01M Transmission Discussion

[Loosenutbehindthewheel]

When I bought my Beetle, I found alot of automatic transmissions in the Beetle where failing due to a poorly designed torque strut mounting area. Now if you're like me, you are not going to spend $4,000.00+ to have another Beetle specific transmission in it, that will fail in the same way, causing you to buy yet another transmission.

So here is what I am doing, I have started to make a rear/trans mount and a modified torque strut mount, to fit any year VW 01M transmission into the NB.

So far I have mocked up the mount for the trans, it fits and will hang the weight of the transmission on it. The mount I am constructing will allow you to take any VW 2.0L auto trans and fit it into your Beetle, making it the last time you will have to change the transmission due to a broken torque strut.

Here is a few pictures of the (under construction) mount.

Any and all comment's will be welcome. But please keep it civil.

First picture is of broken torque strut mounting pad. NOTE the entire mounting area is broken, making this Beetle transmission usless, even as a rebuild.



The Original Beetle trans (left) and trans from a 94 Jetta (right).



The next picture is of the "universal fit" transmission mount in progress.



The Jetta that was the victim.



A few more pictures of the mount in progress.





Sorry for the crudiness of my cuts, a plasma cutter is not as steady as a water jet, but the finished product will be perfect. This is still a mock up.

Let me have your input.

I have a design for the modified torque strut rolling around in my head.

[DZLBUG]

Nice metal work, but from what I've seen, that is the least of the problems with the 01M. If you're going through all that work, why didn't you just swap it for a 5 speed? An 01M out of a 94 Jetta is going to be even worse, because they have improved it over the years...not that you'd really notice anyways because they still suck.

Good luck with it.

[Loosenutbehindthewheel]

Originally Posted by DZLBUG

Nice metal work, but from what I've seen, that is the least of the problems with the 01M. If you're going through all that work, why didn't you just swap it for a 5 speed? An 01M out of a 94 Jetta is going to be even worse, because they have improved it over the years...not that you'd really notice anyways because they still suck.

Good luck with it.

Although I do know how to drive a stick, I do not wish to do so, and with getting older it's getting harder and harder to walk. I knew I shouldn't have jumped out of perfectly good aircraft. The 01M from the Jetta was the end of heavier duty transmissions from VW, remember the trans is for a much heavier car also. For example the diff has much larger 1/2 shaft attaching bolt's. The case was a better cast of aluminium. And it didn't have the shifting problems that the Beetle's 01M has.

Oh I almost forgot the best reason for the 94 01M (Jetta in my case) trans, it's so freaking common, you can get a used one at a JY for less then $300.00. I paid cincinnati U PULL AND PAY, which is where I took the picture of the trans/Jetta, $130.00 for it, much better then $3,500.00 that the dealer want's?

More progress tomarrow.

[Loosenutbehindthewheel]

Ok I have figured out where the new torque strut is going to mount, more pictures of progress later.

[Loosenutbehindthewheel]

The mocked up tranny mount is going to the machine shop to be blueprinted tomarrow and for the first of the mounts to be constructed. Hopefully by Wensday I will have a one off mount that will allow any 01M automatic to fit into the NB.

Nice thing about my "machine shop guys" is that they give me the blueprint's to take home, a few time's I have taken the blueprint's back to them and had another part made. The blueprints always cost me a few hundred dollar's but the part is much easier to make and cheaper. I fully expect that every mount after the first will be easy to make. And yet be stronger and more over engineered then any mount VW ever made.

Wait until they see the torque strut idea I have in mind, they are gonna think I have lost my mind again...

[Fowvay]

Honest injun this is the first time in 11 years I've heard of the torque strut issue and the first time I've ever heard someone refer to an MKIII 01M as "heavyduty". This thread makes me giggle.

[Loosenutbehindthewheel]

Originally Posted by Fowvay

Honest injun this is the first time in 11 years I've heard of the torque strut issue and the first time I've ever heard someone refer to an MKIII 01M as "heavyduty".

My German is a little rusty, he might have said either better built or better made, maybe not heavier duty, but something to that effect.

[Fowvay]

The adapter plate though will come in seriously handy for us Junk Yard fiends. Really opens up the market for us beetle guys to find some cheap broken beetles and fix em up.

[DZLBUG]

Yeah I've never heard of the case breaking at the dogbone mount either. Must've hit something at some point.

[Loosenutbehindthewheel]

Originally Posted by DZLBUG

Yeah I've never heard of the case breaking at the dogbone mount either. Must've hit something at some point.

From what the last owner said it started shifting really hard, I believe that is what caused the strut mount to break, also it broke the upper trans mount.

I hope that I will be able to sell a few of these mount/strut kit's to the folks around here. They will be better then OEM quality, I assure you. With my engineering degrees, I am sure that you will see the final product's to be over engineered, but also will never fail. I plan to use the best quality bushings and steel.

[wawalker]

Your picture of the OEM mount is missing a part that extends further forward to a second mounting point. I would bet good money that the PO hit something and broke the mount but continued to drive the car with all that powertrain movement/rough shifting until the upper mount broke. Like Fowvay I have never heard of this "problem". I commend your DIY attitude and project, but you are putting in some unnecessary time and expense IMO on this project. Good luck though!

..and by the way a NB weighs more than a Mk.3 Jetta, even if the Jetta has a VR6.

Pic is so you can see what the mount when complete looks like.

[Loosenutbehindthewheel]

Originally Posted by wawalker

I commend your DIY attitude and project, but you are putting in some unnecessary time and expense IMO on this project. Good luck though!

Pic is so you can see what the mount when complete looks like.

Yes the entire mount look's like that with two bolts holding the broken end. Mine had both bolts ripped out of their boss's...

[DZLBUG]

There is no way that "rough shifting" caused both mounts to break. The previous owner definitely hit something.

[Loosenutbehindthewheel]

Originally Posted by DZLBUG

There is no way that "rough shifting" caused both mounts to break. The previous owner definitely hit something.

Well thats the thing, owning a used car is like having a woman, you never know who's rode in her, but if she's got a nice body you dont care.

Now if they just made tires out of pAssy, they would never wear out...

Originally Posted by Fowvay

The adapter plate though will come in seriously handy for us Junk Yard fiends. Really opens up the market for us beetle guys to find some cheap broken beetles and fix em up.

Well that is exactly what I intend to do, offer a conversion kit for any of the 01M's to line up. Also I intend to make a mount that in the event you crash your car the mount will still be usuable on another Beetle.

I keep forgetting to say something about the torque strut, I have this wild idea that I might use the boss by the starter for the shock part of the strut and the lower bell housing case boss's for the strogarm part of the strut. I am thinking that it will make everything more servicable also.

Also it will remove the big bolts going into the oil pan from bell housing, allowing you to cut those boss's out of the oil pan, making the torque converter bolts easier to work with at the same time.

Ya know over engineered bla bla bla...

[Loosenutbehindthewheel]

Teaser pic...

[DZLBUG]

There's no need to reinvent the wheel here. The torque converter bolts are already easy to get at, just yank out the plastic plug and they are right there. Why would you want to go hacking off parts that are supposed to be there?

[Loosenutbehindthewheel]

Originally Posted by DZLBUG

There's no need to reinvent the wheel here. The torque converter bolts are already easy to get at, just yank out the plastic plug and they are right there. Why would you want to go hacking off parts that are supposed to be there?

Those boss's on the oil pan will no longer have a function, why not remove them and use the cover shield that the more common transmission take's and still have alot of access to the nut's? Please be patient DZLBUG the topic will continue you will see that everything I am doing will make thing's alot easier to work on.

Also you could replace the accident prone aluminum pan for a stamped steel pan. Which BTW is much cheaper.

[Loosenutbehindthewheel]

Got the blueprint's back, now I will be able to have the mount's cut out on the water jet. I'm excited, I'm gonna weld up the mount today, pictures later?

[Loosenutbehindthewheel]

Ok, I just found out that the output shafts have to be changed from the "original" 01M that came in the Beetle, to the new transmission.

Once I complete the job, I will do a write up on swapping the transmission's. I have taken lot's of picture's and will make a detailed swap guide to be followed.

I also made a friend with a Volkswagon mechanic locally, he say's he change's out at least four Beetle transmission's a month.

[wawalker]

Originally Posted by Loosenutbehindthewheel

... a Volkswagon ...

What's that?!?

Never heard of a VolkswagOn.

Is this some new foreign car?