Passat trannies.

miningman

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2007
Location
alberta
TDI
2003 Golf
Does the automatic tranny in the 2003-2005 Passatt models have the same poor reputation as those installed in the MK4 golfs and jettas??
 

miningman

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2007
Location
alberta
TDI
2003 Golf
thankyou QTD. What would be the approx cost of having the balance shaft issue corrected if it had not already been addressed...... Im guessing its a semi catastrophic problem if not caught in time.
 

Uberhare

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2006
Location
Ontario, Canada
TDI
Too many.
B5 with the delete and manual swap is a great car and pretty bullet proof. Drive it till the auto croaks, then fix it right! (Or pull the auto while it's still worth someone and sell it!)
 

burn_your_money

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2012
Location
Missouri
TDI
99 Beetle, 96 B4V, 05 Passat wagon
Since we are on the topic, are all the B5/B5.5 auto TDI trannys the same? Are any worse/better than the other? Mines at 560k kms and is starting to do funny things.
 

Uberhare

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2006
Location
Ontario, Canada
TDI
Too many.
All B5 TDI auto's for North America used the GMR code tranny. They all die an expensive death one way or another. I'd suspect at 560K it's probably on it's 3rd!
 

burn_your_money

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2012
Location
Missouri
TDI
99 Beetle, 96 B4V, 05 Passat wagon
Thanks. I'm pretty sure the last owner had it since 200k or so and he only said he did a torque convertor. Maybe it's past due. Is this typically a sudden event or will there be lots of warning?
 

Scubanero

Veteran Member
Joined
May 30, 2007
Location
Calgary AB
TDI
2005 Passat Wagon
From the time mine first started showing signs of distress I had 100 km to get home and it got me there. May have gone further. I suspect Some instances of catastrophic failure are actually failure to register the warning signs.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Mine are still working fine at 200k and 230k. Take care of them like ZF says to makes a big difference. No automatic is bullet proof, I'd say these are middle of the pack.
 

truman

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 18, 2000
Location
columbia,MO,usa
TDI
'05 Passat Variant, Still miss the 03JW
I have 250k on mine and will be disappointed if it doesn't make 300. IMO, a drain and fill or flush by 60k is critical to a long life. The fluid in mine was nasty at 48k. I have done at least a half dozen D&F and pan dropped with filter change at 100k. I try to do a drain and fill every year. My sample size is 1 however.
 

truman

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 18, 2000
Location
columbia,MO,usa
TDI
'05 Passat Variant, Still miss the 03JW
Every fluid change has looked better than the first one. Why VW considers it to have a lifetime fluid seems crazy.
 

Brian's96TDIPASSAT

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2000
Location
Connecticut, USA
TDI
15 Golf TDI SEL 14 Passat SEL, bought back by VW 11 Golf TDI, bought back by VW 05 Passat TDI 96 Passat TDI, sold
Just curious, my 05 that I've owned since new now passed down to my daughter, about 205K. Did a converter re-build when I had the engine out for b/s work, cam etc., never more than 60K on fluid but the last go around I did the gear lube for the diff. Anyone ever do that along with the trans fluid?
 

Matt-98AHU

Loose Nut Behind the Wheel Vendor
Joined
Apr 23, 2006
Location
Gresham, OR
TDI
2001 Golf TDI, 2005 Passat wagon, 2004 Touareg V10.
Every fluid change has looked better than the first one. Why VW considers it to have a lifetime fluid seems crazy.
Because if you ask a representative or engineer of an automaker point blank what exactly is considered "a vehicle lifetime," you might get the answer "about 10-15 years and 150,000 miles."

Most of these transmissions can in fact make it to 150k without issue and zero fluid changes. But if you want to go a lot longer than that, all you have to do is ask ZF, who makes the transmission for VW, how often the fluid and filter should be changed on them. They will say every 60,000 miles.

So yeah, you're doing a lot of good changing it every 60k and should in fact go a lot longer than 150k miles total if you keep that up! :)
 

Uberhare

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2006
Location
Ontario, Canada
TDI
Too many.
It is interesting how different ZF's opnions are about their gearboxes VS vehicle manufacturers. I've spoken with a technical trainer a few times now.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
I agree, but again like Matt said it is about what the manufacturers feel is the 'lifetime" for the vehicle. It was the crappy 01M (and its 096 precursor) that often died before even a reasonable lifetime was used up.

Remember, if every car company made a product that lasted forever, they'd all be out of business in a few years. ;)

Speaking of "perceived" lifetime definition, we deal with fleets here a lot. And they all have different views on this, based on how long they expect to keep the vehicle in service. Oddly enough, they almost all change the oil two or even three times more often than is necessary, but will have no issue neglecting virtually everything else. We have one that insists on 5k oil change intervals on 10k interval cars (Ford Focus), get pissed when their drivers go over (because the PM reminder is set to go off every 10k miles, because that is what Ford says it is supposed to do :rolleyes:), but absolutely refuse to replace the cabin filters. No matter what. So, eventually when they clog up, and the drivers complain of poor A/C performance, we are instructed to remove and discard the cabin filter. :eek:

So guess what happens? There is no screen or anything, so debris gets into the HVAC case and blows out the dash vents. One of the driver suffered a scratched cornea due to a dried leaf chunk blasting out the dash vents and hitting him in the eye! :eek:

.... but boy you better change that oil twice as often or else..... :rolleyes:
 

Tom W.

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2005
Location
Raleigh, NC
TDI
mash-up GettaTDI150, 1986 Jetta Delux D, 2005 Passat TDI sedan
So, my 2005 passat tdi now has trouble in reverse. it will back up but only in idle. Wondering if I should have the auto tranny rebuilt, or go with a swap? Or, is there is solution to just fixing the reverse issue?
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Reverse drum cracked at the edge and is leaking ATF internally. Time for a rebuild or replacement. You *can* go in and just replace the reverse drum, and of course whatever seals and gaskets you encounter along the way. But you have to make certain you get ALL the broken drum bits out.
 

Tom W.

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2005
Location
Raleigh, NC
TDI
mash-up GettaTDI150, 1986 Jetta Delux D, 2005 Passat TDI sedan
Thanks, Oilhammer! Got a quote from a reputable transmission shop, $3200 for a complete rebuild w 3yr warranty, includes torque converter. Sound abt right? Guessing a manual swap would cost abt the same?
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
No, that sounds way too cheap, and I think you'll spend the rest of your ownership with that car perpetually apart, and you'll get to know that shop's employees on a first name basis.

The part is 01V-300-053-BX

The labor is 7 hours.

The most commonly replaced ZF slushbox for us here are ones that some transmission shop attempted to rebuild. Not saying nobody can do (ZF can, that's who Volkswagen gets them from...come straight from Germany in a nice wooden crate), but the parts can be quite pricey. Which means a "full rebuild" may not actually include all new parts.

I don't care how reputable they are, ask them how many ZFs they've done. You can successfully rebuilt 1000 GM 4L60E turds, and fail on something else.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Volkswagen, who gets them from ZF. The ZF transmissions that Volkswagen uses do not get remanufactured in house, they get sublet out to ZF themselves. VoA does the importing, but you can see all the shipping labels on the crate and the markings which are from ZF in Germany. I have only ever gotten a handful of these, but all the 5HP19FL, 5HP19FLA, 5HP24FLA I have gotten came the same way. Seems we got one for a Volvo once years ago that was also crated in a similar fashion, but I do not remember the shipping tags.

I have no doubt there are ZF facilities here, but they evidently are not rebuilding the VAG versions of the 5HP19/24 transmissions here. At least not from what I have seen.
 

BlackBHW

Active member
Joined
Mar 25, 2018
Location
Moyock nc
TDI
99.5 Jetta ALH. 05 B5.5 Passat
I noticed mine has a similar issue in reverse just this past week!!! ive never needed to hit the gas in reverse before as my driveway is downhill to back out of... I backed down the street and when I accelerated it shuddered, which I could tell was bad. sad fact is the trans is a reman from ZF installed by VW with like 70k miles on it!!! I think I did the first service when I bought the car and it was straight black fluid that came out. even worse is it was installed around 60k last go round, low mileage car with a rough past!!!!
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
The broken D drum results in NO reverse, or barely any. Not really a delayed engagement.

Delayed engagement could be low fluid or a worn valve body. Don't see much delayed engagements with the ZF. Common on the 01M, though. On some of those you can count to five before they engage.
 

BlackBHW

Active member
Joined
Mar 25, 2018
Location
Moyock nc
TDI
99.5 Jetta ALH. 05 B5.5 Passat
Engagement isn't delayed but lets say you are backing up at idle straight down the road and want to speed up. when you hit the gas it shudders slipping and grabbing like a ford torque converter when someone didn't put the proper merc 5 in it.
 

Tom W.

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2005
Location
Raleigh, NC
TDI
mash-up GettaTDI150, 1986 Jetta Delux D, 2005 Passat TDI sedan
mine backs up just fine at idle, but give it any gas, and it's like the transmission has gone into neutral. - engine revs, but you stop moving.
 

cajunspice

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2011
Location
montz la
TDI
(3) 05 passat TDI,07 dodge 1 ton cummins, 1956 2 dr sedan sbc 383
If any one need a auto transmission I have one for sale . Lots of other parts for sale
 
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