Smooth shifting?

[Lindeman]

After 20K service I had some recalls done and latest TSB's, including transmission. Ever since the transmission is behaving badly/jumpy on low speeds, and especially during normal stop-n-go. Symptoms are small delay with a throttle and hars shifting between 1st and 2nd gear. According to service mgr this is "normal" so just to be sure, I would like to hear comments from you while you are doing your every day stop-n-go, including the californian one (slightly sliding...) does your transmission always shift to 1st gear? As a workaround I have started to use Tiptronic as it changes downwards automaticly but still keeps the 2nd gear and does not jump to 1st unnecessarily. But this maneuver is something I am not keen on doing forever so I'd like to hear your somments before going back to my service mgr, thks.

I also have related question so when you are climing steep hill (which we have plenty in San Fran) and when you get on top of it, transmission seem to keep low gear(2) for quite some time, and only after some seconds 3-5, changes to more suitable gear(3-4)? On a smaller scale it does the same when driving from the garage to level gound, due to too low gear engine revs for a second or so.

[rolk]

I have the same "problem", it's especially fun when I creep into the garage in 2nd, get close to the wall waiting for park distance sensors to tell me when to stop and then wham, the tranny downshifts to 1st and I lurch forward.

I've had the tranny code flashed as part of some TSB, but smooth it is definitely not. Sport mode is even worse for downshifts, as you mentioned the tiptronic is probably the best way to go to get smooth shifts.

Maybe some TSB in the future will address this, I've gotten more used to it now and probably don't notice it as much as when I just got the car.

[DCTor]

I have the exact same problem with my 04 V8 and i'm up to date on all the TSBs as well.

The dealer tells me it is normal?!?!!

[nickm]

My '04 had the exact same issues...it shifted horribly before the updates, but after the updates the 2nd/1st and 1st/2nd was exceptionally bad. It was most noticable when cheating a stop..really rough 1-2 shift.

My '07 has no such problems..seem that they've sorted the issue out.

[Lindeman]

So it seems I am not alone here. According to earlier comments there was supposed to be fix/TSB for this early last year or so, but my symptoms started only after latest TSB and SW update. According to service mgr they can not restore the situation and they can only use latest SW, no matter if it actually deteriorates the performance or functionality of the car. Everything indicates that this should be SW issue, since it works differently and better with the manual mode/Tiptronic.

This worries me also because there seem to be increasing amount of drive shaft issues and this kind of jumpy behavior probably makes it even worse, so I probably need to be prepared to some of those problems pretty soon...
I'd hate to say this but I truly miss the transmission I had on my 05' Grand Cherokee (5.7L). It did not have all the functionality as Tiptronic and 'only' 5 gears, but at least I did not have to think of it at all while driving. I hope this SW bug will be fixed pretty soon before it damages rest of the car.
Any tips are highly appreciated, and beware of the latest SW updates, also on 06's...

btw, is there any V10 TDI's with the same problems? With that amount of torgue this kind of jumpy behaviour would breake something very fast.

[clintjg]

FWIW I've got the same issue and I've brought it up with my SA today. We'll see if they say anything new.

[Lindeman]

I finally decided to try with another Bay area dealer that I heard some good comments about. I have it scheduled next Monday and I can also keep you posted if they find anything.
And btw I might be sensitive with this and imaging things... but I might already be experiencing some issues with the drive shaft(whining sound when accelerating, and thumping sound at 35-40mph)...

[737 Jock]

Originally Posted by Lindeman

Any tips are highly appreciated, and beware of the latest SW updates, also on 06's...

Start by changing the trans fluid.

"Lifetime" as noted earlier, means "until the trans dies".

[Lindeman]

Any ideas what is the "normal" responso from the service department if I ask to change the trans fluid? I think I read somewhere that they are supposed to be change free? estimated cost, as anyways I do not think it will be covered by warranty...

[737 Jock]

Because it's considered to be lifetime, they probably will charge you for what they view as an unnecessary service.

The fluid is is about $35/qt and requires about 10 qts. The filter is about $150 and the gasket is about $40. Then there is several hours labor.

I inquired into this when my 04 V-8 was approaching 40k miles, but was assured it was not required; "lifetime fluid" meant maintenance free trans.
They did write up a quote sheet for me though and it came to $1300 and change. I reluctantly let the issue drop although I still didn't feel comfortable with the "lifetime" concept.

At 77k the trans began slipping and then banging upshifting 3 to 4 and 4 to 5. (1 to 2 was always rough, but no slipping.) The onboard computer and the dealer's VAG hook-up detected no electronic control errors, soleniod or valve body problems. They concluded (and I concur) that it was entirely mechanical failure ie; gears or clutches chewing up.

The worst part is that they had never opened a Touareg trans, didn't know if they could get the parts in the U.S. and couldn't provide an estimate without taking it apart. They guessed $5000 to $8000 initially.

By comparison the $1300 for preventative fluid replacement would have been a bargain.