use a universal one, but how long does it need to be? Do I just touch bottom?
Anyone else run into the same probs on their trannies? What was the cause and fix?
Anyone know anything about adjusting bands? Can you access them without complete teardown? Just Curious.
Thanks.
Im going to try to flush the tranny fluid and swap out the filter to see if that eliminates the problem. Couldnt check the fluid because instead of a dipstick VW just put a removable cap and in the book tells you to stop at your local dealer to have them check it with a dipstick. Sounds like they engineered it so you had to go spend money to have it checked. I wonder if I could just fab my own or use a universal one, but how long does it need to be? Do I just touch bottom?
Anyone else run into the same probs on their trannies? What was the cause and fix?
Anyone know anything about adjusting bands? Can you access them without complete teardown? Just Curious.
Thanks.
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166 Posts
wow, from the sounds of it, I'm never going to buy a VW. lol.
It's not that bad. It could happen in any car with auto tranny. She's selling it to me because she doesnt want to deal with it and she just bought a new car, so this will make a nice winter/emergency/parts car. Engine is perfect condition as well as the rest of the car. I could part it out and make more than what she wants from me.
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1,598 Posts
Buy a certified shop manual if you want to rebuild it yourself and save yourself some headaches of searching for answers. Also VW autos are very expensive which is probably why the mechanic offered to take it off your hands so cheap. Used autos suck and are usually toast or in the toaster just waitin to pop. A new trans is probably over 5k depending on year.
Your right it could be a gamble. I just found some more info that says the fluid in the tranny should be up to the bottom of the plug that the dipstick is normally at. When I checked it I shoved my little finger in as far as I could and there was no fluid to be found. Im thinking the tranny is just too low. According to my research that fluid is the lifeblood of the tranny, not only for lubrication but for moving parts and engaging gears. Without enough fluid not only does it shift improperly but itll eat up componants. That would be too cool if the problem dissapeared after a tranny flush and fill! Keeping my fingers crossed. Worse case I could buy another used one for a grand at the place down the road. Thanks.
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2,224 Posts
Deifinately try and get an accurate reading before adding fluid. Overfiling even by a little is not good.
You do not want to change the tranny in that car. Its a maw fuggin bitch. Your best bet is really really hope that the fluid fixes the problem. Those cars look easy to work on until you start ripping at them. They stud the converter, so your flex plate/converter/tranny have to line up perfectly or somthing wont go in. Most cars you install the trans and you can rotate the converter with your fingers to line up the holes. These pain in the asses dont work like that. We had one come in once that needed a motor. I was like 'no biggie'. When it was all said and done, I was pissed.TALONLVR said:
The vws run very good and reliably. When somthing breaks however, run for the hills. I did a motor in the 20v turbo and I would have to say that was one of the worst ever, and I have put engines in just about everything.
Good Luck
Got the car to my dads shop. The longer the car and tranny warms up the better it shifts. Swapped tranny fluid and filter. The tranny was over a quart too low so thats why its shifted like crap. Ended up burning the second gear band a little bit. Probably only has like 45 percent life left in the wear material on the band. All the gears shift fine now but if I take off hard and fast the second gear will slip and hit hard. Im going to pull some fluid out tomorrow and replace it with Lucas additive to see if that helps with the slipping. Either way I'll drive it and if it gets too bad I'll have it rebuilt. Thanks for all the help and comments everyone. Ive learned a ton over the past few days. I also want to thank wikipedia and howstuffworks.com those sights are amazing!! Howstuffworks is awesome I just searched for auto tranny and it has the complete barney style breakdown with cool pics and moving animations!! Thanks again.
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