Problem with Golf!

Fork86

Hey guys, today my Golf Mk 4 1.6 SR Auto felt extremely lethargic when driving off from standstill. Upon driving it for longer, I noticed the car never actually once changed gear!

I 'think' the automatic gear box is stuck on 3rd gear in the 'D' position. This is probably why the car has to rev to over 2000 before it slowly moves off from stand still.

Also the engine is revving very high at speeds over 40mph (around 3000 plus) when it is normally 2000, as it 'should' drop down to 4th.

I can manually select the 1 and 2 gears which work, while 3 and D are exactly the same.

I had my Gearbox oil cooler changed 3 months/2400 miles ago, and the CPS replaced just over 3 years ago (kick down wasn't working).

The car itself has done 100400 miles, and had a reconditioned engine placed in at 92,000 miles.

Any ideas would be welcome. I have spent around £3000 on this car over the last 3 years, and just hope it isn't the gearbox going out the window because I don't think I can justify spending another £1000!

tomstickland

Apparently they have a gearbox ECU and you can check the fault codes (or VW or an auto transmission specialist).
http://forums.fourtitude.com/zerothread?id=3723367

Hintza

I feel your pain. Doesn't look too good.

If you need to independent adviced honestjohn recommends an auto box specialist in the hampshire area (I think) might be worth have a search on his columns.

harveybobbles

Gear box is in limp mode. Gearbox is working ok as you can manually go thru the gears. so it will be something silly.

This might sound odd, but go thru all your fuses. I once ran an Astra auto that went into limp mode and it turned out to be the fuse for the reverse lights/cig lighter.

golddustmedia

As you're not getting any ominous noise or leaks(?) from the gearbox it's unlikely that the mechanics of it are at fault. As someone else suggested it's more likely to be the engine management using "limp mode", which is a condition to limit the performance of the car to prevent further damage.

Limp mode is most commonly caused by a faulty sensor, blown fuse, faulty relay or even a corroded Earth or other electrical terminal.

I'd suggest asking an autoelectician or independent garage to connect "VAG COM" to the car, which is the Volkswagen diagnostic computer software. It should identify the likely cause such as a faulty sensor or relay.

Fork86

Thanks for the replies guys, I really appreicate it!

Talking about noise, there is an extremely weird and 'airy' whirring sound emanating from the front of the car or cabin that increases with speed (not when revving at stand still). Breather pipes have been changed, so could it be the gearbox (although this noise has been present since september 2008, way before the 3rd gear issue), or something like wheel bearings?

I will definately get a diagnostic done.

Thanks again.