Volkswagen - Eurovan :: 2011 - Downshifting Into 1st Gear On Steep Grades
Jan 6, 2014
I have a 2003 VW Eurovan that had it's transmission rebuilt in 2011. In 2012, we were going up a steep mountain road approx. 25 mph and the van downshifted into first gear. We tried everything from speeding up to pulling over and letting it cool down to turning the engine off and on. It would only upshift into the correct gear when we reached the crest of the hill and started going downhill. As I live in San Diego, there are no hills high enough to reproduce this with city driving and so it never happened again until we went back to the same place this year and at almost the exact same spot on the road. We took a trip later in the year to Oregon where we encountered many uphill grades and each time we hit a steep part and going around 20-30 mph, the van would downshift again either into first or second gear, and each time upshifting when we started going downhill.
At the end of this last trip, a new whining noise appeared and is present everyday we drive and gets louder and higher pitched the faster we go. We have taken the van numerous times to the dealership who says there are no engine codes to suggest a problem and their last assessment was the downshifting may be an overheating problem and the whining noise was definitely from the transmission indicating a bearing problem and they suggested getting the transmission rebuilt again. The transmission shop states that the transmission is fine by the fact that the fluid is in good shape, the transmission is basically "dumb" and only does what the computer tells it to and therefore it is a computer problem and the whining noise, although new, is just a normal noise that all transmissions make. Each place points me in the direction of the other but neither has solved my problem.
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I had a small chirp noise in my Van when it shifts into 4th gear. Took it into United transmissions for a total rebuild. First rebuild had the same noise so they did it again and it came back with the same noise.at that point they said they don't know what it is. I can find no one in this state that will rebuild the Tranny.
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2003 VW Eurovan VR-6 died while driving as if the key was turned off. The van was running great before this episode. Now, van will start, but die after about 4 secs. Changed fuel pump relay, engine control module relay, and will run with stater fluid sprayed in throttle body. Fuel pump or perhaps immobilizer?
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Our check engine light came on earlier this summer. A local mechanic who supposedly specializes in German autos said there was a vapor lock leak in the fuel system. He replace our gas cap and reset the warning light. A few weeks later the light came back on. This time he replaced fuel pump and reset the warning light. This created a new problem: when you turn on the ignition it now takes 20-30 seconds before the car ignites/starts. The engine turns over but takes that long to start. If you turn the ignition on and then quickly turn if off and then on again it starts immediately.
A few weeks went by and the check engine light came on again. I took it to a new mechanic. He said the fuel pump appeared to be fine and replaced a fuel line sensor. This didn't work at all as far as I can tell.
Now the check engine light is back on and we still have the prolonged starting problem. Now that the temps are cold the starting issue does seem a little better.
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I have a 2002 VW Eurovan, 2.8L V6 Winnebago Vista 21B, 130k miles, my check engine light is on but having a hard time trying to figure out what's causing it and what direction to head without spending a fortune. It started while traveling across country two years ago, several days into the trip, after driving several hours at freeway speeds on a cool rainy day, I stopped for gas and when I turned it back on it sputtered and coughed and ran REALLY rough, I slowly moved the vehicle out of the way, about 50 ft, turned it off and when I turned it back on it was fine, except the check engine light came on. I took it into VW and they ran the test... the codes were: P0118 Coolant Temperature Sensor 1 3 Cylinder Misfires P0305, P0300, P0303 P1151 Bank 1, mixture adaptation, range 1, Lean limit not reached, static
They said it wasn't going to destroy the vehicle, to continue on my trip and I'd need to do some sleuthing to find the culprit. The light came on and off throughout the trip but didn't have the sputtering again ( although I didn't push it as hard when driving it either, kept it around 65 - 70).Got back to Montana and a local shop replaced the ignition coil. That didn't fix the check engine light, which is on continuously now (that's been 2 years with mild use of about 8k miles).
Until now, it hasn't sputtered again so I didn't really worry about it, but it happened in Oregon last week when it was again cool and rainy, I'd been driving hwy speeds for a few hours, I stopped for gas and when I restarted it sputtered, coughed and rumbled like it did 2 years ago. I turned it off for 30 secs, restarted and it was fine.In talking this over with a variety of folk, we're thinking the issue could be a fuel filter, fuel pump, coolant sensor or catalytic converter sensor... I have a fuel pressure test scheduled in a couple of weeks.
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While driving, a rapid clicking sound randomly comes from under and to the left of the steering wheel and the van concurrently has stuttered power. It still drives but is rapidly getting worse with frequency and we are on a road trip on the Oregon Coast with young kids and limited local mechanics. It seems like something as simple as a loose connection but before digging in to check electrical connections .....
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When I'm driving, steady mph, my car feels as if I've just downshifted, or that my foot slipped off the gas pedal. When this happens I've noticed that the tachometer drops down from say 20 - 30 to 10 or less! But just momentarily. It happens to a warm or cold engine. It's going to give me a whiplash! I've brought it to my VW dealer. They put it on the computer, and no problem comes up! No lights on my dashboard are on either. This problem is really annoying.
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My 2003 Nissan Sentra was doing fine a few days ago until I started up a very steep hill and went into 1st gear. There was a burning smell for about 2 blocks so I shifted to 2nd gear. The smell went away. When I was in 1st gear it did not sound or feel like I was trying to go too fast for the gear. I just smelled the burning. Same hill in 2nd, no smell. How much should I worry?
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Just picked up a 2012 GLS two weeks ago. So far I like the car. Unfortunately, I do about 40 miles a day of traffic driving. I have noticed the car seems to downshift from possibly 4th to 3rd right around 35mph. This downshift is noticeable and the engine has to rev to match the change. It is not a high rev, just a noticeable engine braking. Is this normal? I dont feel like anything is wrong just seems like the computers are not sure when to downshift.
When the car comes to a complete stop with your foot on the brake, does the car lower its rpm by 100-200pms? Seems like this is a gas saving technique. I have noticed it when While at a light and I lift my foot slighty the car feels like either the brakes are grabbing or the rpms are to low.
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I travel this interstate route often that is somewhat hilly. I always use cruise control. When I got my 2007 Sonata (I4) 4 speed A/T and traveled on this road I never noticed much down shifting. Later my daughter bought a 2010 Sonata (I4) 5 speed A/T, and on this road I noticed the Xmission downshifting sometimes. When I got my 2013 (I4) 6 speed A/T, I started noticing it more often downshifting. I'm sure thats since the final drive ratio is much higher in each successive car. When my wife is driving she doesn't notice but I can tell even from the passenger seat. I can stop the downshifting by putting it in manual mode. but I see the RPMs increase somewhat. I assume thats from the TC lockup disengaging and the CC trying to maintain speed if a long hill. I suppose if the hill was long enough and steep enough that I would eventually lose speed but that doesn't occur(very much). If that is more economically that letting it just go ahead and downshift. Am I the only one annoyed by this constant up/down shifting?
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My car is downshfting kinda hard from 2nd to 1st I guess, it's just before I stop. What's causing this? It's a 2002 V6 4Motion.
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Yesterday I took the R out to grab some food on my lunch break. Didn't drive like a lunatic or anything, pulled into T-Bell parking lot and the car didn't want to downshift. Ok Weird. coasted in, parked, and put it in neutral and let out the clutch and the car stalled like it was still in gear. Go to leave and the car doesn't want to go into reverse. Thats when I realized something had gone seriously wrong.
Basically the car is stuck in 3rd gear. I can get the shifter to engage into reverse but the car tries to creep forward like I have the e-brake on. It doesn't go into any other gear but 3rd or 4th, but even when the shifter is in the 4th position its still in 3rd gear. Even when the shifter is in the neutral position its in 3rd gear. I limped the car home. I've looked into it a little bit and I'm leaning toward the 3/4 shift fork being broken. I know this won't be a cheap repair.
I think if it is the shift fork I will be upgrading the the one piece steel versions.
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I have been having this problem for the better part of a year, about 80% of the time when my transmission tries to downshift from 5th to 4th gear I hear a loud thud/bang which shakes the vehicle. The other 20% of the time the donwshift is smooth. I have tried manually shifting and get the same result. The problem does not seem to be getting worse. I have adjusted my driving and when accelerating in 5th gear at moderate speeds I accelerate just enough to keep tranny in 5th, so I don't get the thud.
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I've just had my 2006 B6 fixed last monday....something with throttle body , fuel pressure sensor and transmission "flashed" since it was downshifting rough from 5th to 4th. Today while cruising on the highway at first "open gas cap" showed up so i pulled over turned engine off then back on, light was gone, then on may way from work engine light came ON out of nowhere so i have another appointment to have them look at it this coming sat.
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I've been driving my wife's sonata to work this week and notice as I start to slow down at around 20MPH the car almost surges a little bit. Maybe I am not diagnosing it correctly but it's almost like it's downshifting rough.
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Just bought a 2000 passat v6. I have owned a 99 passat 1.8t for 5 years and has had little to no problems. When I first was driving my newer v6 I noticed that when im downshifting from 3rd to second especially it has shaking feeling in the front end. Wasn't sure if this was a transmission problem or an axle problem.
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The downshifting while braking is very obvious during braking, I can literally feel the gearshifts going down from 5th Gear to 1st as I brake. I have driven a wide range of cars but haven't experienced this earlier. Is there any modification that can be done or added to change this and make it smoother like usual cars?
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I've noticed that when I downshift into second gear, either going down a hill to augment braking, or setting up to take a corner quickly, I will occasionally hear two quick beeps (in the cabin) which are not very loud. This seems to happen when I'm using the paddles to downshift.
I assume that this is some sort of driver's aid, but for the life of me, I can't figure out what it's for.
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Heard a clunk and then have the car feel like something from the inside is trying to stop it when using the paddle shifters in manual mode. Specifically when downshifting from 2 to 1. By the way I did a slight throttle blip, I have done this before with very smooth results but this time it really scared me, I though the transmission broke for a second; when the car did what it did.
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I have an 07 and in S mode the car does a pretty hard when down shifting around 3rd/2nd gear. if there is a fix for it? I'm going to talk to the dealer about to see what they say.
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My wife's 07 Chevy Aveo was towed home Tuesday. She tried downshifting on the freeway and suddenly she couldn't get it in or out of gear. I was able to get it in all gears but the clutch engagement was all wrong. there didn't seem to be any slip zone, it just jumped at 1/2 pedal. I found the clutch master cylinder leaking slightly under the boot so I changed it and bled the system, no change. I had backed the car out of the garage onto the upward sloped driveway which required a lot of RPM's. Later I couldn't get it out of gear and cannot disengage the clutch, even to allow it to roll. I also changed the slave cylinder, still no luck. I changed the clutch, throw out bearing, and had the flywheel resurfaced last April.
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