Passat 2005 TDI Transmission problems

Brks

New member
Joined
Apr 23, 2005
TDI
Passat, 2005, grey
I have a brand new 2005 Passat TDI with about 2.500 miles. Last couple of weeks I've noticed my transmission is shifting with significant noise and feels af if the car has hit the pothole. Slowing down with the brake pedal applied results in downshifting that can be felt as is you drive manual and suddently release clutch. On couple of occasions while driving with barely pressing the gas pedal car acted as if it was a wild horse, lot of klonking noise. Took it to dealer twice. Both times they sent me home stating that th aftermarket floormat I have in the car was too close to the gas pedal and supposedly obstructing its motion. Dealer says the pedal is not mechanical but rather electronic with some sort of the slider built in it. Does anyone else experience this problem? I am taking car back on Monday and will ask them to dig it out.
Looking forward to read your comments.
 

abctdi

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 31, 2004
Location
ABQ, NM, USA
TDI
2005 Passat GLS
Did you look at the FAQs at the top of or search this section some? There have been many discussions about the our trannys here...
 

tdisedanman

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2005
Location
So Florida
TDI
Ex 2005 Passat, TDI and ex 2005.5 Jetta TDI
Mine does the normal (for passat) hunt and peck thing as you slow down but does not feel bad, just noticible.
 

Coleman

Active member
Joined
Oct 30, 2004
I have a brand new 2005 Passat TDI with about 2.500 miles. Last couple of weeks I've noticed my transmission is shifting with significant noise and feels af if the car has hit the pothole. Slowing down with the brake pedal applied results in downshifting that can be felt as is you drive manual and suddently release clutch. On couple of occasions while driving with barely pressing the gas pedal car acted as if it was a wild horse, lot of klonking noise. Took it to dealer twice. Both times they sent me home stating that th aftermarket floormat I have in the car was too close to the gas pedal and supposedly obstructing its motion. Dealer says the pedal is not mechanical but rather electronic with some sort of the slider built in it. Does anyone else experience this problem? I am taking car back on Monday and will ask them to dig it out.
Looking forward to read your comments.
Don't be alarmed, this is completely normal behavior for this transmission. This is why I am getting rid of my 2005 Passat GL TDI.

Now don't beat me up here as I stand on my very tall soap box while I rant.

My car does all of the things that you describe (and more) which provides for an absolutely nauseating driving experience. I'm counting down the months now and after 12 months this piece of junk is history. Love the mileage and the diesel though.

How is it possible that VW could make such a nice car and wrap it around such an ill-mannered transmission, drivetrain, and suspension system?

I've spent an inordinate amount of time searchng for information on this topic and there doesn't seem to be any answers whatsoever, just problems.

The only suggestions I have been able to find are as follows:

- Switch the source of fuel.
- Add Power Service Diesel additive.
- Perform this funky transmission reset thing with the ignition turned on and the accelerator pushed to the floor.
- Change the transmission coding to Sport Mode.
- Replace the fuel filter.

Well guess what. I've done everything but the sport mode option and the car still acts the same way. And why should I have to recode my transmission to sport mode anyway? It worked OK when I test drove the car, why not now? Is this some kind of learned behavior that isn't described in the owner manual or is this a real technical problem?

And get this: absolutely no answers have been obtained from anyone in this forum from any dealer except for the usual runaround.

The issue I have with all of this is that I test drove 4 of these cars (including the one that I own) and experienced no problems. Yes, I was very careful about this as the '98 Passat I owned felt like I was being bumped from behind when coming to a stop as the transmission klunked it's way down to first gear. Man, I really thought that they would have fixed that problem by now. Nope.

Anyway, my test drive was a delight and I couldn't wait to get my hands on one of these cars but after the first 300 miles all of these creepy behaviors started kicking in.

But don't worry, I went to my dealer and described all of these things and, of course, they looked at me like I shot President Kennedy. They never heard of such problems.

I asked them if they could just ask someone technical at VW if any issues have been reported by anyone anywhere. Well they said "no, we can't do that but if you can leave the car with us we can take it out for a road test and check for any problems."

So what good is that? I've already done all of the road testing the dealer will ever need and can describe in precise detail all of the transmission quirks I live with every day.

So I said to the guy at the service desk "If no one has ever heard of any transmission problems with this car then what is there to fix?" All I got was "Well, all we can do is road test the car and check for diagnostic codes and refer the problem to VW to see if they have a solution. Sorry you are disappointed."

Let's face it. This car has had a very, very long production run so it is not possible that some of these problems haven't surfaced somewhere at a dealership and then filtered back up to VW in some way.

I really think that these issues are just a trait of the car. Some people are less aware of these problems than others, if at all, and maybe some people don't care because they love there car so much, but with all of these problems the $465.00 per month payment doesn't do it for me.

A fan no longer.
 

LightningTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2004
Location
GA (Atlanta)
TDI
'05 United Grey Passat TDI Wagon with Grey Leather; '05 Golf, 5-speed automatic TDI; '04 Beetle 5M TDI; '02 Beetle auto TDI
Try to recode the transmission the Vag-Com less way and see if it helps!
 

jimoilrell

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2004
Location
Kingsville, MD
TDI
2004 Passat TDI Variant Reflex Silver, 2005 Passat TDI Variant United Grey
$10,100 cash and I'll pay Tomo to come and get it.
Tomo, I'll buy you a beer at Impex Fest for your pick up and delivery service.
 

BRUSSELS BELGIAN

Old Whig
Joined
May 26, 1999
Location
Aston,Pa. USA
TDI
1997 Passat TDI
I am afraid my honest comments will not please anybody. However: yes, I do notice the car downshifting when I coast up to a stoplight or sign. This thing also seems to shift about TEN TIMES (!) getting into top gear. Yes, the tranny acts funky when cold for the first few miles. Then, on Thursday, I noticed two guys behind me in a Mercedes were laughing at my "Silver Arrow" vanity license plate. As we both entered a ramp feeding onto a long, steep, three lane interstate cresting to a hill...I GOT ON THE PEDAL. I was doing a hundred miles an hour at the crest of the ridge. GOD I LOVE THIS PIECE OF [censored] CAR! :)
 

abctdi

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 31, 2004
Location
ABQ, NM, USA
TDI
2005 Passat GLS
I hope that you also smoked them good...laughing turns into choking with lots of soot.
 

Early8Q

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2005
Location
SE PA
TDI
2012 JSW TDI 3 pedal
I can pick at anything I study. And I could pick at the Passat TDI, but that doesn't mean that I don't like this car. I like it alot. Its fun, really fun. I'd raise Tomo, but I already have 2;^P
 

TDI Believer

Responsible For Global Warming
Joined
Sep 20, 1999
Location
Charles Town,WV
TDI
2012 Touareg TDI
Y'all should really try recoding the tranny. It makes all the difference. I'll be going to Impexfest. If anyone wants to drive the wagon to see the difference, look for me there.
 

Alchemy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2000
Location
N/A
TDI
None thanks to dieselgate
I second TDI Believer's comments. I have been running 1114 for a few weeks now and the car is much more enjoyable. Takes about 100 IQ points away from the TCU...
 

jimoilrell

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2004
Location
Kingsville, MD
TDI
2004 Passat TDI Variant Reflex Silver, 2005 Passat TDI Variant United Grey
I'll look for you at Impexfest. I would love to compare how your wagon drives compared to mine. Do you have a Vagcom so we can possibly recode mine (maybe my wife's too)? Although, her's is a 2005 and seems to drive different. Maybe it is coded different. That might be fun to investigate. I'm looking forward to meeting alot of local forum members at Impexfest
 

LUV_MY_V_DUB

Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2004
I think what your are describing is coming from the engine and not the transmission. The engine is bucking while the transmission is in gear. There has been quite a bit of discussion in the past on this. Some thought it was from an an agggressive EGR program for emissions. What I can tell you is that goes away as you get the car broken in. Mine too would occasionally do the bucking while just barely toughing the gas. It's like coasting with your foot on the gas pedal ever so slightly applied. Mine would do it if I stepped hard on the gas then let up quickly and just barely tougched the gas to stay going- that wouk set the herky jerky in motion. Hitting the gas harder or completely letting off stopped it. I say drive it agggressively and break it in. I'm currently at 17,000 on my 05 and can't remember the last time my car did what you describe; although it did it with some frequency in the beginnning.
Joel in Wisconsin
 

ALCO

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2002
Location
Port Perry, Ontario, Canada
TDI
1999 A3 Jetta, silver/2005 B5 Passat, silver
My B5.5 has about 2,000 km's (1,200 miles) on it. I've only noticed this "bucking", although very subtle, once when I engaged cruise control at low speed. Otherwise the tranny has been excellent...much better that the 2.0 that I drove last fall in Europe.

I took this car for a test drive when I heard that Passat TDI production had ceased, with the intention of satisfying myself that I really did not want the car (especially the Tiptronic tranny) and would have no second thoughts later. On the test drive, I tried to make it stumble, buck, lag on takeoff, etc, but it drove beautifully.

Expensive test drive...
 

schipperke

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2004
Location
Potomac, MD
TDI
Passat, 2004, Grey
We have it in sport mode for 3 weeks now. It seems to keep it from hunting gears as much, I'm guessing because it delays the upshift somewhat over standard mode. If driving between 30-40 on rolling terrain in standard mode, the transmission seemed to do more shifting, where as sport mode appears to wait a bit longer. On the ramps to the highway it is more crisp, and finds 5th gear just a tad later, but I'm seeing no disasterous effects on MPG
 

Early8Q

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2005
Location
SE PA
TDI
2012 JSW TDI 3 pedal
What is your experience with sport mode from a full stop? If you simpy drop the pedal is it more reponsive? I am not thrilled, but OK with the delayed launch, but my wife is not as pleased.
 

Early8Q

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2005
Location
SE PA
TDI
2012 JSW TDI 3 pedal
My experience idnetifys two ways to do this: one is quickly push the go pedal to the floor and wait for the tires to spin, the second is to ease into the pedal, pushing it to the floor for what seems to be a better response. I suspect that statistally it is the same time, but that the car seems to be responding better to me. This is the best way to describe the "transmission problem."

I have learned to live with this "problem" by adjusting to it. So far I have not felt that it is enough of a concern to dilute my positive expereince with the car significantly. FWIW.....
 
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