Auto Transmission Failure - Previously Intercooler Hose Identification Thread

[MultiplexMan]

@bluefin321
- I'm guessing high temperature self amalgamating tape? 3M and Denso are two manufacturers that make very good tapes.
- Loctite will not work. The hose couplings are akin to quick release hydraulic unions. There is a quad o-ring that provides a gas tight seal internally.

@Transporter
- good tip! It has been reported that the coupling may fret and wear. There was a revision to the design ~2007.

Re the auto transmissions. Half a dozen reported first hand transmission failures on vww and maybe twice as many reported on the Brickyard out of >1,000,000 T5 (not sure what percentage are auto) does not make a design failure.

I agree that the auto transmission should have been made a service item but I have no idea what "pressures" resulted in the "sealed for life" decision. If I was guessing - marketing combined with a misguided green directive to limit hydrocarbon consumption for the vehicle life.

I will be flushing my auto every 60K. Flushing it every 30K or 2 years will certainly be better than just leaving it.

[Diesel_vert]

Fresh ATF every 2 years or 30k can't do any harm can it? IMO, it's a relatively low cost preventative maintenance measure and i'll know that i won't have a tranny failure attributable to old ATF.

Certainly not, but the main point I was trying to make is that not all automatic transmission failures can be solely attributed to worn out ATF, especially when it occurs at relatively low mileages.

My guess is that there was some internal fault causing the gearbox to either slowly malfunction and wear out prematurely, or had knock on effects on other components or the fluid itself (or a combination of all factors). If that were the case, multiple fluid changes would've just delayed the inevitable.

Probably the most unfortunate thing is that the cause of failure didn't make itself known during the warranty period.

As for low cost, that depends on whether you purchase the ATF from VW or direct from the supplier.

I wasn't suggesting that it means anything regarding the gearbox, i was merely stating that the previous owner chose to have the van serviced exclusively by VW and they decided that it didn't require servicing. Just painting a picture.

Yeah sorry, didn't mean to single you out, but I've read many posts where people try to come to terms with it by saying, 'but it's always been serviced by xyz dealer' mistakenly assuming that gearbox maintenance fell under the service schedule.

Might be a long shot, but if there are known mechanical issues, wouldn't a recall be initiated? I'm sure VW wouldn't have to foot the entire bill. I'm no lawyer but there may be grounds for a professional indemnity claim against the manufacturer of the failing components.

Unless it's related to safety, I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Re the auto transmissions. Half a dozen reported first hand transmission failures on vww and maybe twice as many reported on the Brickyard out of >1,000,000 T5 (not sure what percentage are auto) does not make a design failure.

If you live in the UK or Europe, you won't see many autos.

[bluefin321]

Re the auto transmissions. Half a dozen reported first hand transmission failures on vww and maybe twice as many reported on the Brickyard out of >1,000,000 T5 (not sure what percentage are auto) does not make a design failure.

Having never owned a VW prior to the Multivan, i was still well aware that the A/T is potentially the weak point of the vehicle. Being a motoring enthusiast and a long time member of other car clubs, these sorts of conversations tend to come up at club meets where others have owned VW's or know of first hand cases. In addition, my mechanic, the A/T specialist that diagnosed the problem and the tow truck driver all were aware of this "common fault" as they put it. Where there's smoke, there's fire if you ask me.

---------- Post added at 12:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:47 PM ----------

As for low cost, that depends on whether you purchase the ATF from VW or direct from the supplier.

I thought 'Fuchs Titan 4400' meets the required VW G 052 990/055 025 specs, and is a much cheaper alternative to the outrageous OEM ATF price?

[Cousin]

Re the auto transmissions. Half a dozen reported first hand transmission failures on vww and maybe twice as many reported on the Brickyard out of >1,000,000 T5 (not sure what percentage are auto) does not make a design failure.

Completely disagree with this statement Multiplexman

I'm not a mechanic and I'm over most of the diy with my vehicles now, BUT, before I bought this van my VW mechanic told me not to buy an auto, they're nothing but trouble. His words, and he works on Volkswagens all day.
I couldn't find a second hand manual when I was looking for one, so got an auto at a price that could accomodate an auto rebuild.
Good move cos the auto went 30,000 ks after I bought it.
I went to one of the better European auto rebuilders in Melbourne to get it worked on properly.
He also told me the Volkswagens have a lot of trouble with their autos, and not just in the T4's and T5's.
During our discussion he said they replace the original valving with larger American valving, as the VW valves are known to be troublesome.

So, getting back to my first statement, I'm not a mechanic, but listening to others that are very good at what they do, Volkswagen have a problem with these autos
Firstly to say it's sealed for life is ridiculous, that's their first stuff up
And secondly there does appear to be a design fault with the valving in these autos, I have seen it mentioned on this forum as well

I had the same issue with a Mk 4 Golf
It was a manual, and it went one day. Just spat bits through the casing.
Took it down to the mechanic, he said common problem for these boxes and 2g to rebuild
Fixed it and sold the Golf
Been driving Rex's since and have not had one problem with them

When I'm finished with this Multivan, as much as I love driving it and others rave about it, they are bit of a money pit and I will be looking at alternatives
And it's a pity, cos I've had two T4's prior, sold both around 400,000 ks each, and years later both owners say they're still going strong.


M

[Sunny43.5]

In reply to Diesel Vert Quote[Unless there is a problem with the gearbox, they don't touch it.} Obviously VW dealers wont touch the auto as they did not have tooling or direction from VW the only response I got when ours started to play up around 50-60 thousand kays was as stated before they are "sealed for life" and if it plays up just hand over your money and we will gladly fit a new one. If they had a service schedule for the transmission right from the start I would have gladly paid each time as I believe now after the fact the present problems may have not have ocurred if fresh fluids were done at each regular service interval. Its no comfort for T5 owners to now be told oh now we reccommend they be serviced at 60.000 because the damage has been done . VW and the transmission makers should do the right thing here and admit an error was made and do the right thing . If this had been a safety issue they would have fallen over themselves to fix it . If these valve bodies are the culprit then the manufactureres should pay as some thread contributors on this forum have been told by specialist that they will fit an alternative valve bodies when rebuilding.

[Diesel_vert]

I thought 'Fuchs Titan 4400' meets the required VW G 052 990/055 025 specs, and is a much cheaper alternative to the outrageous OEM ATF price?

That's exactly what I was getting at.

But yes, Fuchs Titan ATF 4400 meets both standards. Just note that G 055 025 A2 refers to the older Aisin gearboxes, like yours, which is the equivalent of JWS 3309. G 052 990 A2 refers to the Jatco 5-speed gearboxes.

The newer Aisin gearboxes use a different fluid - G 055 540 A2.

Obviously VW dealers wont touch the auto as they did not have tooling or direction from VW the only response I got when ours started to play up around 50-60 thousand kays was as stated before they are "sealed for life" and if it plays up just hand over your money and we will gladly fit a new one. If they had a service schedule for the transmission right from the start I would have gladly paid each time as I believe now after the fact the present problems may have not have ocurred if fresh fluids were done at each regular service interval. Its no comfort for T5 owners to now be told oh now we reccommend they be serviced at 60.000 because the damage has been done . VW and the transmission makers should do the right thing here and admit an error was made and do the right thing . If this had been a safety issue they would have fallen over themselves to fix it . If these valve bodies are the culprit then the manufactureres should pay as some thread contributors on this forum have been told by specialist that they will fit an alternative valve bodies when rebuilding.

It's an unfortunate situation, and will no doubt be a costly lesson for some owners.

You really have to scrutinise the service schedule carefully, the challenge being to look for what isn't mentioned. To me, the absence of gearbox fluid changes is a glaring omission and should ring alarms bells, though understandably, not everyone is a car nut.

However, like I said previously, gearboxes can fail in other ways for other reasons. It's not always a clear cut case that performing regular fluid changes will ensure a trouble free operation if there are other issues at play.

[Sunny43.5]

Thanks for the reply , I have been over the owners handbook from start to finish and the same for the service booklet . We have owned the van since brand new and up until the geabox issue it was serviced by them as well . As most owners are told by the sales people and the owners book we are lead to accept that VW are the people we should trust to carry out manufactureres specified services . Not one person in service on previous visits gave any indication that the auto would not be serviced , I will admit that up until the problem with ours occured I had not scrutinised the service book for auto servicing until I asked when it started to play up . What are we supposed to do trust VW or buy a car and take it to some one else to service ? because this business has made me think twice about how manufactureres treat their customers .Believe me the next time I look at a new purchase the salespeople and service people will be well and truly grilled about these and other issues as I will not part with hard earned money to have it wasted on this sort of rort . Even recently when I approached a sales person at a VW dealer and started to ask about a possible future purchase , I asked about Auto servicing and he litteraly ran to the service dept to ask as he did not know . He didi not even continue with the conversation leaving me to discuss the matter with the service manager .

[Diesel_vert]

Thanks for the reply , I have been over the owners handbook from start to finish and the same for the service booklet . We have owned the van since brand new and up until the gearbox issue it was serviced by them as well . As most owners are told by the sales people and the owners book we are lead to accept that VW are the people we should trust to carry out manufacturer's specified services . Not one person in service on previous visits gave any indication that the auto would not be serviced , I will admit that up until the problem with ours occurred I had not scrutinised the service book for auto servicing until I asked when it started to play up . What are we supposed to do trust VW or buy a car and take it to some one else to service ? because this business has made me think twice about how manufacturers treat their customers .

It's mostly the same situation with other European manufacturers. Hardly any of them call for regular fluid changes any more. I think the Japanese have started to down this route as well, or are well on their way.

That's why I'm extremely hesitant at buying a used European car with an automatic gearbox.

Believe me the next time I look at a new purchase the salespeople and service people will be well and truly grilled about these and other issues as I will not part with hard earned money to have it wasted on this sort of rort. Even recently when I approached a sales person at a VW dealer and started to ask about a possible future purchase , I asked about Auto servicing and he literally ran to the service dept to ask as he did not know . He did not even continue with the conversation leaving me to discuss the matter with the service manager.

I wouldn't trust them to know. In any case, I wouldn't depend on their research and would rather go through the service schedule myself, and ask specific questions later.

As the situation stands, it would appear that the owner needs to be extremely vigilant when it comes to their car's maintenance, especially in regards to the gearbox.

[WambyMc]

In reply to Diesel Vert Quote[Unless there is a problem with the gearbox, they don't touch it.} Obviously VW dealers wont touch the auto as they did not have tooling or direction from VW the only response I got when ours started to play up around 50-60 thousand kays was as stated before they are "sealed for life" and if it plays up just hand over your money and we will gladly fit a new one. If they had a service schedule for the transmission right from the start I would have gladly paid each time as I believe now after the fact the present problems may have not have ocurred if fresh fluids were done at each regular service interval. Its no comfort for T5 owners to now be told oh now we reccommend they be serviced at 60.000 because the damage has been done . VW and the transmission makers should do the right thing here and admit an error was made and do the right thing . If this had been a safety issue they would have fallen over themselves to fix it . If these valve bodies are the culprit then the manufactureres should pay as some thread contributors on this forum have been told by specialist that they will fit an alternative valve bodies when rebuilding.

You said your van started to "play up"..... What did it do?

[jfoldbar]

.Believe me the next time I look at a new purchase the salespeople and service people will be well and truly grilled about these and other issues as I will not part with hard earned money to have it wasted on this sort of rort . Even recently when I approached a sales person at a VW dealer and started to ask about a possible future purchase , I asked about Auto servicing and he litteraly ran to the service dept to ask as he did not know . He didi not even continue with the conversation leaving me to discuss the matter with the service manager .

a few months ago i just felt like testdriving an iload, (no intention of buying one but just curious), went to half a dozen dealers and grilled them all the technical questions, was refered to service depts ect. i couldnt even find out basic things like does it have dmf or smf, how much weight can it carry, vgt or simple older type, and a few other things but cant remember now what i asked. like you sunny43.5, i think if they are selling cars, and servicing them too, they should be able to tell you basic information.

[Transporter]

a few months ago i just felt like testdriving an iload, (no intention of buying one but just curious), went to half a dozen dealers and grilled them all the technical questions, was refered to service depts ect. i couldnt even find out basic things like does it have dmf or smf, how much weight can it carry, vgt or simple older type, and a few other things but cant remember now what i asked. like you sunny43.5, i think if they are selling cars, and servicing them too, they should be able to tell you basic information.

I wouldn't expect the sales person to know too many technical details in the depth, if that's what you mean. But some sales people even when they can't answer your question, they would still point you in the right direction.

[Sunny43.5]

Hi Wamby mc , I had been to Vw many times as we have two T5,s one manual for my work and the family one which my wife drives . The auto played up several times prior to going to servce it would just go into limp mode with out a suitable explanation if you were driving along a street and then slowed to turn into the next one and try to accellerate it would just die with no power to drive , turn it off and turn on agin and it was fine . It grew more problamatic as time went on reversing out of driveway and then engaging drive nothing just rolled backwards tried again and thump it suddenly engages . Now it is actually slipping or flaring as some state when pushed hard up hills and it occasionally thumps hard when changing up and down from fourth to fith . It is random in the way it goes some days its a smooth as a babies bum changing and driving then next change thump . Some of these symptoms were what I told VW at the time , just this last week we went for a weeks holiday at Agnes Waters 1770 I have to be honest I was hesitant as I was not sure if the bugger was going to make the trip it was 450 kays each way . At one time whilst driving along a flat section of highway at 100kays it suddenly changed down to 4 th on its own it slipped and thumped and then was fine . I eventually found the best way was to put it into manual mode as it would not change by itself unless stopping seemed to be happy that way .

You said your van started to "play up"..... What did it do?

[bluefin321]

What sort of warranty does VW offer on replacement A/T? Standard 3 year manufacturer's warranty?

[Sunny43.5]

If its like most makers they will only offer 12 months on replacement parts but I could be wrong .

[kotim]

They only offer you 12 months as standard, but if it is a genuine part then the minimum whether they say or not is 3 years. The mere fact that they offer 3 year warranty in the first place is indicative of the parts being meant to at least perform for 3 years or certain klms. Ultimatley they all do their best to make it as hard as posible for you to make a claim. Most people have to take them on legally and unless you know what your doing it cost many many thousands to employ a solicitor, so you can guess which track most people go down in the end.