knightowl71

My 03 AR 2.7T AT has been sitting facing down on a sloping driveway for a couple of months. I recently replaced the alternator and need to back it up out of the driveway. But it will not stay in reverse to back up.

I did not have any issues or symptoms with the transmission when I parked it. I have no CEL. I have the belly pans off so can tell that I do not have any leaks. When I put the car in gear, the corresponding letter highlights in the instrument panel. You can feel the transmission move into gear and when I press the accelerator, it begins to move then feels like it drops into neutral. I can get a little ways up the driveway but not all the way. If I put it in drive, it goes into gear and 'drives' back down the driveway.

I know from extensively searching that this car is plagued with transmission and TC failures. I am wondering if in my case, with no symptoms leading up and having it sitting on a decline for awhile, could it just be the fluid level?

I do not have a VAG-COM nor do I know anyone with one. Is there anything that I can do? I have been out of work for 6 months so paying a shop is not an option for me.

Thank you for any advice.

4rings5stars

I hate to say it, but it sure seems characteristic of a tranny failure. If you have no leaks, as you say, it doesn't sound good. Unless you can have the fluid level checked, and even then it shouldn't just affect reverse.

Gearheadny.com

Smoked the reverse drum in the trans. Same problem as mine. The TC throws codes and has other issues, but when the stars align just right and you have all forward gears and no/little reverse... total bummer. 1 single hard part has failed in the transmission. From what I can gather it's random at best but seems to affect any of these ZF RWD/AWD Transmissions. Good luck!

wilfred2k5

Have you tried getting the car level for a while? The problem may fix itself. Just hoping...

knightowl71

I finally got the car moved to a level position. I was able to use the parking brake to hold the car and put it in reverse. I could feel it move into reverse and let off the brake. I gave it a little gas and it moved back a little bit then seemed to 'slip' into neutral. I then put the parking brake on to hold that positon and shifted into neutral. I gave it a minute then shifted into reverse. I could again feel it shift and let off the brake. Giving it some gas, I could get a little more back up the driveway before it 'slipped' again. I used this method to get the car up the driveway and onto a more level area of the drive. I let it sit there the last couple of days as I put the bumper and such back on. I will try to drive it around tomorrow to see how the transmission is acting now. I hope it works itself out.

GTA_Driver

One can hope, but this sort of problem doesn't fix itself.

There is one other possibility (but very remote), and that's your shifter cable/sensor going to the transmission is acting up/malfunctioning. However, if the sensor itself is providing incorrect readings, you'd have a CEL.

Do you have VAG-COM?

Still, prepare for the worse.

knightowl71

wilfred2k5 - I got everything put back together and drove the car around. After being level for a few days, it shifted into reverse better. The only other place I have to park the car is on the street which is sloped also, though not as extreme as the driveway. It seemed to be fine until this morning. I pulled to the curb and tried to back up the hill a little bit. It started to do the same thing as before; it would move a little then 'slip' into neutral.

I dont know if I am being paranoid or not but it seems to still have a slight hesitation after putting it into gear. I can put it into reverse and feel it move into gear but after I let off of the brake, it seems to delay before moving. I give it some 'gas' to help it along. It also does this in drive. Normally I would assume the fluid was low or something but apparently it is not something I can check.

GTA_Driver - My research has led me to the multifunction switch. I located the plug under the car. My understanding is that the plug can get corroded and cause problems in relaying information to the transmission. I have not tackled getting to this plug yet as I assume that this would cause a CEL, which I do not have. I do not have a VAG-COM to read the system either. I have posted on craigslist to see if anyone in the area has one that I could borrow but no word yet.

If there is a failed part in the transmission like the reverse drum, can I still drive it or will it cause more problems? I am not working right now so I dont have a daily commute but that also means I dont have any income to put towards rebuilding the trans. If I need to drive it to an interview or to start a job, is it safe to do so?

Thank you all for your help.
Chris

Gearheadny.com

The drum in my trans is smoked, but im still driving it around. Im sure there is a small risk of causing more damage with the broken part just floating around in there... but all the forward gears work fine and im careful to park on a flat surface if i need to back up. I love hard parking this beast so it works out well

knightowl71

Glad to hear that I can still drive it. And yeah, I never realized how many parking lots were designed for cars to back out of the spots. LOL