replaced tranny.. still problems!!

[1.8laser90]

i replaced my old tranny with a jdm 40k mile tranny. I installed it and drove it alittle bit, it drove and shifted great. i get plates and insurance for it today and take it down the road and doesn't want to shift and acts like its in nuetral! when u put it in gear it doesn't go in u have to give it gas and it slames in gears or u have to wait. when going from 1st to 2nd it doesn't want to go in 2nd and skips to 3rd. now if i downshift it to second it will go in but it acts like its in nuetral then slames into gear... so i park it and let it sit for awhile, i come back out and take it down the road and its perfect again, so i take it on the highway and its starts going crazy again so i take it home and check the fluid its fine. so i take the battery out to reset the tcu because for some reason it leads me to that.. so i put the battery back in and start it, it doesn't want to go into gear so i mess around with it and finnaly goes in .. i take it down the road and shifts perfect no poping out, no slamming into gear, so get on the highway and its still fine get off the highway shifts fine but then pops out of gear then back in for a second or 2. so i get on it and it, it doesn't slam into gear but slowly drops in gear when on the gas... does this make any sense!!! is this the tranny or an electronical problem? will the wrong tranny fluid do this because i used normal dextron 3 transmission fluid in it then i read u should use a special kind.. it only seems to act up when its at normal operating temp and have bin driving it more than 20-25min. any ideas is greatly apreciated!!!

 

[91Bomb]

I had a similar problem with my 1g TSI and what finally solved it was when I fiddled around with the wiring harness contacts and the pins on the tcu. All I did was check and respace a couple of the contacts with a miniature screwdriver and made sure everything was lining up correctly. I'd try using some contact cleaner too and you might want to do a continuity check of the wires to make sure you didn't lose a connection to any of the contacts.

I had a trans shop that couldn't solve this problem and then I pugged in a different tcu and nothing until when I made some very minor adjustments with the contacts and plugged back in original tcu and no problems afterwards so definately worth a try.

If that doesn't do any good pull your trans codes and see what they say.

 

[91Bomb]

This is off topic a bit but since I read abuot people here with trans problems and help when I can I would lke to offer some general advice.

I'v owned 2 1g A/T's for the past 9 yrs and I'd strongly advise against taking your trans to national shops like Lee Myles, Aamco, etc.
Find a dsm shop or import shop and go to the place that has the best reputation. Don't be penny wise and pound foolish.

Don't fall for the various come-ons and 'specials' some shops use to get you in the door like places that offer 'low price tune-ups', 'lifeime warentees', 'free inspection for life with fluid and filter change' etc. These are all come-ons and they're going to try and get you for some major work while they got your car and you'll wind up finding out the hard way that their real area of expertise is seperating you from your money and performing sub-standard work

Change your own filter and fluid as I've done it many times lying on my back in the driveway without any problems. Never take it to a trans shop for 'preventive maintenence'. This may seem like a good idea on the surface but think that whole concept thruogh because it really doesn't make any sense.

Don't do stupid $hit with your stock unit like drop shifting, driving around in 3rd gear with OD off (OK in stop + go low speed traffic), downshifting at 80 mph, running with improper fluid level, etc. Any trans is going to fall apart with abuse.

I had the TSI for 8 yrs and I'd have to say the 1g stock turbo trans is strong as I kicked its butt on a daily basis (I tried not to abuse it altogether) and it didn't fall apart on me even though I manually upshifted/downshifted very often, did countless WOT redline runs while adding 60,000+ mi (mostly city) on top of the 70,000 it had when I bought it

Well, that's my .02 anyway

 

[1.8laser90]

well i called the people who i baught the tranny from and its still covered under warranty so i had them sent meout another one.. i get it and finally found time to install it. i spend all night putting it in, fill it up exc.. start it to to drive, goes in reverse fine, goes in d fine then i take it for a test drive.. seems really slugish and then i watch the rpm and i see its not shifting, then i find out its in limp mode and stays in 3rd! wtf ? i take it back, check over everything and still nothin.. so i check for codes and it gives me the Tcu is bad so i'm like ok, so i baught one the other day and got it today and installed it! STILL THE SAME THING ! so it now leads me to belive its the tranny again.. is there anything i can test ? am i ableto check the shifting solenoids ? please help !

 

[Old Mitsu Tech]

You have 2 wires on your shift solenoids. An orange wire and a yellow/green wire I think. In first gear you have power on one wire, in second it's power on the other. In 3rd, you have power on neither. That's the limp in mode. Put it in first and see which wire you have power on. If it's neither, you have an input problem. Make sure the pulse generators are hooked up and make sure you didn't cross the pulse generator wires with the shift solenoid wires. I've done that and it won't work. Get a schematic and see which wires go to which plug ins.

Good Luck

 

[1stGenRocks]

sounds like a wiring harness problem. pull out your wiring diagrams and start checking continuity

 

[1.8laser90]

You have 2 wires on your shift solenoids. An orange wire and a yellow/green wire I think. In first gear you have power on one wire, in second it's power on the other. In 3rd, you have power on neither. That's the limp in mode. Put it in first and see which wire you have power on. If it's neither, you have an input problem. Make sure the pulse generators are hooked up and make sure you didn't cross the pulse generator wires with the shift solenoid wires. I've done that and it won't work. Get a schematic and see which wires go to which plug ins.

Good Luck

WOW that was it ! i don't know how but i crossed the pulse generator wires with the shift solenoid wires !! this car has bin sitting for awhile now because of that !.. thanks alot man!! it now shifts perfect and very firm!

 

[Old Mitsu Tech]

If you look, it actually looks better the wrong way than the right way.

Been there done that. Learned the hard way.

Good Job

 

[1.8laser90]

i know it does, now wires are stretched every where

 

[Sbeing1]

I cant seem to find where to plug the wires into (pulse and solenoids) there hooked in now but im in limp (guessing there hooked wrong) Can you tell me which wires stretched from where to where?? Thanks ALot.