Jetta gearbox issues

joeysoap

Nothing to do with emissions but little bit of advice needed.

Jetta automatic 1.9 diesel.

Full service last week,including timing belt, brakes,one tyre, pre NCT etc. (over €700)

Son works in Dublin and while on the M1 a white spanner with ‘gear’ lit on his display. Rang the garage who said they probably forgot to ‘ reset’ ( I have no idea what) and it should be ok to drive. Last night spanned changed to orange (on the M1) and shortly afterwards packed up completely.
Tow truck says the gears are ******.

Is there such thing as gear oil,and would the garage replace it during a major service? Thinking maybe a washer or nut not tightened?

Any advice.

(Toyota person myself so no knowledge of VW at all, except they seem to drain wallets)

Atlantic Dawn

Spanner is just a reminder to service the car, it's basically a timer based on mileage or date of last service when the next service is due. Some mechanics might not bother resetting it when servicing so it comes on sooner than it should.

Gear box would have gear oil, some such as dsg gearboxes require regular oil changes. It should be on the receipt of last service if it was done.

joeysoap

I asked him to check his receipt for service but in the meantime
VW Have agreed to replace the gearbox ( according to dealer €1600) free.

But he has to pay most of the labour changes.

Toyotafanboi

That's a good resolution in fairness.

VW seem to offer lengthy goodwill contributions on DSG repairs.

What year is the Jetta? Assuming it's 2.0 not 1.9.

ABC101

Automatic transmissions have their own lubrication oil specification, see here...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_transmission_fluid

The fact that a Gear warning fault light came up, (white and then Orange) prior to failure seems to point to a fault which was developing and the car sensors picked it up.

Not sure what it could be, however perhaps the oil drained out of the gearbox whilst driving, wrong ATF fluid was put into the gearbox at service, or sometimes other issues such as a ATF cooler failure. Some transmissions have a separate oil cooler underneath the main radiator or as part of the main radiator. If the cooler fails then cooling water may enter into the gearbox oil system ( happened on some Nissan Pathfinders if I remember correctly).

On the other hand, if I remember correctly... most ATF fluids normally get changed a much longer frequency than the engine oil. I don't know the exact frequency, but engine oil could be every 15K Km and ATF at every 160k Km as an example. But it all depends on recommendations of the manufacturer.

Regardless, at least you are getting a new gearbox, even if you are going through hassle with labor costs and the inconvience of being without your normal car.

It is also entirely possible that you may never get a straight answer from the garage, whether they goofed up or not.

joeysoap

ABC101 wrote: »

Automatic transmissions have their own lubrication oil specification, see here...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_transmission_fluid

The fact that a Gear warning fault light came up, (white and then Orange) prior to failure seems to point to a fault which was developing and the car sensors picked it up.

Not sure what it could be, however perhaps the oil drained out of the gearbox whilst driving, wrong ATF fluid was put into the gearbox at service, or sometimes other issues such as a ATF cooler failure. Some transmissions have a separate oil cooler underneath the main radiator or as part of the main radiator. If the cooler fails then cooling water may enter into the gearbox oil system ( happened on some Nissan Pathfinders if I remember correctly).

On the other hand, if I remember correctly... most ATF fluids normally get changed a much longer frequency than the engine oil. I don't know the exact frequency, but engine oil could be every 15K Km and ATF at every 160k Km as an example. But it all depends on recommendations of the manufacturer.

Regardless, at least you are getting a new gearbox, even if you are going through hassle with labor costs and the inconvience of being without your normal car.

It is also entirely possible that you may never get a straight answer from the garage, whether they goofed up or not.

Thanks for the replies: 5 year old Jetta. 1.9 automatic. Timing belt was due change at 220k and he decided to change it last week. Possibly they changed the gear oil and it dripped dry over the week (about 300 Kms since the service). He says when he rang garage to inform them of the spanner they said it probably just needs a reset, pity he didn’t bring it in but c’est la vie. He really needs to find that invoice to check.

VW themselves are replacing the new gearbox foc. The gearbox is apparently a ‘turbo’ one. Whatever that is when it’s at home.
Labour is roughly €300, I assume this includes vat. He thinks the dealer is being fair enough. Replaced the EGR earlier but charged for part of the labour costs, (on the grounds it was guaranteed for 2 years)

Toyotafanboi

It's extremely unlikely that the gearbox oil was changed, even during a major service.

Servicing a DSG gearbox usually costs €3-400 on it's own.

ABC101

I've no idea what a "turbo gearbox" means, there are gearboxes for petrols and diesels, but all diesels are turbocharged these days.

Not sure why VW are changing the gearbox FOC, did the garage goof up on the service, even if they did they would try and wiggle out of responsibility for it.

If your boy is happy with the car, and getting a new gearbox then I'd just go along with it. If the garage can prove that the service maintenance they carried out had absolutely nothing to do with the gearbox, then I would imagine that they could wash their hands of it. Maybe they had a apprentice working on the car and he goofed up? Who knows?

Anyway best of luck with the new tranny!.

tonneman72

The gearbox spanner warning is shown when the dsg gearbox developes a problem with a sensor or loses oil pressure, its not a service reminder.
Alot of people think its a service warning but its not, I have seen it come on on low mileage dsg gearboxs and major failure shortly after due to no oil pressure in gearbox.
I feel sorry for the garage that serviced it as it was probably no fault of theirs but merely concidence.