auto transmission problems

[Rcmafia]

Okay so my sister has a 2000 passat wagon with a 1.8t and an auto transmission. The problems started when it would have trouble catching gears and getting off the line. I would be sitting at a light with it and the idle would bob between 800 and 1000 while sitting there in drive. If I put it in nuetral the issue would stop. Wasn't sure why it was doing it so she kept driving it. Then I noticed that you would hit the gas while driving and it would rev like it was in nuetral. It would also lurch forward off the line on occasion. Obviously something was wrong here.

This all leads up to now. When you put the car in reverse it goes no where and when put in drive you need to seriously rev it before it will go anywhere. So what do you guys think? Is the tranny shot? I know nothing about automatic transmissions so I'm a bit confused at the moment. The car has about 120k on it. Thanks for any help.

[scotts13]

Check the transmission fluid level. Not a trivial task; look at the instructions HERE. If the fluid is OK, replace the transmission. Simple.

[Rcmafia]

Thank you I had been thinking tranny fluid and had been telling her to give me the money to change it. Let's just hope its not to late. Ill give it a look next time I have a chance.

[CharlieTuna]

I recently had shifting problems (different from yours) that were solved by changing the fluid. It's probably a long shot, but it's a lot cheaper than replacing the transmission.

[Rcmafia]

Welp changed the atf fluid and still nothing. I put in almost 6 quarts of redline d4 atf after draining the old and putting in a new filter. I only got out about 3 quarts out though so I think that's saying something.

When I put the car in reverse it will only rev until about 3k. It struggles to get there and does not move the car. I put the pedal all the way down and it will still only get to about 3k. It seems to drive forward fine though but will not go anywere in reverse. So is the transmission dead?

[mk2dubdriver]

Is the check engine light on? A friend of mine had a similar problem. I plugged in my VCDS and ran a TB adapt and it works fine now.

[Rcmafia]

Yea the check engine light is on. I don't have a cable though.

[mk2dubdriver]

If you have any obd2 scanner you can see what the code is. If the code is p1545. Then it needs the TB adapted.

[Rcmafia]

No scanner either. Ill see if I can find one local.

[koidragon1980]

No scanner either. Ill see if I can find one local.

most local autoparts stores, like AutoZone will scan your car for free and give you a printout of the codes. use that info to start tracking where the issues might be.

[koidragon1980]

with our cars, ignoring a CEL is the most common way to make any problem become a major issue. leaving a failing part alone will most likely begin to cause others to fail and compound things.

[Rcmafia]

Ill try and see if I can rent a scanner from them.

The car is a 1.8t and has an oil sludge problem so it will get a cel from that. Its my sisters car so its hard to know what's going wrong it when your not the one driving it. All she would tell me is that the cel came on and then would shut off after.

[scotts13]

The car is a 1.8t and has an oil sludge problem so it will get a cel from that.

Actually, it won't give you a CEL in the usual sense. If your oil pressure is low, you'll get a STOP message, and oil can icon, and a buzzer - maybe the CEL is on, too, I don't know. But for sludge (and therefore low oil pressure) you'll never get just a CEL. That's far too urgent for a single light.

[mk2dubdriver]

Ill try and see if I can rent a scanner from them.

The car is a 1.8t and has an oil sludge problem so it will get a cel from that. Its my sisters car so its hard to know what's going wrong it when your not the one driving it. All she would tell me is that the cel came on and then would shut off after.

Dude that car has a bigger problems then the trans not working right. You need to get a oil flush, maybe replace the oil pump and use full synthetic oil. A working trans will be worthless if you continue to starve the engine of oil. Trust me I lost the engine in my A4 when it blew an oil cooler gasket. Even only running with no oil for a few seconds will kill a 1.8t.

[Rcmafia]

It has full synthetic 5w-40, an oem filter and the oil level got checked very regularly because of the problem. That doesn't stop it from getting an oil pressure warning light and cel though. Most of the time it just says emissions workshop will come intermediately. Not having access to a scanner or vag-com makes it a bit harder to trouble shoot a newer car.

My sister actually wants to get rid of the car as she is very sick of putting money into it She didn't exactly realize that cars require maintenence and thought she could drive it without doing anything to it.

[koidragon1980]

CEL and emissions workshop doesn't sound sludge related to me. How exactly do you know it has a sludge problem? I'd suggest running 1/2 can of seafoam into the crankcase for about 100 miles, then do an oil change, but drop the oil pan and check for any signs of sludge or clogs in your screen. If you see any hard deposits, then it could be a sign of a sludge problem that went uncared for. Overtime, the sludge can cook or coke and become hard deposits or granuals (commonly called "turbo turds"). If it's gotten to this point, then a serious cleaning along with a new oil pump and screen are in order.

Emissions could be pcv, purge valve, or catalytic converter related. You really need to get it scanned to best diagnose what's causing the CEL and Emissions warnings.

It sounds like you may have several issues going on right now, but since you're not getting oil pressure warnings... sludge might not even be a part of the equation.

If you can post back with codes once you get a scan done, we can probably give you much better and more detailed help as to the issues at hand and how to correct them.

[koidragon1980]

It has full synthetic 5w-40, an oem filter and the oil level got checked very regularly because of the problem. That doesn't stop it from getting an oil pressure warning light and cel though. Most of the time it just says emissions workshop will come intermediately. Not having access to a scanner or vag-com makes it a bit harder to trouble shoot a newer car.

My sister actually wants to get rid of the car as she is very sick of putting money into it She didn't exactly realize that cars require maintenence and thought she could drive it without doing anything to it.

At the very least, you need to figure out what's wrong. Getting rid of the car without giving the buyer details about what work is needed is not a cool move.

[Rcmafia]

As I said in my post directly above yours, it does have an oil pressure warning light along with the emissions warning. That's how I know there's an oil sludge problem. To be honest this car at the moment is a nightmare. Its got a bad oil leak along with the other problems and I'm pretty sure its from the turbo side.

I may give in and finally buy vag-com so I have it. I really would rather spend my money on parts for my gti, but having a scanner would be a good investment. I have no problem figuring out the codes and finding what they do. Automatic transmissions are just a mystery though as this is the first car I worked on with one.

[Rcmafia]

At the very least, you need to figure out what's wrong. Getting rid of the car without giving the buyer details about what work is needed is not a cool move.

Sounds like what happened when she bought the car. Its had most of the problems since she got it. Everything seemed fine when she took it for a drive, but within a week or 2 it started with the problems. Then she didn't want to spend the money on fixing them and the problems got neglected making it a lot worse.

I wouldn't sell somebody a car without telling them what's wrong with it nor did I say anywere that I intended on doing that.

[mk2dubdriver]

At the very least, you need to figure out what's wrong. Getting rid of the car without giving the buyer details about what work is needed is not a cool move.

That's what happened to me. My passat was great for the 40 mile drive home. The next day the car was smoking idling bad abs and the gear select lights were lit up. I have been trying to fix the problems for the last 4 months.