Bye Bye T5!!

[sparkyvwT5]

Well Im afraid to say im no longer part of the T5 owners club My 07 128kw (auto) T5 had developed the infamous Transmission issues shifting early, hunting, slipping, albeit slightly. So I did the dirty and traded her in for a new Ute, after receiving a quote of $11800 for a vw box and $6000 for a recon box. It was fun while it lasted but dont think ill go down that road ever again

[brasstinman]

That's such a shame. It wasn't even that old, MY07. How many km did you have on the T5?
Was the gearbox oil always changed with the correct oil?

[sparkyvwT5]

Had just done 90k and had just had the gearbox serviced about a month before hand as I was worried about the way it was shifting then. It was done at my local VW dealer so i presume they used all the correct oils and filters etc.

[Ivo]

Was the gearbox oil always changed with the correct oil?

I thought the gearbox was a sealed for life unit? No oil change necessary. Sounds like a dumb idea to me if its true.

Does anyone know for certain?

[Transporter]

I thought the gearbox was a sealed for life unit? No oil change necessary. Sounds like a dumb idea to me if its true.

Does anyone know for certain?

Maybe that's why they fail. If I had to have auto in my T5 I would be changing the fluid at least every 2 years or 40,000km and fitted extra cooler.
Just think about it; they usually fail when they're out of warranty and at around 100,000km.
Hopefully the T5.2 and the DSG will be more reliable.

[brasstinman]

If it's one thing I've learnt, never take what the servicing centre does for granted ask them what they are doing and what oil they are using. It's your car and your money and the fresh oil changes will make the engine/transmission last for many kms.

[BobD]

My 07 Multivan 128KW just gave up the ghost last week, one month out of warranty and 95,000km on the clock. VW is coming to the party with a new transmission but I have to pay for 7.5 hours of labour to fit it. The oil was burnt so overheating was the cause of the problem. I have probably towed my 1800kg caravan for about 6000km out of the 95,000km the car has done and most of this is in 40 plus degrees, even up to 46 on one trip. The temp gauge sits on 90, no matter what is going on so there is no indication of overheating anywhere. I assume that one of the many oil coolers is a transmission cooler but I don't know yet.

VW says the transmission is a sealed for life unit and there is no way to even check the oil without special knowledge. My dealer, who has carried out every service to the book since new, now says that they will change the oil every 30,000km and that they are recommending changing the oil at 60,000km for lighter duty use. The last service was about 2 months ago at 90,000km and no one said anything about changing the oil. I have never exceeded the towing load rating and there is nothing written anywhere to indicate that an after market transmission oil cooler is necessary.

I have always been concerned about the life of the complex 6 speed auto and for the last year have been doing all my towing with a 1992 Patrol with a Chev 6.5 diesel. The VW tows much better and way more economically than the Chev / Patrol but my transmission would probably have failed on the road somewhere insted of at home if I had towed with it for the last year.

Anyway, get your transmission serviced regularly, as Transporter said, because mine appears to be just another failure at around 100,000km and just out of warranty.

[The_Hawk]

I think anyone who is doing serious towing should invest in a tranmission cooler, but then I don't consider 6,000km (or a shade over 6% of your use) to be serious towing

[BobD]

There is no mention in the manual that if the car is used for its purpose, ie carrying heavy loads and / or towing up to the rated weight, that a transmission cooler is requred. As I mentioned, there are so many coolers now that you couldn't even fit one if you wanted to. What would you suggest to fit and where? I obviously don't want the new transmission to fail so I would gladly fit a cooler and change the oil more regularly if there was any hint from VW or the servicing dealer that it was needed. They now suggest changing the oil more frequently but no suggestion that a cooler is required, even though it is obvious to everyone that burnt oil means that a cooler is required.

[Transporter]

You could fit a cooler under the van there is a lot of space and I would use the temperature controlled electric fan. Not very expensive IMO, the 7" electrical fan costs around $80 plus wiring and labour to fit. You could also fit bigger AT sump so you have more oil to remove the heat.

[t4tradie]

I would definately be fitting an external cooler. Although my van is a T4 i have fitted an external cooler( Mounted to the backside of the grill & in front of the a/c condenser. The fitting of the external cooler and deleting the factory cooler has reduced trans temps by approx 25 degrees celcius. I have the trans serviced every 12 months and the fluid is as new when drained ( cheap insurance in my books). FYI VW 'sealed for life' is bs. The fine print states that the 'life' is only the warranty period. This is done as a marketing tool for the prospective purchaser, as it it show reduced maintenence costs over the period of ownership. VW wont tell you to service the trans as generally there is no service procedure listed as it's a non maintenence item. Maybe call A&B Transmissions in Dandenong & see if they have a T5 transporter cooler. They do warranty work for a lot of the manufacturers inc VW, highly recommended.

[Ivo]

I'm going to make a few calls and get mine serviced. I don't tow so not sure if a cooler is necessary though. Thoughts?

[brasstinman]

Guess if it has moving parts then it needs to get it's oil changed.
I'll be looking into a transmission cooler on my T5.2 when it arrives and making sure it gets regular oil changes. Can't afford to have this van not last 5+ years.

[BobD]

I thought that with the torque converter locked from third to sixth gear most of the time there would be much less heat in the transmission than older unlocked transmissions. I guess that burnt oil and failed transmission shows that there is no merrit in this thought!! I also thought that VW would have had a reaonable transmission oil cooler if the car is rated to tow 2000kg and the transmission is sealed for life and doesn't need servicing. Again, proved to be silly hope on my part.

On previous autos I always installed a transmission oil cooler and changed the oil every 30,000km. However, these were cars that weren't rated to tow without an oil cooler and specified the correct servicing, unlike VW.

[Tornado T5]

Does anyone know if the T5 A6 box is affected by oil pressure changes. That is, would fitting an external oil cooler alter the transmissions internal oil pressure and thus possibly have some effect on the operation of the transmission? I have a different brand of vehicle with a ZF A6 which apparently is effected adversely in this way.