Solenoid Change 09A Tiptronic

[coolvdub]

Well here are pictures from my weekend project of changing out the N91 & N281 Solenoids in my '02 Jetta 1.8T Tip and a Fluid change also.

To start, get the car up on jackstands and ramps as I did, or 4 jackstands. Just make sure the car is perfectly level. That way when you check the level of the fluid later, it will be accurate. Also if you are going to open the trans up as I did, my recommendation is to use a pressure wand like at the coin op car wash to get everything really clean on the outside.

I used the hose at home and Castrol Super Clean. Any cleaner will do, you just want to make sure no road debris can fall into the trans. I also removed the Battery and tray to make sure all was as clean as possible. It also helps to remove the plastic tray from underneath the car, it needs to come out anyhow. Just as a point of reference a replacement trans from the dealer runs $6500-6800 new and about $4500 rebuilt. So keep it clean, so you have no problems.

I used a Carpenters level on the radiator core support for side to side level and on the drivers door sill to check front to back level. Once the car was level, I removed the Battery & tray as well as the Airbox, so there is plenty of room to work on top. The airbox doesn't have to come out, but it makes life easier.

Car on Ramps and Jackstands

Level on door sill

Battery and Tray removed

Next I removed the left front wheel, the inner fender liner and the side splash shield to allow for better access. You dont need to do this for just a fluid change, but if you are going to remove the pan, I feel it makes life easier.

Wheel off

Side Splash shield removed

Next thing is to go under the car and remove the drain plug to drain the trans. It seems that you will collect about 3 liters of fluid in the drain pan, sjoback reported 3.5 liters I believe. Just use a clean pail so you can measure what actually came out, by pooring it back into the trans fluid bottles. Use G 052 990 A2 fluid only. Available at Impex for $16.25 per liter, cheapest price I have found so far.

Remove this plug to drain

Comes out like this

Drain Plug magnet, crud from 1st drain interval

The next step is to remove all the crap out of the way. I started by removing the hard steel line from the trans pan and the side mount on the trans. Leave the line connected, just move it out of the way. A zip tie works good to keep it out of the way. There is also a couple of sheetmetal mounts on the pan to support the wiring looms that pass in front of the pan, just tuck the looms out of the way.You will need all the room you can get to remove the pan. It is very cramped so patience is your friend here.

Here is why you need to move all this stuff

Wiring looms that need to be moved

Remove this bracket and the one on the side of the trans in second picture.

Also remove this mount

A zip tie is your friend

Next I went back up top and removed the shift linkage and the multifunction switch, because it hangs over the pan. Note the position of the bolts, so you won't have to buy the special tool to re align the multifunction switch. Also remove the black plastic vent cap so you can remove the bolt that is near it. Just pry up on it gently and it will pop right off.

Next I went back down underneath and put a ratcheting tie down over the inner left CV joint and the crossmember. No need to remove the left side mount but the pendelum mount (aka dogbone) needs to come out so the tie down will move the trans back a couple of inches. You will need all the room you can get. the pan is a real biatch to get out and patience is your friend. There are many small wires that can be damaged if you are not careful. I don't even want to think about replacing the internal wiring harness.

Multifunction switch with linkage removed

Selector shaft with switch removed

Tie down over CV

Sub frame view of Tie Down

Next remove the pan that covers the valve body. I placed a drain pan under it to catch fluid. Suprisingly, very little fluid came out when removing the pan. Just a small bathroom size dixie cups amount of fluid came out. The pan must come out from the bottom, but you will need to work from the top to remove it so you don't snag any wires on the valve body. another thing is you will need to jiggle the power steering hose and wring looms to get the clearance needed to remove the pan. Take your time here. As the next picture shows the vent tube extends into the trans from the pan and is the major reason the pan is so difficult to remove. Also check out how the paint is missing internally on the pan and bubbled up. That can't be good, so I wire brushed all loose paint off and thoroughly cleaned it out inside of the pan.

Inside view of pan

The next couple of pictures just show random views of the valve body and solenoids. Unfortunately there is not much room to take pictures so I had to use an inspection mirror to get the shots. Sorry they are so small but it was the best I could do.

Valve Body Top View

Valve Body Bottom View

Side view from wheel well opening of valve body

Here are the new solenoids and strainer. I have now verified the strainer can't be changed without major dis-assembly. I mean splitting the trans case apart. That just isn't going to happen at this time in my life and the Solenoids seem to have accomplished my goals at improving the shifting habits of my trans.

N281 Solenoid, controls brake B3for smoooth downshifts

N91 Solenoid, controls torque coverter lockup function

N91 Solenoids Old & New

Strainer aka Filter

Here are pictures of the fluid and parts I used. I won't go into to much detail on the refill as sjoback covered it in his thread very thoroughly to I might add. Here is a Link to 09A Fluid change thread.

Fluid and misc parts used, last picture shows clean versus dirty fluid.

Update 11/06/2004
I changed another couple of Solenoids N93 & N283

Here is the N283 Solenoid

And this is N93 Solenoid P/N 09A 927 331 H

That's all for now, I hope this helps and encourages others to feel confident enough to Rip into that Tip.

Modified by coolvdub at 6:36 PM 8-4-2004

Modified by coolvdub at 9:04 PM 8-4-2004

Modified by coolvdub at 9:09 PM 8-4-2004

Modified by coolvdub at 8:05 PM 11-6-2004


Modified by coolvdub at 6:34 PM 12-15-2008

[vwdrajver]

Teaser is the right word!!!
Keep the good work up!

[03Jetta1.8T]

Quick question, were you over 60k miles??

[coolvdub]

Yep, 167,006. I'm a long distance commuter.


Modified by coolvdub at 7:47 PM 8-3-2004

[vwdrajver]

WOW, I did 200kkm in 7 years.
Do you live in that Jetta????

BTW:
For that kind of mileage per year (day) here in Europe everybody takes the TDI.
Diesel costs up to 30% less than 98 gasoline.

And TDI's are less than 2000 USD more expensive – some BMW-s are even – 530d and 525i for example.

In France, Austria and Germany almost 50% of new sold cars are diesel engined.

I belive that less than 1% of cars in EU are above 2,5 liter engined and gasoline powered, percentage of automatic droven cars isn't above 5%.

Did you open your tipp to change the filter yet????
Bye.

[coolvdub]

Quote, originally posted by vwdrajver »

Did you open your tipp to change the filter yet???? Bye.

No, I didn't. I have it on good authority, information provided by one VW Tech and also second hand from a guy who has a friend that is the head engineer for the Tip for VWOA that the transaxle must be completely dis-assembled to remove the filter. Since my trans is shifting much better now since I replaced the N91 & N281 Solenoids, I have decided this is not needed right now. Also based on the fact that I have seen the size of the strainer now, and it is quite large. My feelings are you would have to have some major failure to plug the strainer. I feel (my opinion only) that the engineers left plenty of headroom in terms of filtering capacity. I will post up a picture later showing the size.

[03Jetta1.8T]

Cool~

The filter is indeed buried in the middle.

[vwdrajver]

I'm having my 096 VW tranny of renault Espace dismantled and i'd like to ask you if I should also dissasemble and clean the valve body (and solenoids)?
All five of clutch pistons were worn and all 7 disc (metal)plates of the 3-4-th brake also. And one plate of 3-4th clutch was broken.

Bye, Blaz.

[coolvdub]

Hi Blaz,
I would say if you are going to the effort of a complete tear down, and you have clutch plates and discs that were worn you should do it. Just do yourself a favor and take some pictures of the valve body as you tear it down so you can make sure all goes back togther well.

[baomo]

did you test the voltage or resistance on the solenoids or were you throwing a code that said it was bad?

[coolvdub]

Quote, originally posted by baomo »

did you test the voltage or resistance on the solenoids or were you throwing a code that said it was bad?

I was throwing codes 01192 for the Torque Converter Lock Up. Controlled by Solenoid N91 and it showed low resistance at 15.6 ohms, in spec(9-24 ohms) but I figured while I was in there I might as change it. Also throwing 00347 for Solenoid N281, spec is 9-24 ohms and checked out at 52-70 ohms fluctuating, definately bad.

[coolvdub]

I just finished doing the 5k drain on my transmission, fluid is still coming out brownish colored about the same as maple syrup. I expected that, so things are going well. I will do another drain interval in another 5k at which time I should have fully replaced all the fluid as the dry refill capacity is rated at 9 liters. If it is still brownish after that I may just chalk it up to after minimal time the fluid changes colors. Car seems to be shifting slightlt better but a good couple of days of commuting will tell the true story or if it's just placebo effect because I did something to the car.

[baomo]

good work.
have you gotten the results back from your oil analysis?

[coolvdub]

No, I have the old sample sitting here. I need to call the lab and see if they can test a virgin sample as well. If they can I will get another test kit and send both samples off.

[vwdrajver]

Hi Don.

Finally i'm done with my Espace and 096 gear.

I didn't touch the valve body.
1. I can still do it without tearing the engine-transmission apart and for me it's quite easy because unlike your tipp 096 has the valve body above the oil pan at the bottom of the transmission.
2. After a complete teardown of the gearbox i first wanted to know if everything works OK and then complicate some more – so i could find a possible error quicker.

Reassembly was problemless, also the fitting the gear back to the Espace. It was hard for me to wait so long to see the results… and at start (when i passed the 12km/h speed) the service light came on .
I drove it, and when i accelerated hard, engine lost power – irregulary and many times (for 2-3 sec), also other warning lights came on, and the limp mode of course .

OK i said, i read the codes and studied the literature. I figured that the loosing power was because the injection computer got the command from the gearbox comp to reduce power (to change gears).
Then the REAL work begun…
Searching for the right wire in the wiring planes……
There was a minus(mass) connection at 5 kOhm to that wire in one connector that was bad.
That problem took me at least 5 hours….

BUT now my face is like .

So now i've just washed all the dirt and took it for a quick ride.
In the afternoon i'm taking the Espace for a real spin to see the max speed results change - hopefully .

[coolvdub]

Hi Blaz,
I'm glad to hear that you have your transmission problems taken care of. Did you test for the wiring problem at the connector for the transmission at the TCU connector. I am still having some shifting problems at part throttle condition. Also I now feel that the Torque converter DTC codes are being reported incorrectly by the TCU. I had my wife drive the car while I monitored the measuring blocks for the Torque converter, everything worked as it should. It seems like I have more work ahead of me to make things perfect.

[coolvdub]

Updated pictures added

[admcs]

eeech! I'll take a solenoid repair any day on my '93 over that. great info though, thank you for posting! been there....

[okanagan45]

Do all those solenoids just get sloshed with hydraulic oil at 90-100 deg. Celsius? Sheesh, I'm surprised they last as long as they do.

[coolvdub]

Yes they are in the hot fluid.

[manasteel]

ok i didn't exactly ready the whole thread, but are there part numbers for the parts I needs to do this?

And also, is there any specific reason worth doing this?

Is there anything faulty with my existing solenoid on my 02.5 1.8t tiptronic?

As of now, I don't have any problems with my transmission, but I would like it to perform better when roadracing/ autoxing. I already ordered most of the things I need for an ATF change. should I just change these out too? thanks.

[coolvdub]

If your transmission is working okay, you don't need to change anything. I was having some problems with my transmission. I have 197,571 miles on my car already so I am experiencing problems that nobody else will probably ever see. Just change the fluid every 40-50k and tou will be fine.

[Seanathan]

Bump. I'm very interested in the outcome of those oil samples.

[RR]

I have just now discovered this (auto tranny) forum. WOW! way cool...

coolvdub: How did you come about the info of the different types of solenoids and their function? I would love to have this info for my long-engine Passat tip tranny (01V, I think). Where is this stuff documented? It's not in my Bentley...

- Rusty

[coolvdub]

RR,
I got the information from this websitehttps://erwin.volkswagen.de/index.jsp

[Jetta_1.8Tip]

I bought a bunch of info from them (to have my mech buddy study )

Great info and not too pricey but the whole sealed media thing is kind of a pita. I know why they have to do that but it's still inconvenient

[RR]

Quote, originally posted by coolvdub »

RR, I got the information from this websitehttps://erwin.volkswagen.de/index.jsp

OMG I've hit the motherlode! This is a revelation! I registered and ordered a couple of docs - this is fabulous, thanks a BUNCH!

You guys just removed a lot of from my life...


Modified by RR at 12:53 PM 2-4-2005

[Bryan95PassGLXVR6]

How were you able to buy individual solenoids? Volkswagen tells me they can't sell individual solenoids.

[coolvdub]

They are available separately, it's just most parts people either don't know or won't tell you. I have got all mine HERE, they are by far the most knowledgeable and cooperative parts people I have dealt with to date. I was also able to buy just the inner CV joint from them instead of the $600 axle assembly every body wanted to sell me.

[Bryan95PassGLXVR6]

Awesome Thanks

[b_laitinen]

gotta question for ya...

my car won't shift from 2nd to 3rd gear...

vag-com 00264 - "solenoid valve 4 (n91) 36-00 Open circuit"

what's wrong / what else do i need to do to diagnose it?

my vw dealer says i need a whole new tranny without even looking at the car "we don't work on transmissions here, we just replace them..."

[coolvdub]

Are you sure about the VAG-COM Code? N91 controls the lockup function of the torque converter. I see now you have a 01M transmission, yours is a 4 speed auto correct? If so I don't have the technical info from Erwin on hand but will look up the info in my Bentley manual later on today. I believe the 01M tranmission is notorious for having a bad wiring harness in the transmission which is easily replaced.


Modified by coolvdub at 12:04 PM 2-19-2005

[coolvdub]

Okay I checked the Bentley manual for you and the N91 Solenoid controls the lockup function on the 01M as well. So you have two entirely unrelated problems as near as I can tell. If you can find somebody local to you with a Bentley manual on CD and VAG-COM you can pinpoint the actual problem.


Modified by coolvdub at 2:38 PM 2-19-2005

[RoBeRt_68]

great stuff just wanted to save it

[okanagan45]

Quote, originally posted by coolvdub »

N91 controls the lockup function of the torque converter.yours is a 4 speed auto correct? Modified by coolvdub at 12:04 PM 2-19-2005

Although I have the 5 sp tiptronic, curiosity compels me to ask if I have a problem or not.
Coasting down hill at low rpm's my torque converter locks-up for one second, then releases for five seconds repeatedly, but happens only at low RPM's, in the 4th gear selector setting. Other than that this transmission is a wonderful piece of machinery.