Advice on selling my lovely 1998 Jetta TDI with transmission problem--Solved--turns out it was a simple fix and not the transmission!

[marisheba]

Hello TDI club! I have read this forum for advice on my sweet TDI for many years, and finally have a question of my own that I would love your help with (posting on two threads since I'm not sure which is best). I have had and loved my 1998 Jetta TDI for 18 years, and it has about 200K miles on it. In many ways it is still a great car with good bones, but the transmission finally stopped shifting into gear, and it is no longer worth it to me to maintain. I don't know what the issue is or if it's a minor or major issue. But I know many people love old TDIs, and I'm hoping an enthusiast or mechanic would want to buy and fix my little car up for themselves, and that it could go to a good home.

So: is it worth trying to sell my Jetta with a non-working transmission or should I just donate it at this point? And if I do sell it, what would be fair to ask for it?

The car has plenty of little wear and tear issues from over the years, the biggest issues being a leak in the trunk, worn out shocks and struts (also an ongoing oil leak issue that I've had repaired countless times that is hopefully okay right now). But I've also put a lot of love into it over the years and made some big repairs in the past few, including a new timing belt and new glow plug harness both less than a year ago (I know, I know). I would love any collective advice and wisdom from the folks here, thanks so much!

(I am in Portland, Oregon, if that matters).

Jetta TDI driver side

• marisheba
• Jan 2, 2023

Jetta TDI passenger side

• marisheba
• Jan 2, 2023

 

[turbodieseldyke]

Are you sure it's the transmission, not the shift tower or linkage?

 

[marisheba]

No, I'm not I guess. The shifting on the car was getting more difficult I er the course of a week or two, and then suddenly it wouldn't shift into gear.

This also brings up the question of whether it's worth getting a $200 diagnostic, which is only want to do if selling of course. (And I'm definitely selling the car regardless of whether the issue is major or minor).

 

[hskrdu]

Honestly, I wouldn't think twice: repair the transmission and keep it on the road for another 200,000 miles. The only item of concern is the oil leak, and as long as the oil level was maintained, and the correct spec oil was used, it should be fine (but please use a different mechanic, if they can't fix an oil leak). I had a Porcelain Blue Mk3 Golf, so I'm biased, but if there is no rust, or other significant issue, then keep it on the road! Mk3's have a lot of electrical gremlins, but everything else you mentioned is pretty standard maintenance. The leak in the trunk is usually from the rear sunroof drains, a break in the rear weather stripping, or sometimes the body plugs. The GP harness and shocks/struts should have been easy (and relatively minor), not unlike new pads and rotors, or tires. Usually Mk3's die because of rust or accidents, but yours looks like it's in good shape- and if you did the TB fairly recently, it significantly adds to the value. Plus, Portland has 5 or 6 trusted TDI Gurus on our list, so I'm guessing you haven't been using one of them? Ask Justin (oldpoopie) or Rich as Fix Um about the transmission, I doubt it would be $200 to get an evaluation, and certainly you could have any work done right for a reasonable price, and a car with good value that can stay on the road for another decade.

Have you seen the recent post by Rig? Maybe he would want your car to keep his alive:

My Porcelain Blue '98 Jetta Resto/Mods Thread

1998 Jetta TDI, Porclain Blue 5 speed Manual Brief History of the Car: My Grandma helped me purchase Ole Blue in 2010 as my first car before heading back to college for the fall. My dad found the car on ebay after doing a bunch of research to see what was the most efficient, powerful, cost...

forums.tdiclub.com

(Also, I would delete your double-post and keep this thread).

 

[ToddA1]

Open the hood and see if there’s anything broken at the shift tower. There’s a plastic part that’s known to break with age. It’s like $40 and it’s easy to swap. You probably only need a flathead screwdriver and a 13mm wrench.

A driving car is with a lot more than a non-driving car…

-Todd

 

[marisheba]

Open the hood and see if there’s anything broken at the shift tower. There’s a plastic part that’s known to break with age. It’s like $40 and it’s easy to swap. You probably only need a flathead screwdriver and a 13mm wrench.

A driving car is with a lot more than a non-driving car…

-Todd

Thanks much for the advice, I will definitely check this out!

 

[marisheba]

Honestly, I wouldn't think twice: repair the transmission and keep it on the road for another 200,000 miles. The only item of concern is the oil leak, and as long as the oil level was maintained, and the correct spec oil was used, it should be fine (but please use a different mechanic, if they can't fix an oil leak). I had a Porcelain Blue Mk3 Golf, so I'm biased, but if there is no rust, or other significant issue, then keep it on the road! Mk3's have a lot of electrical gremlins, but everything else you mentioned is pretty standard maintenance. The leak in the trunk is usually from the rear sunroof drains, a break in the rear weather stripping, or sometimes the body plugs. The GP harness and shocks/struts should have been easy (and relatively minor), not unlike new pads and rotors, or tires. Usually Mk3's die because of rust or accidents, but yours looks like it's in good shape- and if you did the TB fairly recently, it significantly adds to the value. Plus, Portland has 5 or 6 trusted TDI Gurus on our list, so I'm guessing you haven't been using one of them? Ask Justin (oldpoopie) or Rich as Fix Um about the transmission, I doubt it would be $200 to get an evaluation, and certainly you could have any work done right for a reasonable price, and a car with good value that can stay on the road for another decade.

Have you seen the recent post by Rig? Maybe he would want your car to keep his alive:

My Porcelain Blue '98 Jetta Resto/Mods Thread

1998 Jetta TDI, Porclain Blue 5 speed Manual Brief History of the Car: My Grandma helped me purchase Ole Blue in 2010 as my first car before heading back to college for the fall. My dad found the car on ebay after doing a bunch of research to see what was the most efficient, powerful, cost...

forums.tdiclub.com

(Also, I would delete your double-post and keep this thread).

Thank you so much for the advice. Where do you find the TDI mechanics list on TDI club, I didn't know that existed!

I used to really like my mechanic and they had some people that really loved TDIs, but then they switched management a while back. I was much less happy but I never switched, and I really regret it now, I think I spent more money and got worse service than I needed. I'm definitely selling the car no matter what (I have some health issues and I just can't give an old car the attention it needs, even with a great mechanic), but I think if I can get the eyes of a good TDI mechanic on it that's probably my best next move no matter what.

 

[hskrdu]

The Trusted Mechanics List is a "sticky" at the top of TDI101:

Trusted TDI Mechanics - By State

Click Below : Looking to be added to the Member Recommended Mechanics List or have someone you want added ? Click me :) Member Recommended TDI Mechanics - By State List Member Recommended TDI Mechanics By State Map Disclaimer and suggestions for finding a mechanic for your car: TDIClub is not...

forums.tdiclub.com

It's not always up to date (and does not have universal agreement), but Justin posts here regularly, and (I think) drives to your location for service. See his contact info and old posts:

oldpoopie

forums.tdiclub.com

 

[hskrdu]

Also, the premier site for TDI transmission info is Rich at Kansas City TDI (coolairvw):

Kansas City TDI

Check out all his links, how-to's, FAQ's, and videos.

 

[Steve Addy]

I can't imagine a CTN trans giving up the ghost at 200k miles but I suppose it could happen....a lot of things do happen we don't expect.

However, it's more likely that some part of the shift mechanism is broken....like he plastic bits of the 02A shift tower or the cable end broke or the cable itself broke. Or on the inside of the car the shifter mechanism (which is a complicated mess) wore out.

At any rate post up with what you find after having given it a looking over under the hood and / or under the shifter boot inside the car.

Steve

 

[Abacus]

I can't imagine a CTN trans giving up the ghost at 200k miles but I suppose it could happen....a lot of things do happen we don't expect.

However, it's more likely that some part of the shift mechanism is broken....like he plastic bits of the 02A shift tower or the cable end broke or the cable itself broke. Or on the inside of the car the shifter mechanism (which is a complicated mess) wore out.

At any rate post up with what you find after having given it a looking over under the hood and / or under the shifter boot inside the car.

Steve

I agree with Steve, the transmissions are usually pretty robust and it may be something simple.

I have had to replace a few of the plastic components for the shifter, which is probably where your problem is. The good news is the shift tower comes out of the car easily, just put it in neutral, undo a few bolts, and it pops right out so you can work on it on a bench and not in the confines of the car. I realize you don't do your own work, but someone else will. It's not all that hard once you get into it. Below is the basics of how to have a look.

Unbolting the shift cables and the two shift tower bolts.

It comes straight up and out.

This particular problem was poor shifting and loss of gears. The culprit was the little black round part on the right. The plastic shift mechanism snapped off inside the aluminum housing.

It's hard to see in the below photo, but the area the plastic mechanism sits in was corroded and didn't allow it to move. It snapped off when we tried to remove it.

I drilled it out to fit the new piece in its place.

This was how much it had corroded.

Nice and clean now.

The transmission fluid was nasty so we flushed it out.

And never fill it with anything other than GL-4 fluid. Disregard all the GL-5 fluid that is 'backwards compatible' or it could look like this.

All back together and shifting smoothly, better than ever before the owner said. And it had all 6 gears (5f, 1r)

This is what the broken piece was supposed to look like.

 

[marisheba]

Thanks so much everyone who has commented! I checked under the hood and it does look like it is that plastic part at fault! So knowing that it's likely an easier fix than I was worried it might be, it's now a no-brainer to get it fixed before selling. I've contacted one local person in my area from TDI club who works on TDIs and is highly recommended, and if that doesn't work out then I also got the name of a shop from the trusted mechanics list. Half of my problem was that I didn't really trust my old mechanic anymore, so they weren't a good resource. Thanks so much, you've all been so much help! And as I said before, these forums have been hugely helpful over the years.

 

[Rig]

The stock shift assembly on the 02A transmission is a pretty common failure point. I have exactly the same car as you and I've had 3 or 4 failures to the point where I either coundn't drive the car at all, or couldn't shift into certain gears. Finally, one of the cables flat out snapped in half. I decided to swap the entire thing about for the 02J (mk4 TDI setup) along with solid aluminum components on the shift tower. This includes the mechanism on top of the transmission, cables, and the shifter box inside the car. It's a "permanent" solution to the issues with the 02A and I couldn't reccomend it more!

 

[ninedee_golf_tdi]

Might be this part that broke.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-volkswagen-audi-parts/shifter-linkage/1j0711256/

 

[tripLr]

Thank you so much for the advice. Where do you find the TDI mechanics list on TDI club, I didn't know that existed!

I used to really like my mechanic and they had some people that really loved TDIs, but then they switched management a while back. I was much less happy but I never switched, and I really regret it now, I think I spent more money and got worse service than I needed. I'm definitely selling the car no matter what (I have some health issues and I just can't give an old car the attention it needs, even with a great mechanic), but I think if I can get the eyes of a good TDI mechanic on it that's probably my best next move no matter what.

In your area, Google cascade German diesel out of Gresham. https://g.co/kgs/bw8WfE

 

[bdiddy]

The stock shift assembly on the 02A transmission is a pretty common failure point. I have exactly the same car as you and I've had 3 or 4 failures to the point where I either coundn't drive the car at all, or couldn't shift into certain gears. Finally, one of the cables flat out snapped in half. I decided to swap the entire thing about for the 02J (mk4 TDI setup) along with solid aluminum components on the shift tower. This includes the mechanism on top of the transmission, cables, and the shifter box inside the car. It's a "permanent" solution to the issues with the 02A and I couldn't reccomend it more!

I did this 4 different cars because it works so well. The mk4 shift box and tower works so much better than the mk3 stuff. For me it was a 22$ junkyard upgrade. It’s time consuming and takes some metal fab work but it just works great. There are some great posts about how to do it somewhere on here