Do I need a trans or a New TC

I had the p0741 code, I did a trans service it went away. For about a month

Then the other day the trans went out on my wife she had to limp it home using tiptronic about 1/2 mile from home.

I am hoping to throw in a new TC but I don't know if it blew trash threw the trans ?

Most folks just do a manual swap...

That was another option.

I can get my hands on 2004 A4 1.8t do you know if that trans would work or do I need to find a trans from diesel ?

4 cyl tranny would rev way too high. A v6 is doable. Im @3000 rpms at 70-75 mph


A euro imported tdi specific tranny will lower it 300 to 400 rpms per each gear

In regards to the P0174, I had that problem about a year ago at 190K. I pulled the torque converter and had it rebuilt. This did not solve my problem; it created some new problems as someone who was helping me broke the ears off my hydraulic pump reseating the torque converter improperly. Of course, the ears broke AFTER we were test driving the car - I realized what had happened after examining the ears and the TC shaft. The transmission was pulled again, hydraulic pump replaced and reassembly was completed. We threw speed errors on gear 5 after that. We pulled the valve body and cleaned it thoroughly because we were also getting a slam shift from 1st to second gear. After reassembly, the transmission shifted properly, but would go in to lala land - the gear selector display would go all red. If you shut off the car and restarted, the TCCM would reset and it would be fine for a while other than throwing a gear 5 speed error intermittently. I checked the shifter and harness for problems and found that there was a copious amount of moisture in the passenger side of the car. The connectors were dried out and the water was removed from the floor board - took a while for the carpet to dry. The water intrusion was due to a cracked windshield cowl which was allowing water to drop in via the cabin air intake. The transmission now works flawlessly for the last 30k and actually shifts smoother than it did when I got the car at 71K. Oh, we also replaced the transmission filter 2x during this whole process, as the first one picked up a lot of crap.

Lots of people crap on the tiptronic transmissions in these Passats. After having a couple rounds with one, my opinion is that VW's lack of servicing the fluid on these transmissions is why they fail. The fact that your transmission worked for a while after servicing it kinda proves the point, imo. If you pull the transmission, clean the valve body, change the seals and check your car for water intrusion, I suspect you will have no trouble out of the beast. And service the trans every 60K like ZF says. This is my opinion based upon my experience.

If you remove the pan and don't see any crud in it, it might be salvageable with a tc. Erikson is the way to go. I just installed one and it performs flawlessly. It's in the wagon I have advertised in this forums' classifieds. Come get this fine example of a tdi B5.5 wagon and keep yours for parts. The labor on an automatic B5.5 removal is pretty tough unless you have a lift like me.

The p0741 code is often times fixed just with a new/remain torque converter on these transmissions. But being that it had a completely different failure, it likely is time to give up on this particular transmission, unless you feel comfortable taking it apart and replacing whatever's broken, likely a clutch or a clutch drum. Many of the failures that these transmissions have usually start with wear in the valve body, in particular the pressure regulator valve and bore.

If you catch it in time, it will prevent further pressure spikes that eventually break other hard internals of the transmission. But being that it sounds like something else has no gone inside yours, it almost certainly needs disassembly to replace broken/worn parts.

OR, if you're lucky, either you didn't get it refilled with enough fluid or it developed a leak and the new symptoms are merely from being low on oil. Never a bad idea to check that first and correct the oil level and then re-evaluate.

My daughters 05 which was my car from new is approaching 250K. Did an engine re-build due to massive damage, bent valves from b/s failure at 160K and at that time had the TC rebuilt at Eriksons. Have done the trans fluid around every 60K,,,,,still flawless so yes, maint is important. BTW, I did the converter at 160K not because it failed but I was looking at it with the engine removed and figured, for $250, why not

Brian's96TDIPASSAT said:

My daughters 05 which was my car from new is approaching 250K. Did an engine re-build due to massive damage, bent valves from b/s failure at 160K and at that time had the TC rebuilt at Eriksons. Have done the trans fluid around every 60K,,,,,still flawless so yes, maint is important. BTW, I did the converter at 160K not because it failed but I was looking at it with the engine removed and figured, for $250, why not

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Amen to that on the 60k maintenance.

The "lifetime fill" is a gimmick by VW/Audi. It's a calculated risk on their part.

First, let me point out that the auto engineers I've spoken to do actually have a hard number and time frame in mind what, exactly, constitutes a target "vehicle lifetime." And that number is 150,000 miles or 10 years, whichever comes first.

And will the vast majority of these transmissions make it to 150,000 miles without ever being serviced? Certainly. Some won't make it that far, but there are a lot of other parts that are in the same category.

But if you ask ZF, who makes these big ol 5 speeds for VW/Audi, they say the "5HP19" should be serviced every 60,000 miles.

So, the way I look at it, if you expect to get much more than 150,000 mile service life from your transmission, you should probably ignore VAG's recommendation on service and heed ZF's guidelines.

As you're finding out, these seem to last just fine when you do that little bit of preventative maintenance.

I got the p0741 code on my bhw at 135,000 miles. I drove the car very little before having the torque converter replaced. Two fluid changes were done at that time. I doubt it had been done previously. (I bought the car at 93 k.) The car now has 205 k and the trans is working well. I believe the fluid changes are important. Last one done at about 190,000. Looking at 60 k intervals. I think the TC is a weak link in this trans. Since the car is drivable as the torque converter is failing, I think that if it driven too much debris from TC travels through trans damaging it. This is just my opinion - could be right or wrong. However, with the intent of this forum to be to share, I wanted to add my thoughts and support transmission maintenance, especially for those who may be on the fence. I think it is money well spent.