i can't guild you, but tell you what happen to me.

I had a 1998 ford tauras and the tranny fall out. I spend about 1200.00 to rebuild the tranny at a tranny shop and the car never drove right. Slamming, bouncing, hard shifts, etc... I ended up getting a passat.

Might want to call VWoA to see what options with the company you have. meaning, start working on a plan B.

 

The short answer is yes, it could be your TC causing the problems. The stock TC's on the ZF trannies are garbage. First, they have a bronze bushing connecting the TC to the transmission pump (input shaft). This bushing wears down over time and finally breaks. Sending shrapnel into the tranny and, boom! Rebuild time. Second they use rubber seals which degrade over time and result in TC slippage and failure http://www.articlesbase.com/cars-ar...a4-and-a6-torque-converter-problems-zf5hp19fl-and-fla-transmissions-350850.html . Third, there is a mode known as pulse-width modulation or PWM. PWM means that a solenoid similar to an N75 is used to modulate TC lockup. This PWM mode allows for up to 510 rpm of TC clutch slip in order to smooth shifts. However, this also burns the clutches out. My recommendation is to replace your TC and fluid. Check these guys out http://www.importperformancetrans.com/volkswagonauto.shtml They make performance converters for $695 that are bulletproof. I have one and so far it's stood up well. The long of the answer is that the TC failure could have resulted in slippage of your transmission bands and clutch packs. If there was too much slippage it could mean that the bands and clutch packs are glazed and need replacing. Again, try the new TC and fluid (I use redline D4 as it's synthetic and stands up to heat better) before you commit to a whole scale rebuild. Hope this helps.

 

The tranny is a tip, does this have any bearing on what you just wrote?

 

Nope

 

mister T...you're going down a bunny trail and at the end is this guy spending mad money to get it repaired.

ZF transmission are EXCELLENT transmissions. Their torque converters are like every other torque converter out there(minus what the w8 guys have). As for the brass bushing, there is one on the front pump but as long as the torque converter is installed correctly...there will never be a problem from it.(ask me how I know...I fucked up a transmission by installing the tc improperly)

Anyway. Tell them to use VAGCOM to datalog the what the vehicle speed sensor is putting out and the transmissions speed sensor is getting and you will be able to see if the torque converter is slipping.

 

mister T...you're going down a bunny trail and at the end is this guy spending mad money to get it repaired.

ZF transmission are EXCELLENT transmissions. Their torque converters are like every other torque converter out there(minus what the w8 guys have). As for the brass bushing, there is one on the front pump but as long as the torque converter is installed correctly...there will never be a problem from it.(ask me how I know...I fucked up a transmission by installing the tc improperly)

If you actually read my post you will note that I make no mention of the ZF transmission itself being faulty or poorly made. In fact they are quite robust transmissions and the internals themselves rarely fail. So what's responsible for most of the failures? Hmmmm... Oh yeah! The POS stock VW torque converter. If the guy doesn't rule it out and the TC is the culprit then eventually his tranny will blow and he will be paying $4000 for a rebuild and $695 for the TC he could have bought in the first place that may have prevented it. Also, if you want to ask me how I know about the bronze bushing failing it's because my TC engagement was getting progressively worse and worse until my tranny spit out said bushing and I ended up paying $4000 for a rebuild.

 

Same thing happened to mine (slamming into gear), it turns out that it was low on fluid.

 

From what I recall I used block 007 (it should list input and output RPM's) on the transmission module (02) What I did was find a stretch of highway and put it in 4th (it should be in direct 1:1 drive) then I went into VAG-SCOPE and checked to see how much deviation there was between the two lines (input and output) if you are seeing large separations between the lines under load then the TC is likely slipping.