[jwjbama48]

I recently came across a decent deal on a 2000 Beetle. Car was running fine but a motor mount broke. I bought the car and my Dad replaced the motor mounts. The motor literally shifted off the mount, so the motor dropped a bit and broke off the coupling from the heater hose to the heater core. that was replaced today and no more water leaks or running hot. It runs great. However, the check engine light is on. I drove it a short pc down the road, and it does not shift at all. Feels like its starting in 2nd or 3rd, but I'm a little concerned that it doesn't help to manually shift. Even more concerning to me is putting it in 1 manually, it barely pulls.

Something to note, the instrument cluster shows accurately what gear I shift to, but the shifter is a little off. In other words, the cluster can say I'm in D, but the shifter on the console shows 3.

I'm going out of town for a while tomorrow, but will take it to Autozone as soon as I get home, and hopefully they can get a reading of the CEL code.

Any suggestions/thoughts? Could cable or linkage suffer some damage through the motor mount debacle, etc?

Please let it me a sensor!!!!

 

[jfoj]

Need more info.

Engine and transmission type?

Assume you have an automatic, how many speed, what model?

Not sure about the 2000 model year, but the 6 speed Tiptronics had a LOT of valve body issues. I assume others may have had similar issues with valve bodies as well??

If the dash cluster seems to display what gear your in and all gears PRN654321 or PRN54321 then at least electronically things with the transmission are probably in good shape?

This would lead to more of a valve body type problem as they usually had hard or delayed shifts.

Do some more research on your specific transmission for issues.

Some of the valve bodies can be rebuilt for around $600 or so depending on the trans model and how bad the condition is.

As for 1st gear, not sure about anything other than the 6 speed, but 1 gear is very low, revs out quickly, so not sure if this is what you are referring to about not pulling.

Also you should study up on timing belts, water pumps and oil pickup issues depending on what engine you have. You may need to do some more preventive work before you feel you are in a safe zone.

Good luck.

 

[IndyTom]

I recently came across a decent deal on a 2000 Beetle. Car was running fine but a motor mount broke. I bought the car and my Dad replaced the motor mounts. The motor literally shifted off the mount, so the motor dropped a bit and broke off the coupling from the heater hose to the heater core. that was replaced today and no more water leaks or running hot. It runs great. However, the check engine light is on. I drove it a short pc down the road, and it does not shift at all. Feels like its starting in 2nd or 3rd, but I'm a little concerned that it doesn't help to manually shift. Even more concerning to me is putting it in 1 manually, it barely pulls.

Something to note, the instrument cluster shows accurately what gear I shift to, but the shifter is a little off. In other words, the cluster can say I'm in D, but the shifter on the console shows 3.

I'm going out of town for a while tomorrow, but will take it to Autozone as soon as I get home, and hopefully they can get a reading of the CEL code.

Any suggestions/thoughts? Could cable or linkage suffer some damage through the motor mount debacle, etc?

Please let it me a sensor!!!!

YIKES, you have one of the worst ever built transmissions that VW ever put in cars. The 01M 4speed automatic is notorious for failing valve bodies. Don't drive it any longer. VW deemed the fluid to be lifetime which is totally insane since after about 60,000 miles that stuff in the transmission can't be called fluid any longer but MUD. The solenoids in the valve body fail and eventually the clutches in the transmission will burn up. If you are lucky you may be able to just replace the valve body and transmission harness. That is about $1700. If you do it yourself you can probably get away with about $600 for the valve body, 100 bucks for the transmission harness and about $150 for the fluid, filter and new gasket. But there are no guarantees since we don't know how bad the actual transmission is. The dealer will charge you between $5000 and $7000 dollars for replacing or rebuilding the tranny. You can find one on-line for about 2000 bucks plus shipping. And perhaps a VW type shop can install it for you. It probably would be you cheapest bet. Or convert it to a manual which will last you way longer than that crappy Automatic transmission.

Good Luck and keep us posted!

 

[IndyTom]

Here is the link to the place where they sell the new 01M transmission for around 2k. I see they raised their prices to 2495.00

VW 1.8T Automatic Transmission - PartsPlaceInc.com

 

[walnut]

You could have some serious tranny problems......on the other hand, if I read your post right, the problem with the shift lever positon, and the shifing problems in the xmsn occured since, hence probably as a result of, the broken engine mount and subsequent movement of the engine/xmsn unit. The mis-alignment of the shift lever might be a factor here, whereas you are not really in any correct gear position, thus the car doesn't know when or how to shift. Sounds like something besides your engine was knocked a-kilter when the mount failed.

 

[jwjbama48]

Thankfully, AutoZone is just down the street. Was able to get the codes...
P0785, P0768, P0763, P0753, P0748, P0758, P0773

Any ideas? Gonna check wiring harnesses in the AM

 

[IndyTom]

Thankfully, AutoZone is just down the street. Was able to get the codes...
P0785, P0768, P0763, P0753, P0748, P0758, P0773

Any ideas? Gonna check wiring harnesses in the AM

All of those codes point to the valve body and the solenoids contained within. The transmission wiring harness is attached to the valve body, no way to check it without taking the transmission pan of.
Looks like the valve body is fried and possibly the transmission. No guarantee that if you fix the valve body that the transmission will work but replacing the valve body and transmission harness would be the cheapest route.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[jwjbama48]

when I found the car, I spoke with the owners. Their daughter came home from school and said the car was making a funny noise. When the dad started to drive, the mount broke (assume the noise was vibration from the mount) and the engine shifted. He parked it there and had it towed to VW. They checked it out and quoted the parts and labor to fix the car. It was all mounts, water hoses and skid plates. My dad replaced the three mounts and broken water hose coupler. Now, the CEL is on and the shifting problems. I shared some texts with the previous owners today and they confirmed no lights were on and no transmission problems until the mount problem. the battery was also dead at the dealership, so we charged it before we did anything to it. it looked like the doors were left open at the dealership, so I'm assuming it drained the battery. It has held up for a week now with no signs of draining.

 

[IndyTom]

You could take it back to the dealer and see what they say. Perhaps something else broke when the engine shifted? I just know these 01M transmissions and they are prone to failure. Weak solenoids in the valve body which leads to transmission failure.
Good luck, perhaps you get lucky and it is something inexpensive to fix.

 

[jfoj]

I would check all fuses first given you had a drained battery and the motor shifted. Something could have chaffed or damaged some wires??

Also check the wiring harness into the transmission, it could have been stressed due to the motor shifting, something could have been pulled loose or pinched?

If you pull the trans pan, you will get an idea of the trans shape based upon what debris is in the pan. If the pan has little not debris, then the valve body may worth being reworked.

You also need to check out your shift linkage as well.

Good luck.

 

[jwjbama48]

Thanks for the help. All this is way beyond my level of expertise. Last tranny I changed alas on a 72 Chevelle. Things are a little different now. Should I go to a local tranny expert or to VW dealership?

 

[jfoj]

I would steer clear of the stealership, the do nothing other than put a rebuilt unit in the car and charge you a very high labor rate.

A few questions before you give in. What city & state are you located in?

Can you take a picture of the cluster showing the shift indicator and post it here. This may give more insight to what is going on here.

As for pulling the trans pan and valve body, this should not be over your head if you have changed a trans in an older US car. Actually the hardest part of the valve body are all the connectors for the solenoids.

If you can pull the pan once it is decided the pan needs to come off, this will give you a very good indication on what the next move may be. A pan with little debris and particles means it is worth putting money into a valve body. A pan loaded with worn clutch material and metal, well, then you have to decide how much money you want to spend, if you want to try to do the work yourself, do you want to chance a junkyard trans, can you find a reliable local shop?

 

[jwjbama48]

I'm in Alabama, just north of Huntsville. I can't get a photo of the cluster just now. It's a Christmas gift for my daughter, so it's currently off-site. I can try to tell what I see on the cluster. It looks normal. By feel, it shows the correct gear - PRND321. However, once I get to N on the shifter, they differ by one slot. Example: if the cluster says R, the shifter agrees. If the cluster says D, the shifter says 3. It's off by one until I drop to 1, then they catch up and agree. Reverse works fine and pulls strong. D, 3, and 2 all feel the same. I'd say it's probably 3rd, maybe 2nd. I can get to 40-45 mph on level road at about 3k RPM. When I go to 1, I feel a little bump, but has no pull. I can't manually shift from any gear to the next. It stays in whatever gear it starts in.

I've watched the vids on youtube, and seen some nice instructions in here, so I think I can handle the pan removal, etc. I just don't know what to check when it comes to all the electrical stuff. I was hoping the tranny shop down the street (they offer free diagnostics) could tell me where the problem really lies.

 

[IndyTom]

I'm in Alabama, just north of Huntsville. I can't get a photo of the cluster just now. It's a Christmas gift for my daughter, so it's currently off-site. I can try to tell what I see on the cluster. It looks normal. By feel, it shows the correct gear - PRND321. However, once I get to N on the shifter, they differ by one slot. Example: if the cluster says R, the shifter agrees. If the cluster says D, the shifter says 3. It's off by one until I drop to 1, then they catch up and agree. Reverse works fine and pulls strong. D, 3, and 2 all feel the same. I'd say it's probably 3rd, maybe 2nd. I can get to 40-45 mph on level road at about 3k RPM. When I go to 1, I feel a little bump, but has no pull. I can't manually shift from any gear to the next. It stays in whatever gear it starts in.

I've watched the vids on youtube, and seen some nice instructions in here, so I think I can handle the pan removal, etc. I just don't know what to check when it comes to all the electrical stuff. I was hoping the tranny shop down the street (they offer free diagnostics) could tell me where the problem really lies.

Most tranny shops are rip off artists. And others don't know their way around a VW. If you had work done there before and trust them then have them take a look. But without pulling the pan they really can't do anything. One thing I can tell you and that is that they will charge you 5000+ for a rebuilt transmission. The dealership probably even more. Look for a VW shop (not dealership) in you area. Most of them are a lot more reasonable then a tranny shop or stealer ship

 

[jwjbama48]

Stopped at a local tranny shop this morning. Guy was convinced its something electrical and perhaps unplugged. I used the attached pin out to test the valve body harnes. Does this tell us anything???

 

[IndyTom]

Just tells me that the internal transmission harness connected to the solenoids of the valve body is bad as well. Which is to be expected for that transmission. The harness builds up high resistance over time and needs to be replaced along with the valve body.

Did they take off the pan to see if there is significant metal shavings on the pans magnets?

 

[jwjbama48]

No, the pan has not been removed. Help me understand something. If the harness ohms out at the prpoer resistance, how is it bad? Thinking of taking it to dealership just for diagnostics. Is that a bad idea?

 

[IndyTom]

No, the pan has not been removed. Help me understand something. If the harness ohms out at the prpoer resistance, how is it bad? Thinking of taking it to dealership just for diagnostics. Is that a bad idea?

"IF" the harness ohms out at the proper resistance. That is a HUGE IF. It most likely won't. They tested those harnesses and over time it builds up much higher resistance and becomes useless. It was only designed to last 8 to 10 years MAX.

Sure, you can take it to the dealer to see what they say. But I can already tell you what they will say and it will have a lot of Dollar signs in their sentences.

Isn't there a VW type shop around your area?? They would be able to diagnose it and probably charge you less to do it.

Volkswagen Repair Shops & Mechanics in California | VCarShops.com

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Lucw8ALCkLtt79MMw9JOG1E_dX57-raBhbhIFdtHnEQ/edit?hl=en_US

See if you can't find someone from the above websites. They should be able to help you and save you a bit of money compared to the dealer.

 

[jwjbama48]

The pic I attached showed the readings I got. This was taken from the round connector near the shift cable. They all appear to be in spec. Is there another location to check resistance?

 

[jfoj]

Usually the PRNDL indicator looks like PRN[D]L when the trans in in drive. Not sure if your is PRND321, PRNDS or what every, does not really matter.

If the display looks like [P][R][N][D][L] then the trans is in limp or error mode. Also your CEL codes will also indicate problems as well.

The transmission is also computer controlled as well, so there could be an issue with the trans controller?

I am not sure the console shift lever being off could impact this? Many cars have a shifter interlock for Park & Neutral so this could play into what is going on. Also there could have been something pulled loose inside the trans pan due to the motor mounts breaking, I am assuming the console shifter is off due to a cable being stressed or bent?

The trans pan should come off easily, you can save and reuse the fluid if you do not want to spend money on it for now, just get a paint strainer from the hardware store, paint store or home store.

The biggest trick is getting the fluid back in if it your trans is a bottom fill. Not impossible, just annoying.

Once you pull your trans pan you will likely be able to get a better understanding of what is going on inside the trans.