my transmission is shot--seeking advice

[mrvmyrs]

Hi All,
I have a 2005 Jetta TDI with 175k, 120k of which I put on it since buying it 5 years ago.
I have a transmission issue between 3rd and 4th gears (tach shows engine revving up to ~4500 rpm with no acceleration, sporadic a week or two ago, but becoming very frequent over the weekend to the point I can only safely drive it in 3rd gear).
I took it to a local independent shop and they've run the diagnostics and came to the conclusion that the transmission needs to be replaced. There were three codes: fluid temp sensor, gear monitor implausible, brake light switch. Tranny fluid levels were fine according to the shop.
I'm leaning towards getting it fixed rather than rolling the dice with another used vehicle. Repair costs will range between $2500 for a used transmission, $3500-$4000 for a rebuild, and $4800 for a remanufactured. I'm leaning towards the remanufactured but wanted to see what the experts recommend.
Thanks!!

 

[jettawreck]

Contact forum member auto tranny guru CoolAirVw. Rich has saved many of these through proper diagnosis and experience. (Kansas City TDIs)
Is this the dreaded 01M 4 speed automatic or the 09A 5 speed Tiptronic??

 

[mrvmyrs]

Contact forum member auto tranny guru CoolAirVw. Rich has saved many of these through proper diagnosis and experience. (Kansas City TDIs)
Is this the dreaded 01M 4 speed automatic or the 09A 5 speed Tiptronic??

09A 5 speed Tiptronic

 

[BobnOH]

CoolAirVW is your guy kansascitytdi.com has some good info.
If you do need a replacement, you might find a low mileage in a junkyard, these transmissions normally held up well.

 

[jettawreck]

09A 5 speed Tiptronic

Much more durable than the 01M, the 09A is made by Jatco and used in several other vehicles/brands other than VW.
Seem to be a bit fussy about tranny fluid level, perhaps. If it hasn't been changed out, it should be. It has no changeable filter w/o total disassembly and even then, its just a screen. Solenoids individually or as a set (9 I think) can be changed.
All you can do is drain and refill. There is no real way to "flush" it, as there are no cooler lines coming out of the unit. Repeated draining/refilling will exchange most of the fluid. Research led me to use Valvoline MaxLife synthetic ATF in the 1.8. It responded well to the stuff, but it was a mess from coolant contamination.

 

[irwinengineering]

Do a search for '09A' and 'solenoids'. The control solenoid valves in the valve body tend to stick shut as they get old. If one sticks when it is supposed to open, the tranny computer thinks it has done its job, but the shift doesn't actually happen = implausible error code.

It's a cheap fix that has, according to my own experience and several others on this forum, yielded great success in fixing units that tranny shops wanted to throw away.

good luck,
Brendan

 

[steadyhand]

I had this issue, along with the 'no reverse' or 'Fred Flintstone Reverse' issue. We tracked the issues down to what irwinengineering mentioned above: the solenoids. It needed three of the nine solenoids, however, I ordered a full kit (9 solenoids) from Cobra Transmissions and embarked on replacing them. It's easy. The job is a solid 5 out of 10 on the hard to do scale, mostly because of clearance issues with taking the pan out and fitting my hand in the right spot.

The nine solenoids fixed everything and it runs like new (was ~ 100,000 miles ago). Next week I will have 300k on this trans. Still runs great. I used Valvoline red trans fluid and drained/filled twice more. Couldn't be happier.

 

[mrvmyrs]

Thanks everyone! I'm afraid to get my hopes up on the solenoid, but I'll be sure to ask about it when I get it in to my regular VW TDI mechanic. Crossing my fingers...

 

[edjet]

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?1521077-Solenoid-Change-09A-Tiptronic
Follow the directions!

http://kansascitytdi.com
Coolairvw home page

 

[mrvmyrs]

To close the loop on this...I took the car in to my VW mechanic and he replaced the valve body. Not cheap, but much less than a new transmission. 1 year later and over 20k more miles and we're still going strong! Thanks for all of the advice!

 

[JB05]

Thankyou for the update. In the future you should get to know Oilhammer who is also in St. Louis.

 

[mrvmyrs]

I've been fortunate to have Oilhammer do all the work on my Jetta since I bought it 6 years ago. He diagnosed and replaced the valve body for me. I plan to have my timing belt done there in the next few months.

 

[texas]

My 09a did this and when cold could not shift out of first. I replaced solenoids all of them. Bought them from trans star. They cost 209 dollars and this was for factory solenoids. I installed and used gm fluid dex 6. Been driving flawless for the last 30k. Now I'm doing upgrades and have to replace to 6 speed. The job of replacing solenoids can be tricky. But if you take the ps line all the way loose with out cracking lines it coles out of the way. Thing line was held to the front of pan with couple of nuts or bolts, and there is a nut or bolt on side of transmissions.