My 03 Passat lags and shifts hard when going into reverse and going into second gear it jolts and shifts hard as well, all the other gears shift fine. When I go into reverse the engine moves a good bit.
Did you change your transmission mounts or did you get a shop to do it. I want to do it myself if I can, but I can't find any videos on it.You mentioned engine movement going into reverse. Have someone watch the rear of the transmission (laying down alongside the car) to see if it move much there. I've had failed transmission mounts before, which cause quite a clunk when the trans lifts, then drops back down.
I never had problems with the shifting until I changed the fluid. The fluid was black in the pan but that was its first time being changed in 130000 miles. There was no metal in the pan or near the magnets just some sludge. I rewired a whole new TCM wiring harness and a "new" TCM as well. I've checked for codes and nothing has popped up for it.Were you having trans issues prior to changing the fluid and filter?
What did the fluid look like in the pan (black, clear, brunt smelling, Did it have a metallic sheen to it)?Ect..
When you cleaned the magnets in the pan did it have any metal flakes, chunks or did it look pasty?
Is the gear indicator on the dash all lit up in red blocks?
Disconnect the trans wiring harness(At the trans) and check for corrosion/dirt in the plugs. Check for obvious wiring harness damage as far back as you can follow that harness.
You really need to get the car scanned. Especially the transmission to see what fault codes come up using Vag Com or a SnapOn scanner. This will give you a better idea what might be causing the rough shifting as it could be a faulty solenoid, Neutral Safety Switch also called the Muti Function Switch, a short in the wiring harness or something internal.
One other thing to check that's easy is the TCM (Transmission Control Module) It is located under the passenger side foot well.
Remove the plastic sill plate trim and kick panel and pull the carpet and the padding up. There will be a black box that is home to the TCM. 'Any' water in this area is common and can fry the TCM. Look at the connectors as well as unwrapping the wiring harness. Looking for corroded wires, brakes cracks and corroded or broken connectors.
When your mounts were going out did it cause any shifting problems?I did them myself. It's been years since so I can't remember exactly what's involved, but I don't remember it being difficult and the mounts are fairly inexpensive. Basically, you will need a floor jack to support and lift the trans enough to swap the mounts. a wide board under the pan is a must to avoid damage.
I've done the fluid change a couple times because I've been doing it wrong but the filter was changed after the TCM wiring and no I could check the sensors if you could tell me what to look for. I usually try to do these things on my own because I enjoy the hands on learning I get from it and I save a little money.Bad mounts should not cause a shifting issue apart from a clunk. If you ran the car for more than a few minutes to get it into every gear, it may have been too warm by then (depending on where you live). The fluid expands at full temp by nearly 1L. Did you do the fluid/filter change at the same time as the TCM/wiring swap? Have you checked the coolant temp sensor output or the MAF output with VCDS? Were you certain the old trans filter gasket came out with the old filter? They all can cause this issue.
Yes the car was level when I changed it.While doing the filling, when the fluid temp is in the proper range, was the transmission pan perfectly level? I usually use a level on the bottom of the pan to check and get readings both front to rear & left to right.
Good luck!
Just got 1 off Amazon for 12.99 will be here tomorrow and I'll take a screenshot of the scanGet a 409.1 cable off Ebay. They run about 15-25 bucks. Buy from a trusted seller. Follow the directions to upload it to your laptop then go to RossTech's website and download their free 'Lite' program.
This will allow you to scan the car and clear codes.
That's a trend these days. If the customer doesn't notice then they have cashed in w/o doing the actual jib and if he notices then they do the job. But it's a gamble on the winning side for them because 99% of people know too little about cars so they won't notice.they always make things right the second time around
Wow I changed the filter and and pan gasket and the fluid now is perfect and it's still doing it its not shifting rough anymore but going in reverse is still a delay and in second gear it revs really high then shifts.About 4 years ago I asked my local VW/Audi indy to drain and fill the ATF on the A4. (ZF 5-speed, pre-Tiptronic, quattro.) It had been slipping and over-revving slightly on upshifts, and this became much more pronounced after the servicing. I subsequently requested a full pan drop and filter replacement, and this fixed the problem. Since they made a big point of telling me they warmed it up and counted watched for the drip-drip-drip out of the observation port while they had it up on the rack, I suspect they might underfilled it the first time. In their typical fashion, they applied all the money I had paid for the drain-and-fill toward the second repair. They almost always get things right on the first attempt, and in the rare instances they don't, they always make things right the second time around. Whenever I lack time, tools, or a lift, I trust them with my business.
I will check that fluid as well that seems like a good possibility as well.Like others here I also use Valvoline MaxLife Full Synthetic. Bentley says the fill level must be determined by starting the engine below temperature 30C (86F). Start engine leave in park running at idle speed. AC/heating/climate must be off. Wait for ATF temperature between 35 - 45 C (95 - 113F). You can determine ATF temperature by using VCDS open transmission module and select measuring blocks 08, display group 004 display field 1 (ATF temperature in degrees C). Display group may be 005 or 002. Add ATF until it drips out. It says if temp is too low overfilling will result, if temp is too high underfilling will result. It doesn't say anything about cycling through gears.
Separately there's also a final drive differential which takes 75w90 gear oil. I just bought some because my passenger axle seal is leaking. I don't know if it could cause what you describe. Maybe you have a bad solenoid or something.