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Volkswagen Beetle Transmission Problems

777 messages,  Last post on May 10, 2013 at 4:52 AM

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What is this discussion about? Volkswagen New Beetle, Transmission, Convertible, Hatchback

    
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Messages Page 3 of 79

#13 of 777 Transmission question by carak

Mar 05, 2008 (10:33 am)

I recently purchased a 2002 Beetle from a private dealer and am unsure about how the transmission works. Do I have to take it to a dealer to have the fluid checked or is it a "self check" transmission?

#14 of 777 Re: Have only 3rd and 4th gears [bluebug22] by digitaldoug

Mar 12, 2008 (12:47 pm)

Replying to: bluebug22 (Oct 18, 2007 9:32 am)
Hi- your post is the only thing I can find online about the problem you mentioned of not having 1st, 2nd, or reverse gears. The same thing just happened to my girlfriends bug with 98000 miles on it. Did you figure out the problem? If you did, will you let me know what the fix is please?
 
Thanks-
 
Doug

#15 of 777 Re: Beetle auto transmission issue when warm [regnef] by efonteno

Mar 14, 2008 (11:56 am)

Replying to: regnef (Jan 06, 2008 6:52 pm)
I am having the exact same issues with my 04 convertible! Car is at the dealership now, awaiting their take on how to fix it. Took the car in 6 months (before the 50000 mile warranty expired), ago with the same issue, they said it was warped rotors....not true! Will let you know how/if we resolved it!

#16 of 777 Re: Beetle auto transmission issue when warm [efonteno] by regnef

Mar 14, 2008 (1:16 pm)

Replying to: efonteno (Mar 14, 2008 11:56 am)
I gave up - just traded in the '04 Beetle. Had it to the dealer 3 times and they couldn't resolve it. Last time the trans fluid/filter was changed and it didn't help - they claimed there was no tech reports on this issue. I'd be curious to know what it was and how much it cost to fix. I'll probably never buy a VW again...

#17 of 777 Almost threw it! by warpfreak

Mar 27, 2008 (1:56 am)

this is interesting, I thought I was the only one who experienced having problems with transmissions. I almost throw my Vox to junk, good thing my dad (a mechanic) went home on time and told my to buy the corresponding Volkswagen Beetle parts and a new battery. After spending almost $1000 on overall tuneup of my dad. It went good, I hope I'll never encounter that kind of problem again. It swiped away all my money.

#18 of 777 01 Beetle Transmission / Battery Nightmare!!! by scotteee

May 08, 2008 (8:56 am)

I recently got an 01 Beetle - 2.0 engine w/ 4 speed auto trans. I've had it for 5 months and maybe put 300 miles on it, most of them to and from my mechanic. My current problem is something that I've seen other posts about but haven't really seen any solutions. About 4 weeks ago the battery died. Interestingly enough, when I went to get a new one and when they pulled up which one for the car a big warning came up on the computer saying NOT to remove old battery because it could render the car undriveable. So what the hell are you supposed to do? You gotta replace the battery.... So of course now it won't shift right. From 2nd to 3rd it races the engine before it engages in gear. I have a really good mechanic and he suspected the computer and tried several things that didn't work. He has a VAG Com but apparently the software to get into that part of the computer is VW propietary. So, we took it to VW and specifically asked them to simply reprogram the computer and of course they said it needs a new tranny for $4000. So my mechanic thought maybe the problem was the valve body inside the tranny. We replaced it and the problem's still there. So now I'm faced with having to replace the damn transmission but it just doesn't seem right. I still believe there's something electronic going on, especially reading some of the other posts. Does anyone have any feedback for me on this problem??? PLEASE PLEASE HELP!!! I'm at the end of my rope and the noose is getting tighter.
 
Scott

#19 of 777 I love my bug - but how much?? by julzrulz

Jun 11, 2008 (11:47 am)

My heart is broken - I bought my used VW bug - (yellow, of course) - early December of 2007. I paid $5,000 and the vehicle barely had 50,000 miles on it. The person I bought it from, a reputable mechanic in my area, had done work on it before putting it up for sale - however, he did not replace the clutch because he noticed that it had already been replaced (prior to him getting the car).
 
Truly a GREAT deal ... absolutely LOVE the car - until this past Sunday. The clutch started slipping - severely - so I took it back to the fellow I bought if from so he could take a look at it ... long story longer - it will cost me nearly $1,000 to replace the clutch/assembly - due to it being a labor intensive job.
 
The car has 62,000 miles on it ... I have been driving a manual transmission for the past 30 years .... I know how to drive stick .... What I don't understand is how the heck can Volkswagen NOT address this issue.... it is plain to see that there is problem with this car. How can my car - with only 62,000 ORIGINAL miles be on its 3rd clutch!???!?

#20 of 777 need transmission help by ghuds

Jun 30, 2008 (4:20 pm)

My daughter has a 98 Beetle with about 105,000 miles on it. We bought it used about a year ago with 98,000 miles on it. I don't have any history on it - a Carfax turned up only regular maintanence for a couple years. I checked the fluid level when we bought it and it was good. It ran perfect for about a year then started lurching in drive every once in a while. Recently it started slipping bad and it's basically not driveable. I pulled the pan and replaced the filter and gasket. The fluid was brown but did not smell burned. There was a small amount of metal shavings on the pan magnet but not much considering the mileage on the car. After servicing it, it still slips in and out of drive. Is there anything else I can look for before I take it to a mechanic to have it checked out?

#21 of 777 Re: Beetle auto transmission issue when warm [regnef] by nataliemac

Jul 17, 2008 (10:27 pm)

Replying to: regnef (Jan 06, 2008 6:52 pm)
I have a 2003 Beetle that has the exact same problems. I bought the car used in January with 60,000 miles on it. It was fine at first, but by March was having the bad shifting problems when the engine was warm. I took it to the dealer twice but both times they said they couldn't find anything wrong with the transmission and couldn't replicate the issue.
 
Finally, driving on the freeway, it finally stopped shifting at all. I was stuck in third gear on the 405 in LA. I had to pull to the shoulder and call a tow truck to tow me to the dealer. It took them three days to even look at the car, at which point they told me it needed a new transmission. Incidentally, the car had 66,000 miles on it and the powertrain warranty expired at 65,000. They wanted $6,000 for the new transmission.
 
Rather than pay it, I had the car towed to a transmission specialist who's been in business since 1963. After sitting for a few days, the car was shifting somewhat normally again. The transmission shop took it out for a drive and told me they couldn't find anything wrong. I told them they had to take it for a longer drive, and then they discovered the problem. They proceeded to take the entire transmission apart - it's burned and black and does need to be replaced. However, the problem isn't caused by the transmission. It's caused by the computer forcing the transmission to shift at improper times - wrong signals or whatever. So the computer is messed up and that's messing up the transmission, causing it to burn itself out.
 
I have to have the computer fixed as well - if I just replace the transmission, it will just happen again. Still waiting to hear how much the transmission replacement and computer repair/replacement are going to cost.

#22 of 777 Re: need transmission help [ghuds] by efonteno

Jul 18, 2008 (6:36 am)

Replying to: ghuds (Jun 30, 2008 4:20 pm)
Check the computer that tells the trasmission when to shift. When i took my car to the dealer, after SEVERAL tries, they finally determined that there was some sort of Sensor connected to the computer that was malfunctioning, causing the transmission to try to shift inappropriately. After replacing the sensor, my car has not "lurched" since. I hope this helps!

Messages Page 3 of 79

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