Torque Converter replacement

fruitcakesa

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 18, 2007
Location
Vermont
TDI
04 jetta 5 spd wagon
After a day of deliberation, I decided to take a moderate repair track and will install another TC and ring gear unit in my car.
Any consensus as to new or used?
Does anyone have one for sale to fit my 02?
PM if you do.
Thanks.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Just gotta R&R the trans, pretty straightforward job. Pinch off the coolant lines to the ATF cooler and you won't lose much coolant.

Be sure to only use the same converter you took out, they are letter coded.

They are not cheap new.
 

fruitcakesa

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 18, 2007
Location
Vermont
TDI
04 jetta 5 spd wagon
oilhammer said:
Just gotta R&R the trans, pretty straightforward job. Pinch off the coolant lines to the ATF cooler and you won't lose much coolant.

Be sure to only use the same converter you took out, they are letter coded.

They are not cheap new.
OH: Thanks for the heads up.
Where is the letter located. I assume the pan must be off to see it?
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
It is on the converter, but the dealer should be able to decipher from the VIN. I think all the diesels will use the same one.
 

02tdivw

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2008
Location
Mn
TDI
02 Golf Tdi
fruitcakesa said:
After a day of deliberation, I decided to take a moderate repair track and will install another TC and ring gear unit in my car.
Any consensus as to new or used?
Does anyone have one for sale to fit my 02?
PM if you do.
Thanks.
I have 02 golf , removing soon. let me know
 

fruitcakesa

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 18, 2007
Location
Vermont
TDI
04 jetta 5 spd wagon
Dealer wants big $ for new and aftermarket is also pricey.
With 125k on the trans would a good used unit of comparable mileage be the more cost effective course?
How often does a TC fail in these cars?
Mine still functions but the ring gear is NFG so go figure.
What do you think.
I plan to keep the car and get a 5 speed swap when a donor is available.
 

csstevej

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 12, 2004
Location
north nj
TDI
2001 golf tdi 4 door auto now a manual, mine, 2000 golf 2 door M/T son's,daughters 98 NB non-TDI 2.0, 2003 TDI NB for next daughter, head repaired and on road,gluten for punishment got another tdi 2001NB,another yellow tdi NB

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
fruitcakesa said:
What can fail in a torque convertor?
The internal clutch seal can bleed over, causing the lockup function to not work. The stator can become warped from heat and get out of balance and self destruct and send schrapnel throughout the transmission, the bushing can wear out and cause the convertor to chatter, they can get out of balance and cause a vibration, they can get a worn spot in the sealing surface and leak ATF.....
 

steelmb

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2009
Location
MB
TDI
2003 Jetta Wagon
oilhammer said:
The internal clutch seal can bleed over, causing the lockup function to not work. The stator can become warped from heat and get out of balance and self destruct and send schrapnel throughout the transmission, the bushing can wear out and cause the convertor to chatter, they can get out of balance and cause a vibration, they can get a worn spot in the sealing surface and leak ATF.....
You are such a ray of sunshine. ;) LOL
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
steelmb said:
You are such a ray of sunshine. ;) LOL
He asked. That was a generic list of possible failures, not VAG/Sachs specific.


FWIW, I have seen very few TC failures in these cars, and in the OP's case it was the ring gear that is tooefed.
 

fruitcakesa

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 18, 2007
Location
Vermont
TDI
04 jetta 5 spd wagon
Torco

Anyone ever heard of Torco Torque Converters out of Plano Texas?
They have been remanning for years.
For all makes and models including VW.
Good prices too.
 

CoolAirVw

Vendor
Joined
Nov 9, 2005
Location
Kansas City Missouri
TDI
Jetta
Aftermarket converters go from good quality to scary. I would only trust the company I work for or Precision (new hampton).

FYI the code on all mk4 tdi's that I've seen lately is qcdd, but you better look. Stall can be different but is probably only different gas to diesel, but also they may ask bearing or bushing. If it has a bushing inside the input shaft, then its bushing style, if it has a bearing in the converter that rides where the bushing would be then its bearing style. IIRC the last digit in the letter code signify's bushing or bearing.
 
Last edited:

fruitcakesa

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 18, 2007
Location
Vermont
TDI
04 jetta 5 spd wagon
Update

Well its has been a while since my last post and today I finally took the car up to my indy for the repair.
I bought a TC from Torco in Cali. It was a remanned Sachs unit made in Germany. Also got another Bosch remanned starter.
John will do the install, change the ATF and filter and replace the leaking top and middle seals on the IP. Whew.
I was glad to get it to him. I had to rotate the cam a few degrees to get the starter to grab the ring gear but after charging the battery and plugging it in for a while it fired on first crank after sitting a month+
I will report when I get it back .
Thanks for all the input.
 

fruitcakesa

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 18, 2007
Location
Vermont
TDI
04 jetta 5 spd wagon
Repairs are progressing and questions

My indie has switched out the old TC for the reman, drained the ATF, replaced the trans filter and road tested it.
Said he found pieces of the old starter in the bellhousing and some brass pieces in the trans pan. He is not sure where they came from but he speculated on clutch disc material. The 01M is ticking...:mad:
I told him to keep his eyes open for a 5 speed donor wreck. :D
He noticed it is smoky on startup and idles rough on cold start.
He will replace the IP top and middle seals hopefully tomorrow as they are leaking and we will see if that helps with the smoke and idle roughness.
Otherwise he thought it could be an injector issue and suggested a purge before trying anything more radical.
Any thoughts about this?:confused:
 

fruitcakesa

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 18, 2007
Location
Vermont
TDI
04 jetta 5 spd wagon
What part of the TC would be brass? He said the bushing in the trans end seemed ok. The ring gear had a foot or so of teeth gone but aren't they steel or something hard?
 

CoolAirVw

Vendor
Joined
Nov 9, 2005
Location
Kansas City Missouri
TDI
Jetta
fruitcakesa said:
What part of the TC would be brass? He said the bushing in the trans end seemed ok. The ring gear had a foot or so of teeth gone but aren't they steel or something hard?
Unfortunatly I've never had one cut open. I've had lots of other transmissions cut open, but I dont know if 01m converter has brass inside or not.

I was just trying to make lemonade. Trying to be positive. Trying to look on the bright side.

I suppose I could have one cut open and use those pics for 01m part 5.

Are the pieces real thin and flakey?
 

fruitcakesa

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 18, 2007
Location
Vermont
TDI
04 jetta 5 spd wagon
Well, got to the shop, had a chat with John, paid the bill and then got in the car.
Turned the key and noticed that it was a little slow on starting. it did not fire on first crank' which it used to do. So I re-switched it and held the key at start position till it did fire, probably 4-6 cranks and it ran a bit rough at first.
John did indicate this behavior when he first started working on it.
I was hoping it was related to the IP seal leakage but that is fixed so...
The starter sounded solid and smooth and the trans shifts as it always has with plenty of power.
All in all I am happy and glad to have the car back.
Now I need to trace the slow start/rough idle issue; that is, when my wife will give the car back which is likely to be a while since she has been without it since early Feb!
The brass that he found in the trans pan was in his words "just some brass" and he had photos but they were not very clear.
I will take a look at the old TC to see if anything is "missing"
 

Rodrigues

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2006
Location
Detroit, MI
TDI
None
I have the same problem with stripped ring gear teeth. A local guy is going to cut open my torque converter and re-weld a replacement so I have the same internals. All in all it will cost me $100.
 

sask tdi

Active member
Joined
May 13, 2008
Location
Regina SK
TDI
99 Golf TDI
Rodrigues said:
I have the same problem with stripped ring gear teeth. A local guy is going to cut open my torque converter and re-weld a replacement so I have the same internals. All in all it will cost me $100.
I was just told that my ring gear is stripped too.This is on 99 golf tdi.What do I do?Where did you get this replacement?:(

Thanks
 

wnytdi

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2003
Location
Rochester, NY
TDI
'13 Passat TDI SEL
Almost same situation here with 2000 jetta. Bad starter motor damaged a little bit of the gear so I only replaced the starter motor (used) but after a several months later, it's doing it again!
 
Last edited:
Top