Problem Reports

Automatic TDI
First few minutes driving after sitting for several hours/overnight, the car has trouble shifting in low gears: 1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd and sometimes when has shifted up, will slam back down to high rpm in too low gear.

Once it's worked out the kinks, it shifts smoothly with no problems. It does seem to take a really long time for the temp gage to warm up past dead cold mark, and once it's warm it has no problem.

When won't shift, will rev WAY up before finally shifting up. Sometimes I'll creep along at 10-15 miles an hour till it shifts. Sometimes I'll try driving with RPMs up around 4000 or 4500 till it slams up to next gear. I'm afraid I need a new transmission but am going to try just replacing thermostat first.

Do people respond to my post or is this just a place to post problems but no one actually gives feedback? I can't figure out how to respond to other posts or see what feedback people with my same problem are having.

Originally started at highway speeds above 60 mph after car was running about 45 minutes. Engine would race and transmission would down shift to 2nd and lock there until car brought to a halt. Often the car would be turned off for a few minutes, then would reset. The car would then shift properly at local town driving speeds. Now the transmission appears to slip in third or when car is moving around 35-50 miles an hour on the local roads. NO PROBLEM with slipping on take off and the shifting generally shifts normally. If you back OFF with the gas it generally reconnects and the apparent "slip" catches and tork is resumed. When I originally had the problem I immediately dropped the pan, and changed the fluid and screen. THERE WAS NO BURNING SMELL WITH THE OLD FLUID, and the pan and magnet was VERY clean too! It is NOT currently throwing a transmission code. I wonder IF this is a tork converter problem, a sticking solenoid, or maybe even a throttle body problem. I realize the milage is high but the fluid has been changed regularly and it is never beat on. ANY SUGGESTIONS???

My 99 Jetta Started shifting at Higher RPMs (4000+) for all 3 gears. Need a mechanic to look at it. I have no idea why it just started. I had the transmission fluid changed last year.

Bought Jetta and it shifted poorly, Went crazy looking for correct ATF oil ( Cantrol foreign inport oil is correct- look in to it at Castrol.com). It is Dextron 3. Castrol has it OKed for use on a spec sheet, hard to find on the site.
Bought a quart oil tube at Walmart that reached down to the filler cap. Don't buy the $8.00 red cap at VW dealer, you don't need it. Drained oil and replaced exact amount. Jetta ran much better. after a few 1000 miles I did it again, shifting was wonderful.
Try that first. Also Trans-X in proper proportions helps too!

Shifting from 2 to 3 was very rough and jerky. Tried a new circuit board and reprogramming, but it didn't help. Ended up replacing the transmission with a used one, so far working fine.
It cost me $600 to put in the used transmission, parts and labour, and the mechanic gave me a year warranty. If you know the used one is in good working condition don't try to fix the old one. It cost me $1,200 trying to fix the old one, before i went for the used one, it was waste of time and money.