[droppeds10low]

Ok so Ive searched and searched many of forums and cant find an answer to my question, Please if someone can point me in the right direction.

I just purchased a 98 vw beetle 2.0 from my gma, she wanted a new car so sold it to me cheap, I drove the car home with no issues(even though she told me it was doing it to her)(drive was about 40~45 miles all highway,)

So here goes, with the car in "D" It will not shift from 1-2 till ~4000 rpm and wont shift from 2-3 till ~4500 RPM, and seems like it stays in third 70 miles and hour is close to 4000rpm. If I place the car in "1" and drive then shift to second it will shift in the 3000 rpm range but when moving the shifter to 3 nothing happens till the 4500 mark again.

My unlce and his buddy have replaced the Speed sensor, MAF sensor, I replace the temp sensor when she first got the car, the problem has been going on intermitenly for her but seems to be constant since i took the car.(ive driven it 3 different days now and it does it every time.)

I also noticed once then when i was driving that I had no gear selected showing on the display( no black box around "D"). pulled over shut it off and restarted it and BOOM I had the black box again, <~ hasnt done that again.

I also emailed COOLAIRVW about getting my valve body reworked and he stated he didnt believe that was my issue and told me to take it in somewhere.

Tons of searches have come up empty and I want to fix this car so I can have a nice daily while my S10 gets a v8 swap and AIRRIDE installed.

Thanks again
D

 

[jfoj]

These automatic valve body, solenoids and wiring harnesses inside the transmission are known for problems.

First thing you could/should do is check the auto trans fluid level. This can be a bit tricky as you likely will find no dipstick tube, likely the fluid level and fill is via the drain.

What typically happens in the valve bodies is when the fluid/transmission is cold things work pretty well. Then once the fluid and valve body warm up, the fluid is thinner and there is internal leakage around the spool valves and solenoids, then the shifting starts to become harsh, late and erratic.

The fact the shift indicator when into what appears to be "limp" mode, suggest you get a OBD code reader as the transmission should trigger trouble codes that can be read by a scan tool and this may give more insight.

I had problems with my 6 speed Tiptronic and had to get the valvebody reworked.

Now the trans runs as expected without harsh and delayed shifts.

 

[droppeds10low]

Since I've been working so much I only drive 6-7 miles to work and back, it's doesn't get better or worse. I noticed this am ( little chilly here in fl ) that when my blue coolant lights is on my shift indicator isn't. But when it goes off it comes on. I guess I should stop somewhere and see if they could pull the codes again for me.

 

[bman]

Try this:

When starting off, instead of shifting to D, shift to 1.

When you want to shift to second gear, move the lever up to 2.

Admittedly I don't know which positions exist on your tranny shift lever, so maybe 2 doesn't even apply.

But if so, and the transmission shifts when you want it to, but not by itself when in D, it may be a demodulator valve.

I'm no expert, and I don't even know if a demod valve exists in the VW autos, but I mention this because it was something my dad and I had to live with when he bought himself a used Camaro one year.

The previous owner did all sorts of "upgrades" to the car, one of which was to remove the demodulator valve from the auto tranny so that you HAD to shift through the gears yourself, unless you wanted to wait until the engine redlined, that is. At redline it would shift itself into the next gear.

Not sure if it applies, but take it for what it's worth, and best of luck sorting it out.

 

[droppeds10low]

I did try selecting gears manually, when shifting from 1-2 it shifts almost right away, from 2-3 won't shift until the 4500 rpm and from 3-d won't shift until 4400 rpm. The car downshifts back to third if I don't stay about 55, so 40 mph is 4,000+ rpm and holds the how drive home. I'm going to talk to my uncle today who did most of the repairs and find out what exactly he changed, the fluid is new and full( or so he told me). I guess I'm going to have to get under there this weekend and find out for my self what's what.