Transmission Problem-- Stuck in 3rd gear!!!

Greetings,

I've experienced some trouble & grinding going from 3rd to 4th a few times in the last couple of weeks during hard aceleration. It would only occur when I rev beyond 3K rpm (3500 - 4K rpm) Had the same problem happen on the way home today, but now car is now stuck in 3rd gear right now and I can't get it out . Car runs as it should in 3rd gear -- clutch seems fine, you just can't shift. It grinds like a SOB if you try and pull it out with the car running.

Does anybody have any experience with this problem? Does this sound like a partial transmission failure? Or maybe just a linkage problem? Grinding can't be good.

Car's a stock 99 A3 TDI with 340K KM on the clock.

Check the nut on the lever shown in this picture for looseness. If loose or missing, lever should be readjusted according to "Adjustment" instructions near the bottom of this page.

With grinding, I'd also check to make sure the clutch fluid (also brake fluid) is sufficient. You may have a master/slave cylander problem.

Thanks for the replies. Car is in the shop right now (a VW specialty shop --not a dealer), so I should have more news later today. The fluid level idea is an interesting theory.

Greetings,

I've experienced some trouble & grinding going from 3rd to 4th a few times in the last couple of weeks during hard aceleration. It would only occur when I rev beyond 3K rpm (3500 - 4K rpm) Had the same problem happen on the way home today, but now car is now stuck in 3rd gear right now and I can't get it out

. Car runs as it should in 3rd gear -- clutch seems fine, you just can't shift. It grinds like a SOB if you try and pull it out with the car running.

Does anybody have any experience with this problem? Does this sound like a partial transmission failure? Or maybe just a linkage problem?

Grinding can't be good.

Car's a stock 99 A3 TDI with 340K KM on the clock.

Click to expand...

From the clues given I'd guess that the shift forks for third aren't pulling third out of engagement. The grinding going into fourth could have been the sound of the two different ratios fighting until third popped free. Now it may be stuck in third all times preventing any other gear from being simultaneously engaged.
A broken synchronizer might cause such a problem.
Let's see how well I did on my guess when the diagnosis from the shop is available.

Just talked to the shop, and it IS the tranny. They have found a used TDI tranny with 52,000 KM on it. I'm going to get everything else done while were at it-- Rear main & clutch.

The one of the guys at the shop is going to do a post-mortem on the old gear box once they pull it.

They certainly don't give used TDI trannys away for peanuts. They want $1300 C for it -- but at least it's only got 52K on it. A new one (rebuilt) from VW is around $3500.

I'll give an update later next week.

Did you ever change your fluid? Its a commonly ignored but absolutely vital maintainance procedure. Why do you think so many people have tranny's die around 100-150k miles while others have them go 250k miles or more? Ask those who have them go forever, they have likely changed the fluid on a regular basis. 30,000 miles is a pretty good frequency, though 50,000 shouldn't be an issue. If you use Amsoil, then 50-75,000 miles wouldn't hurt. If you have vehicles with auto trannies, a power flush every 50,000 miles (for smaller vehicles) and 25,000 miles (for beefy tow vehicles) can be recommended. Remember that you have a transmission oil filter, and like all filters, it has to be periodically replaced. Seeing as you have a manual, just make sure it gets done. Stealerships may tell you it never has to be done, but like any oil, gear oil gets dirty and loses lubricity after a while.