Tiptronic Tranny Issues
My vehicle is a 1998 1.8t with tip tranny.
Out of the blue when I would drive on the highway the car would beep & on the info display it would say to check the transmission & had the tranny pic. This happened once or twice before the tranny decided to completely give out on me. When I would hit the gas it was like I was trying to accelerate in the highest gear & the pick up was awful. I tried to shift down the tip tranny but there was no reaction after countless attempts. I pulled off to the side of the road & shifted it into neutral and park then drive again thinking it might reset the tranny but only gave me a large jerk. The car would then die & after start up I would press the gas slowly but once it got over 1250rpm the engine would shut off & would not allow me to hit the gas whatsoever. When shifting into reverse, the gear would not engage & still jerked when shifting into other gears. Towed the car to my new mechanic who had just replaced my timing belt & rebuilt the heads & valves after my timing belt broke on me a couple weeks prior (A job that cost me $3500 & carless for over a month). This guy was a mechanic for VW for 12yrs btw. After he looked at my car he said the whole tranny was going to need to be replaced & was going to cost about $4500.
I was frustrated & very short on cash after just buying this car & have two main issues with the car in less than 2 1/2 months. Spoke to several other local mechanics (one being a good family friend) who did not get a chance to look at the vehicle but they said it sounded like the torque converter was blown. Took the car to a very respectable mechanic to try what he had to say. Turns out that the problem was just my tcm (transmission control module) which only cost me $210 with the new part & labor!
At first the car would not shift into reverse but after a couple days & playing with the reverse gear began to engage. The mechanic told me to keep working the tranny into drive then into reverse every chance I get to work the valve. He said normally the valves get damaged when a TCM goes out but I guess I was just lucky. I think it might have just been it took a while for the car to recognize the new tcm & thats why the reverse did not work at first (my only guess). I have been driving now with the new tcm for a little over 1500 miles (about a month & half) & there are no problems whatsoever.
If you're experiencing tranny problems, don't take the first guys word for it. Take it to another shop, & get that second opinion.
Guess you can't trust all those old mechanics who took care of you before!
Hope this helps some of you guys out.
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