Auto Transmission Failure - Previously Intercooler Hose Identification Thread

[bluefin321]

I'm trying to identify a particular hose on a 2006 T5 TDI Auto. It's approx 3" in diameter and visible from the top of the engine underneath the coolant reservoir.

I think the following picture is the same engine, and it's the large hose on the right hand side.

http://photos.tradeholding.com/attach/hash171/168619/t5auto.jpg

[Umai Naa!!]

It's the hose from the intercooler. It travels up to the intake flap and EGR.

[bluefin321]

Thanks Umai, The reason i ask is that our van completely broke down on the weekend and i'm trying to pinpoint the problem before it gets towed back to the dealer tomorrow.

The van was due to go back to the dealer this week to have the valve body in the auto transmission replaced due to slipping between gears (under warranty).

So we are driving up a gentle slope on the weekend doing about 80km/h and the a/t attempts to downshift gears and i feel a heavy thud, followed by a lose of power and the van shaking pretty violently before coming to a complete dead stop. The engine will start, however heavy shaking and surging badly when in gear, impossible to drive. There was no visible lose of fluids, oils or water from under the car or inside the engine, however i did notice that the above hose was completely disconnected at that middle connection, with no hose or spring clamp in sight!

Not sure if the breakdown was due to the a/t completely disintegrating, or if the disconnected intercooler hose could be the culprit?

The dealer did some other minor work on the van last week, but it was no where near that hose, so unsure if they pulled it apart or not. I've only owned the van for 3 weeks, and the dealer is the only place to have touched the engine.

EDIT: Reading some other forums the symptoms we experienced are consistent with an intercooler hose blowing off. I guess the loud thud could have been the hose blowing off. What would cause this?

[MultiplexMan]

The hose is retained with a captive spring type clip. The hose ends are specially prepared with embedded connector couplings. You should be able to reach in and refit the hose. You will hear a click once it positively engages.

[jfoldbar]

imo (and my experience) if you disconnect maf and the symptoms are the same then the hose coming off is not the culprit. intercooler hose off would mean ratio of air to fuel is incorrect which could cause those symptoms if ecu doesnt accomodate,(ecu doesnt know hose is off) , taking off maf would set ecu to default, so engine wouldnt notice anything wrong. the same as an old car goes the same whether air filter hoses are on or not.


you said, ""heavy surging and shaking badly when in gear"".
does that mean when not in gear engine is not shaking badly and surging? if so that would point to tranny prob, not engine prob.

[bluefin321]

thanks for the replies. i could re-attach the hose, but whatever caused it to blow off in the first place may happen again whilst driving to the dealer and since i have free towing, may as well use it. Like i said, it was due to have the transmission worked on this week anyway, so i'll leave it to them to re-attach and scan for any engine codes etc.

[bluefin321]

Just an update, the hose was re-attached and no engine code errors detected. As for the tranny, VW have confirmed there is a problem with it (they won't elaborate any further than that at this stage) and are seeking a goodwill claim from VW Australia given the service history by the previous owner and the low kms. Either way, i won't be paying. Either VW Australia cover it under a good will claim, or the non-VW dealer i purchased it from will cover it under the 3 month statutory warranty.

I know there has been some recent discussion regarding 'sealed for life' versus service every 60k, however my tranny has now failed with less than 60k on the clock. It has been serviced by VW all it's life and the service history shows the tranny as untouched. VW obviously got it wrong the first time with their 'sealed for life' suggestion, who's to say they haven't got it wrong again with the 60k service interval?

I'll be erring on the side of caution with my new box and having it serviced every 30k or 2 years.

Do we know what the lowest km tranny failure is?

[jfoldbar]

Do we know what the lowest km tranny failure is?

Mods: Feel free to change the title of this thread to reflect it has now become a transmission discussion

i know a few people that have had them fail at 10-20k. and others have done hundreds of k's. its a bit of a pot luck thing.

[Transporter]

i know a few people that have had them fail at 10-20k. and others have done hundreds of k's. its a bit of a pot luck thing.

Can you support that?

[bluefin321]

i know a few people that have had them fail at 10-20k. and others have done hundreds of k's. its a bit of a pot luck thing.

10k-20k... wow!

Do we know where these 6spd were manufactured? Has there been any commentary or tech bulletins from VW regarding the underlying cause of the failures?

[jfoldbar]

Can you support that?

well, i know of few posts that could be supported. unless a pic could be posted. i couldnt post a pic of such a thing. so i guess the answer to your question is no i cant support it. i also cant support they have lasted hunderds of ks either. trying to support it may get an ex vw employee(he left) i know into trouble. so i wouldnt even try to support it.

[Diesel_vert]

As for the tranny, VW have confirmed there is a problem with it (they won't elaborate any further than that at this stage)...

I know there has been some recent discussion regarding 'sealed for life' versus service every 60k, however my tranny has now failed with less than 60k on the clock.

VW obviously got it wrong the first time with their 'sealed for life' suggestion, who's to say they haven't got it wrong again with the 60k service interval?

I'll be erring on the side of caution with my new box and having it serviced every 30k or 2 years.

That's assuming the failure was due to worn out ATF.

VW have always said to change the ATF every 60 000 km for hot countries, but the problem was that it wasn't until recently that Australia was included in that list.

Australia a hot country? Gee, who would've thought?

It has been serviced by VW all it's life...

People say that as if it actually means something in regards to the gearbox.

Unless there is a problem with the gearbox, they don't touch it.

... and the service history shows the tranny as untouched.

Precisely.

Do we know where these 6spd were manufactured?

They are made in Japan by Aisin.

Has there been any commentary or tech bulletins from VW regarding the underlying cause of the failures?

I believe the valve body has been known to go wrong at all sorts of mileages, but I don't know any more than that.

[Sunny43.5]

Our T5 intercooler hose blew off after it backfired ?????? lots of black smoke and no power . refitted it with a click and again bang off it flew . I noticed that with the hose in place it had a lot of loose play , I think that with acceleration etc the hose moves and wears out the alloy lip that the spring clips over . End result for me was to fit two very cheap and simple screws on opposite sides has never come off again . Much cheaper than VW wanting to replace the whole lot and risking it happening again . PS never found out why it backfired probably crap diesel fuel.

[Transporter]

Our T5 intercooler hose blew off after it backfired ?????? lots of black smoke and no power . refitted it with a click and again bang off it flew . I noticed that with the hose in place it had a lot of loose play , I think that with acceleration etc the hose moves and wears out the alloy lip that the spring clips over . End result for me was to fit two very cheap and simple screws on opposite sides has never come off again . Much cheaper than VW wanting to replace the whole lot and risking it happening again . PS never found out why it backfired probably crap diesel fuel.

I taped all such connection that I could reach when I got the van with the self fusing rubber tape to minimaze the movement in there.
After 7 years it's still all good.

[bluefin321]

I'll be erring on the side of caution with my new box and having it serviced every 30k or 2 years.

That's assuming the failure was due to worn out ATF.

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.

It has been serviced by VW all it's life...

People say that as if it actually means something in regards to the gearbox.

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.

Has there been any commentary or tech bulletins from VW regarding the underlying cause of the failures?

I believe the valve body has been known to go wrong at all sorts of mileages, but I don't know any more than that.

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.

---------- Post added at 10:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:20 AM ----------

End result for me was to fit two very cheap and simple screws on opposite sides has never come off again...

I taped all such connection that I could reach when I got the van with the self fusing rubber tape to minimaze the movement in there.
After 7 years it's still all good.

Both good suggestions, although i've never heard of the tape. Which other connections did you tape up? I'm guessing a roll of the tape won't be cheap, so i may as well tape everything in sight.

Would you advise against using Loctite on the connections? I guess it won't be reversible should i ever require to disconnect the hose.