1995 A3 Jetta - Automatic Transmission Problems

Hello all ...

My daughter's '95 A3 Jetta's automatic transmission has been acting up
recently. If you put it in "D" it seems to slip through first and into
second. You can manually shift through the gears without a problem.

I had it put on the vag-com last week-end and there weren't any codes.
I took it to my mechanic of 20 years and he test drove it and pulled
the codes. It's throwing codes for the #1,3 & 5 selenoid, but the
selenoids are working correctly. The transmission was overhauled by
him when I bought the car: new valve body, selenoids, wiring harness
and TCM. The clutches were like new and all fluid was replaced with
the VW stuff.

The radio loses power from time to time. I saw on-line that somebody
was experiencing similiar problems and it turned out to be a problem
with a wire that was spliced into the 24-pin wiring harness that
attaches into the instrument cluster.

Has anybody dealt with any issues like this before? Is there a wire,
sensor, etc. that's prone to messing up the transmission shifting?

Thanks in advance for any and all help!

Correction to previous post:

I saw on-line that somebody
was experiencing similiar problems with the transmission and it turned
out to be a problem
with a wire that was spliced into the 24-pin wiring harness that
attaches into the instrument cluster. Her radio loses power from time
to time - I'm wondering if there is any connection.

Thanks Again!

Make sure that the trans harness plugs are dry and tight while making sure
the terminals are also clean and tight. Possibly the harness for the
Vehicle Speed Sensor for the Trans Control Module might have a wire broken.
You might be able to check the connections and sensors/switches from the TCM
plug.
What kind of codes is it throwing for those solenoids?

Radios, and I have repaired 3 or so, usually have a problem with bad solder
joints on the inside of them. The bad solder causes a short which can
either briefly turn the radio off or can cause it to go to SAFE.

later,
dave
(One out of many daves)


"tombstone" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Hello all ...
>
> My daughter's '95 A3 Jetta's automatic transmission has been acting up
> recently. If you put it in "D" it seems to slip through first and into
> second. You can manually shift through the gears without a problem.
>
> I had it put on the vag-com last week-end and there weren't any codes.
> I took it to my mechanic of 20 years and he test drove it and pulled
> the codes. It's throwing codes for the #1,3 & 5 selenoid, but the
> selenoids are working correctly. The transmission was overhauled by
> him when I bought the car: new valve body, selenoids, wiring harness
> and TCM. The clutches were like new and all fluid was replaced with
> the VW stuff.
>
> The radio loses power from time to time. I saw on-line that somebody
> was experiencing similiar problems and it turned out to be a problem
> with a wire that was spliced into the 24-pin wiring harness that
> attaches into the instrument cluster.
>
> Has anybody dealt with any issues like this before? Is there a wire,
> sensor, etc. that's prone to messing up the transmission shifting?
>
> Thanks in advance for any and all help!
>

Thanks for the input!

I'm not sure what codes it was throwing for the selenoids - I'll need
to get ahold of my mechanic and double check.

If the vehicle speed sensor isn't working or has a bad wire would the
spedo work? I'm not too familiar with these cars and need to pick up a
bentely manual. Where does the speed sensor mount?

The radio problem that you described is exactly what is happening.
Sometimes it will go off and not come on for days, only to return in
safe mode. We're going to be replacing it soon so it'll be a
non-issue. For future reference can the radio be opened up and
resoldered?

Thanks again!

jeff


On Dec 18, 8:01 pm, "dave AKA vwdoc1" > wrote:
> Make sure that the trans harness plugs are dry and tight while making sure
> the terminals are also clean and tight. Possibly the harness for the
> Vehicle Speed Sensor for the Trans Control Module might have a wire broken.
> You might be able to check the connections and sensors/switches from the TCM
> plug.
> What kind of codes is it throwing for those solenoids?
>
> Radios, and I have repaired 3 or so, usually have a problem with bad solder
> joints on the inside of them. The bad solder causes a short which can
> either briefly turn the radio off or can cause it to go to SAFE.
>
> later,
> dave
> (One out of many daves)
>
> "tombstone" > wrote in oglegroups.com...
>
>
>
> > Hello all ...
>
> > My daughter's '95 A3 Jetta's automatic transmission has been acting up
> > recently. If you put it in "D" it seems to slip through first and into
> > second. You can manually shift through the gears without a problem.
>
> > I had it put on the vag-com last week-end and there weren't any codes.
> > I took it to my mechanic of 20 years and he test drove it and pulled
> > the codes. It's throwing codes for the #1,3 & 5 selenoid, but the
> > selenoids are working correctly. The transmission was overhauled by
> > him when I bought the car: new valve body, selenoids, wiring harness
> > and TCM. The clutches were like new and all fluid was replaced with
> > the VW stuff.
>
> > The radio loses power from time to time. I saw on-line that somebody
> > was experiencing similiar problems and it turned out to be a problem
> > with a wire that was spliced into the 24-pin wiring harness that
> > attaches into the instrument cluster.
>
> > Has anybody dealt with any issues like this before? Is there a wire,
> > sensor, etc. that's prone to messing up the transmission shifting?
>
> > Thanks in advance for any and all help!- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text -

replies within.

"tombstone" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Thanks for the input!
>
> I'm not sure what codes it was throwing for the selenoids - I'll need
> to get ahold of my mechanic and double check.

Sometimes the codes along with the complete info about the codes helps find
the problem easily.

>
> If the vehicle speed sensor isn't working or has a bad wire would the
> spedo work? I'm not too familiar with these cars and need to pick up a
> bentely manual. Where does the speed sensor mount?

AFAIK The trans should have 2 VSS, one for the speedo which is closer to the
firewall over the final drive and the other for the TCM which is closer to
the battery. Not totally sure on this though.
Your Bentley should identify them for you.

>
> The radio problem that you described is exactly what is happening.
> Sometimes it will go off and not come on for days, only to return in
> safe mode. We're going to be replacing it soon so it'll be a
> non-issue. For future reference can the radio be opened up and
> resoldered?

Yes I think someone has described the radio repair procedure online, but I
am not sure about that. Should be about a 15 minute repair to resolder that
bad connection once the radio is out of the vehicle.

>
> Thanks again!
>
> jeff
>
>
> On Dec 18, 8:01 pm, "dave AKA vwdoc1" > wrote:
>> Make sure that the trans harness plugs are dry and tight while making
>> sure
>> the terminals are also clean and tight. Possibly the harness for the
>> Vehicle Speed Sensor for the Trans Control Module might have a wire
>> broken.
>> You might be able to check the connections and sensors/switches from the
>> TCM
>> plug.
>> What kind of codes is it throwing for those solenoids?
>>
>> Radios, and I have repaired 3 or so, usually have a problem with bad
>> solder
>> joints on the inside of them. The bad solder causes a short which can
>> either briefly turn the radio off or can cause it to go to SAFE.
>>
>> later,
>> dave
>> (One out of many daves)
>>
>> "tombstone" > wrote in
>> oglegroups.com...
>>
>>
>>
>> > Hello all ...
>>
>> > My daughter's '95 A3 Jetta's automatic transmission has been acting up
>> > recently. If you put it in "D" it seems to slip through first and into
>> > second. You can manually shift through the gears without a problem.
>>
>> > I had it put on the vag-com last week-end and there weren't any codes.
>> > I took it to my mechanic of 20 years and he test drove it and pulled
>> > the codes. It's throwing codes for the #1,3 & 5 selenoid, but the
>> > selenoids are working correctly. The transmission was overhauled by
>> > him when I bought the car: new valve body, selenoids, wiring harness
>> > and TCM. The clutches were like new and all fluid was replaced with
>> > the VW stuff.
>>
>> > The radio loses power from time to time. I saw on-line that somebody
>> > was experiencing similiar problems and it turned out to be a problem
>> > with a wire that was spliced into the 24-pin wiring harness that
>> > attaches into the instrument cluster.
>>
>> > Has anybody dealt with any issues like this before? Is there a wire,
>> > sensor, etc. that's prone to messing up the transmission shifting?
>>
>> > Thanks in advance for any and all help!- Hide quoted text -- Show
>> > quoted text -
>

Well the car has been in the shop for going on a month now ...

The problem was hard delayed shifting into first from a stop. After
you were rolling all was good.

My mechanic trace the wiring from the TCM to the transmission and
checked it for continuity - all was good. He thought the valve body
may be bad and I had that shipped out and tested - it came back
absolutely fine.

So I'm at a loss now ....

There are two more things I'm kicking around: (1) I've read that a bad
MAF can cause the transmission to act weird (2) a clogged trans cooler
may cause it to act up.

Does anybody have any more info on this? Things to look at?

How can I double check to make sure that my trans has the TCM that is
supposed to be with it?

Thanks a bunch!!

jeff


dave AKA vwdoc1 wrote:
> replies within.
>
> "tombstone" > wrote in message
> ups.com...
> > Thanks for the input!
> >
> > I'm not sure what codes it was throwing for the selenoids - I'll need
> > to get ahold of my mechanic and double check.
>
> Sometimes the codes along with the complete info about the codes helps find
> the problem easily.
>
> >
> > If the vehicle speed sensor isn't working or has a bad wire would the
> > spedo work? I'm not too familiar with these cars and need to pick up a
> > bentely manual. Where does the speed sensor mount?
>
> AFAIK The trans should have 2 VSS, one for the speedo which is closer to the
> firewall over the final drive and the other for the TCM which is closer to
> the battery. Not totally sure on this though.
> Your Bentley should identify them for you.
>
> >
> > The radio problem that you described is exactly what is happening.
> > Sometimes it will go off and not come on for days, only to return in
> > safe mode. We're going to be replacing it soon so it'll be a
> > non-issue. For future reference can the radio be opened up and
> > resoldered?
>
> Yes I think someone has described the radio repair procedure online, but I
> am not sure about that. Should be about a 15 minute repair to resolder that
> bad connection once the radio is out of the vehicle.
>
> >
> > Thanks again!
> >
> > jeff
> >
> >
> > On Dec 18, 8:01 pm, "dave AKA vwdoc1" > wrote:
> >> Make sure that the trans harness plugs are dry and tight while making
> >> sure
> >> the terminals are also clean and tight. Possibly the harness for the
> >> Vehicle Speed Sensor for the Trans Control Module might have a wire
> >> broken.
> >> You might be able to check the connections and sensors/switches from the
> >> TCM
> >> plug.
> >> What kind of codes is it throwing for those solenoids?
> >>
> >> Radios, and I have repaired 3 or so, usually have a problem with bad
> >> solder
> >> joints on the inside of them. The bad solder causes a short which can
> >> either briefly turn the radio off or can cause it to go to SAFE.
> >>
> >> later,
> >> dave
> >> (One out of many daves)
> >>
> >> "tombstone" > wrote in
> >> oglegroups.com...
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> > Hello all ...
> >>
> >> > My daughter's '95 A3 Jetta's automatic transmission has been acting up
> >> > recently. If you put it in "D" it seems to slip through first and into
> >> > second. You can manually shift through the gears without a problem.
> >>
> >> > I had it put on the vag-com last week-end and there weren't any codes.
> >> > I took it to my mechanic of 20 years and he test drove it and pulled
> >> > the codes. It's throwing codes for the #1,3 & 5 selenoid, but the
> >> > selenoids are working correctly. The transmission was overhauled by
> >> > him when I bought the car: new valve body, selenoids, wiring harness
> >> > and TCM. The clutches were like new and all fluid was replaced with
> >> > the VW stuff.
> >>
> >> > The radio loses power from time to time. I saw on-line that somebody
> >> > was experiencing similiar problems and it turned out to be a problem
> >> > with a wire that was spliced into the 24-pin wiring harness that
> >> > attaches into the instrument cluster.
> >>
> >> > Has anybody dealt with any issues like this before? Is there a wire,
> >> > sensor, etc. that's prone to messing up the transmission shifting?
> >>
> >> > Thanks in advance for any and all help!- Hide quoted text -- Show
> >> > quoted text -
> >

Hmmm I was wondering what was happening. Thanks for including all of the
posts to refresh our minds. ;-)

Does your mechanic, or anyone close to you, have the ross-tech.com vag-com
tool/scanner that can plug into the transmission and engine control modules
to see what is happening?
That scanner should also tell you what the TCM's part number is without you
manually looking on the module. On my module there will be part numbers
then above them a 2 letter code IIRC and that should be what you need for
the entire part number.

Can you get the fault codes that are stored and post them here? Post all
information about the codes.
I think you said something was wrong with the solenoids in the trans valve
body.

So does it seem like it is starting in 2nd gear from a stop?

My money is still on either the wiring or sensors. It could be just some
loose terminals or some moisture in there.

later,
dave
(One out of many daves)


"tombstone" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Well the car has been in the shop for going on a month now ...
>
> The problem was hard delayed shifting into first from a stop. After
> you were rolling all was good.
>
> My mechanic trace the wiring from the TCM to the transmission and
> checked it for continuity - all was good. He thought the valve body
> may be bad and I had that shipped out and tested - it came back
> absolutely fine.
>
> So I'm at a loss now ....
>
> There are two more things I'm kicking around: (1) I've read that a bad
> MAF can cause the transmission to act weird (2) a clogged trans cooler
> may cause it to act up.
>
> Does anybody have any more info on this? Things to look at?
>
> How can I double check to make sure that my trans has the TCM that is
> supposed to be with it?
>
> Thanks a bunch!!
>
> jeff
>
>
> dave AKA vwdoc1 wrote:
>> replies within.
>>
>> "tombstone" > wrote in message
>> ups.com...
>> > Thanks for the input!
>> >
>> > I'm not sure what codes it was throwing for the selenoids - I'll need
>> > to get ahold of my mechanic and double check.
>>
>> Sometimes the codes along with the complete info about the codes helps
>> find
>> the problem easily.
>>
>> >
>> > If the vehicle speed sensor isn't working or has a bad wire would the
>> > spedo work? I'm not too familiar with these cars and need to pick up a
>> > bentely manual. Where does the speed sensor mount?
>>
>> AFAIK The trans should have 2 VSS, one for the speedo which is closer to
>> the
>> firewall over the final drive and the other for the TCM which is closer
>> to
>> the battery. Not totally sure on this though.
>> Your Bentley should identify them for you.
>>
>> >
>> > The radio problem that you described is exactly what is happening.
>> > Sometimes it will go off and not come on for days, only to return in
>> > safe mode. We're going to be replacing it soon so it'll be a
>> > non-issue. For future reference can the radio be opened up and
>> > resoldered?
>>
>> Yes I think someone has described the radio repair procedure online, but
>> I
>> am not sure about that. Should be about a 15 minute repair to resolder
>> that
>> bad connection once the radio is out of the vehicle.
>>
>> >
>> > Thanks again!
>> >
>> > jeff
>> >
>> >
>> > On Dec 18, 8:01 pm, "dave AKA vwdoc1" > wrote:
>> >> Make sure that the trans harness plugs are dry and tight while making
>> >> sure
>> >> the terminals are also clean and tight. Possibly the harness for the
>> >> Vehicle Speed Sensor for the Trans Control Module might have a wire
>> >> broken.
>> >> You might be able to check the connections and sensors/switches from
>> >> the
>> >> TCM
>> >> plug.
>> >> What kind of codes is it throwing for those solenoids?
>> >>
>> >> Radios, and I have repaired 3 or so, usually have a problem with bad
>> >> solder
>> >> joints on the inside of them. The bad solder causes a short which can
>> >> either briefly turn the radio off or can cause it to go to SAFE.
>> >>
>> >> later,
>> >> dave
>> >> (One out of many daves)
>> >>
>> >> "tombstone" > wrote in
>> >> oglegroups.com...
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> > Hello all ...
>> >>
>> >> > My daughter's '95 A3 Jetta's automatic transmission has been acting
>> >> > up
>> >> > recently. If you put it in "D" it seems to slip through first and
>> >> > into
>> >> > second. You can manually shift through the gears without a problem.
>> >>
>> >> > I had it put on the vag-com last week-end and there weren't any
>> >> > codes.
>> >> > I took it to my mechanic of 20 years and he test drove it and pulled
>> >> > the codes. It's throwing codes for the #1,3 & 5 selenoid, but the
>> >> > selenoids are working correctly. The transmission was overhauled by
>> >> > him when I bought the car: new valve body, selenoids, wiring harness
>> >> > and TCM. The clutches were like new and all fluid was replaced with
>> >> > the VW stuff.
>> >>
>> >> > The radio loses power from time to time. I saw on-line that
>> >> > somebody
>> >> > was experiencing similiar problems and it turned out to be a problem
>> >> > with a wire that was spliced into the 24-pin wiring harness that
>> >> > attaches into the instrument cluster.
>> >>
>> >> > Has anybody dealt with any issues like this before? Is there a
>> >> > wire,
>> >> > sensor, etc. that's prone to messing up the transmission shifting?
>> >>
>> >> > Thanks in advance for any and all help!- Hide quoted text -- Show
>> >> > quoted text -
>> >
>

Back with more info and questions ....

I found out that my mechanic uses a Snap-On computer thing to read the
codes and stuff. He states that it does the same as the VAG-COM, but
I'm not 100% sure about that.

I'd like to pick up a VAG-COM program and the connector. I looked at
ROSS, but have no idea what I need and was looking for guidance in that
department.

There are absolutely no codes according to the Snap-On thingy. The
wiring had been traced and comes back fine. THe valve body was shipped
out and tested fine. I've had the transmission cooler swapped out and
it didn't make a difference.

I haven't driven the car for a while, so my recollection of details may
be lax ... but it seems to start in first gear fine then engages second
kind of rough - like a jolt, then it's fine for all the others.

As I mentioned I saw somewhere were somebody had that problem and it
ended up being the MAF sensor.

I don't feel that the problem is internal to the transmission as it was
opened up and checked out prior to being installed.

Thanks for all the info!

Jeff

"tombstone" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> I haven't driven the car for a while, so my recollection of details may be
> lax ... but it seems to start in first gear fine then engages second kind
> of rough - like a jolt, then it's fine for all the others.

In that case it might just need a reset of the control unit.

Turn on ignition for 5 seconds, turn off, turn ignition (not engine) on
again, hold gas pedal to the floor for about 15 seconds, release pedal,
start car, drive on and see if that works.

I just picked it up and here's the deal .... I drove it hard on the way
home to see what was what.

>From a dead stop: Goes into first fine, then slips to about 4K and
goes into second. It seems to do the same for the other grears just
not at pronounced. After you're moving, it seems to move up and down
ok.

When you come to a stop and its downshifting, there seems to be a
slight "thud".

The guy I bought it form put in a TCU from a boneyard and gave me a
spare. The part numbers do not match but they have the same connection
type. Would this matter?

If a speed sensor is shot, would that cause a problem like this? How
about a bad torque convertor?

I'd love to exhaust all possiblities before we spend the cash on a
rebuild only to have the same problem.

Thanks guys!

mm