New Bug in Bama with tech. questions

[MoonPies_Mommy]

Hello everyone!

I have been stalking these forums for quite some time now. After having my Beetle for 2 months I figured it was time to join!
My baby is a 2001 Beetle GLS I have named Moonpie. Here is the pic I first saw of her listed on the dealers site


It only had 69,000 when I purchased her. = )

I have quite a few questions and I was hoping you guys could spread some knowledge to a VW newbie.

First off I am only at 71K right now and my gears are slipping. Its a 2.0 auto, and I have read how much autos stink, but mine is doing something really odd. I have not had the check engine light come on. And it mainly shifts hard when it is cold , and when I am slowing down then start to accelerate again. But as far as highway driving it shifts smoothly while running 50 or above. Also while sitting with the car with my foot on the brake it will smoothly go into all gears. So I do not understand what is causing my buggy to get up past 3 RPMs before it will do a hard shift and cause it to kick back down. I have read on here that maybe a flush would be my best bet to start off. I contacted a well known foreign car shop in my area and he said he could drop and clean my pan, change the filter, and replace the fluids for $175. What do you guys think?

Sorry this took so long! But My Moonpie has became very special to me in the 2 months I have had it and I do not want a sick bug

[salsa-man]

If you do a little searching on this site (you may have already read if you've been lurking) I think you'll find that changin the fluid is the first thing folks will recommend. And you'll also find here that the auto trans are very very troublesome I'm sorry to say. Please read all you can here about changing the fluid before getting it done.

In any event, welcome to the org! Glad to have you here. What part of AL are you from?

[oceanjoe89]

Just went through my own transmission saga. We have different transmission, but they are basically the same.

Definitely go for the fluid CHANGE, not FLUSH. The flush, as DZLBUG explained to me, dislodges a bunch of stuff that is probably better off being stuck where it is now.

DZLBUG will probably chime in here in a little bit and give you all the technical nitty gritty and then put in a plug for a 5 speed manual swap lol.

Mine was shifting hard, and after the change and a week of driving, everything is silky smooth.

It's definitely a relatively inexpensive place to start, and the price you got quoted is right in line with what I paid.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[MoonPies_Mommy]

Thanks guys.

And yeah I read about the autos before I got the car. I cant drive a stick plus I found moonpie with 69K and got her for 6,700. which is a good price from a dealer around here in the Huntsville area where I am from.

I have another question. My boyfriends dad has a friend who has a little shop replacing timing belts and what not. He said that for some reason it has a side note that says the 01 automatics do not have to get the timing belt and water pump changed until 100,000. Does this sound right to you? I have read on here for other trannys and models and it says 80,000. Any input on this?

[scarabY2k]

Originally Posted by oceanjoe89

Just went through my own transmission saga. We have different transmission, but they are basically the same.

Definitely go for the fluid CHANGE, not FLUSH. The flush, as DZLBUG explained to me, dislodges a bunch of stuff that is probably better off being stuck where it is now.

DZLBUG will probably chime in here in a little bit and give you all the technical nitty gritty and then put in a plug for a 5 speed manual swap lol.

Mine was shifting hard, and after the change and a week of driving, everything is silky smooth.

It's definitely a relatively inexpensive place to start, and the price you got quoted is right in line with what I paid.

Good luck and keep us posted!

I'm not DZLBUG, but I can vouch from another technical advisor, The Cheat- certified VW mechanic that this is correct. Auto transmissions are a friction driven aparatus and flushing will remove some friction related particles which more than likely aid in the function of your transmission.

You might want to check out THIS THREAD as well. It might help you out, you never know

[MoonPies_Mommy]

Thanks for the link to that thread. It kinda confused me though. Half the people said to turn the ignition off after holding down the gas, and the other half said turn the car on. 0.o Or should I just try to do both.

You guys have been oh so helpful. Its hard being a broke college student and not knowing anything about the car your driving. But this is a great place to learn

[scarabY2k]

Originally Posted by MoonPies_Mommy

Thanks for the link to that thread. It kinda confused me though. Half the people said to turn the ignition off after holding down the gas, and the other half said turn the car on. 0.o Or should I just try to do both.

You guys have been oh so helpful. Its hard being a broke college student and not knowing anything about the car your driving. But this is a great place to learn

You're in good company. Sometimes us married folk can be broke too

[The Cheat]

80k is my reccommendation on the t-belt.

i do over 500 belts per year, and i can't tell you how many more i'd do that end up becoming head jobs because they tried to stretch it to 100k.

definitely change, not flush the atf, make sure vw fluid is used.

i'd get the t-belt done sooner rather than later though, if it's original, the belt is almost 10 years old and probably brittle.

[dnyed]

Welcome to the Org! Welcome to the New Beetle!

[miffmole]

Originally Posted by The Cheat

80k is my reccommendation on the t-belt.

What would you recommend on an '04 with 51k miles. Change or wait till, say, 60k?

[The Cheat]

Originally Posted by miffmole

What would you recommend on an '04 with 51k miles. Change or wait till, say, 60k?

1.8t, 5 years/60k miles. too many fail between 60-105k to warrant a longer interval.