2005 09A Trans issues

I am having some issues with the 09A in one of my 2005 wagons.

The issue is intermittent. Comes and goes on a whim... cant seem to predict when it will do it and when not. Once the problem is there, it tends to hang out for a while, and when it goes away... it stays gone for a while. (while could be 60+ miles of driving with or without stops/shutoffs in the middle)

When it exists, I have the following issues:

Starting from a stopsign/light, letting off the brake, it will creep forward like normal. when you try to give it some throttle, it acts like its not in gear... tries to engage, and doesnt, until it generally 'slams' (severity depends on how hard you are trying to get it to engage) into gear, and takes off. goes fine from that point.

Also - it will have a flare on the 3-4 shift.


It seems... I can mitigate the take off issue, if I manually downshift through the gears all the way to first as I come to a stop. On the way down, the 3-2 shift is delayed and hard. As long as I downshift like this, I have a 90% or better chance it will come off the stop with no issues. But... the 3-4 flare is still there.


Sometimes... the car will drive for miles (have driven almost 100 straight) with no issues. Totally normal - not a care in the world.


Some minor background.... not long after I got it (roughly 120k or so miles on it at this point) I had issues with reverse engaging... so I had the 'reverse lockout' solenoid replaced in it.

Last fall (roughly 170k? miles) I had to replace the 1-2 solenoid.... so i decided to have them all done. I bought them from vwpartsfl on ebay....

This spring... I had an issue, where it started going into limp mode.... one of the 'new' solenoids failed on me. Caused all sorts of grief... and finally got it replaced by my mechanic from a source of his own.



What I am thinking now is... I have another bad solenoid. Car has 205k miles on it. when it wants to, it drives as nice as can be. just like my previous solenoid failures. they had a mind of their own.

It has been suggested a bad valve body... but honestly, with the one bad solenoid from the new pack, I am hesitant to agree. Especially since its such an intermittent issue. I would think a valve body would just be a constant headache at this point, and I wouldnt have any normal driving at all anymore.

I am looking for opinions... I cant afford a valve body at this point. Truth be told, i cant really even afford to have a solenoid replaced at the moment. But, since this is the car i drive for work... i really need to figure out something, so it can be a bit more reliable.

I am almost wondering if it could be the N92 solenoid, as that is supposed to be on for 1 and 4 to engage (5 too... but by then its already on from 4?)

If I have to replace them all again to be sure, so be it... but quite frankly, this is getting a bit old!

My other jetta has 250k on it, without a single issue in the same transmission!

thanks for any help,
Mike

I have an 05 wagon also. I was told these autos are better than the previous ones but mine started hesitating to shift when it was cold. I took it to a local transmission shop recommended by my mechanic. They said it could be a bad valve but these transmissions are so complex they couldn't guarantee it. I decided to go for it and had them change all the valves. $900 later it shifts like new, smooth and quick. When it's cold it still hesitates a bit before going into drive from park but once it does it works fine. There is no hesitation when it's warm out, only when it drops below zero. I can live with that.

Wonder what brand your solenoids are. Usually you replace them once and they should go just as long as the originals did. If you look real closely at the original solenoids as well as most replacements from reputable vendors, they have the diamond star logo--as in Mitsubishi--on them.

I also had one where after solenoid replacement, I kept getting a persistent code for one of the solenoids. Wound up being the insulation of one of the wires had worn through and my shuffling things around during replacement had the wire shorting against one of the bolts for the valve body. Repaired the wire and all was good.

Of course most solenoid failures with these DO NOT set codes. They just physically stick. So, if you're getting a code for a solenoid you may have an electrical issue outside of the solenoids themselves.

With the PRND432 all backlit on your cluster, there will absolutely be a code stored in the TCM.

If it does end up being a solenoid, I would go buy the set from Cobra Transmission. I know for certain the solenoids they sell are the Japanese-made, Mitsubishi logo-branded solenoids that these Jatco transmissions would have originally come with.

Valve body. And I would splice in a new ATF temp sensor while you are in there (this requires a new harness be purchased, unfortunately, but they are not all that expensive).

Sometimes solenoids fix these, sometimes not. It is always a gamble. But a NEW valve body comes with all NEW solenoids, and they are all 100% OEM from Japan. I've fixed quite a few of these with new valve bodies now. Not quite the epidemic that the Aisin transmissions have, but the Jatcos do occasionally need them too.

Are you sure that the fluid level isn't a bit low?
I have seen several cases of having to add 1/2 liter, to what seemed to be the correct level, before the trans would shift properly.

This was the solenoid pack purchased:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/09A-Transm...m=251896168228&_trksid=p2060778.c100290.m3507


I do not have any codes showing at all. So that is not helpful. I do have VCDS, so I could look for more information, but honestly I am not even sure what to look for. When I had the PRND432 lit up issue, yes I had a code, and it pointed us directly to the faulty solenoid. Sadly when I called the vendor I got them from, he insisted that new ones never fail, and that code said we had a broken or shorted wire. So... I ended up paying for many hours of chasing that before we just up and put another solenoid in it which fixed it.


Based on that is why I am leaning toward a faulty solenoid again. I just dont know which one.


I do agree that a complete valve body would make it go away, but unfortunately I already owe my mechanic a bunch of money (luckily he is a good friend too!) and I cant ask him to buy and install a valve body until I can catch up. That is why i am trying to figure out which solenoid would be most likely. After the last debacle, he has gotten quite good at getting in and out of the trans pan rather quick, and I would likely only be in for about 2 hours labor and the solenoid.

We did take fluid level into consideration, but its been fine for several months since he did the last solenoid replacement, and no evidence of leaking fluid. On a whim, thinking it was maybe a sticky valve or something (not solenoid issues) I tried a bottle of 'trans-medic' to see if that would help. When he put that in for me, he checked on the fluid level and condition, and it was fine. Furthermore, with the trans-medic not doing anything noticeable is yet another reason why i am leaning toward a bad solenoid.

I am lucky enough to have figured out how to get around the issue for the most part. Where the struggle comes is my wife cant, and sometimes she drives the car too. (mostly when I need her suburban for a trailer!) Thus a major impact in our life at the moment, and I need to do something.