Well That Might Be On Us
Well Hello There Fellow Technicians And Hivers!
I think we might have jumped the gun here and even though we might do it a lot this time I think we really made some extra work for ourselves. It isn't all that bad but it's somewhat of an Ehhhh moment!
I suppose being over eager to get a job going can also lead to some head knocking mistakes right! Well nothing as good as learning something ey! It was probably the best thing that could have happened today! Okay so I won't be doing a full run through of the transmission removal but I want to share some of my thoughts around this vehicle. It ain't nice in-case you were wondering!
I'll also go into depth about why we shouldn't have been so eager to get the job done later on in this post! So for now stick with me and how I rant on about this vehicle! Trust me it's nothing personal because it's a Volkswagen it's something personal against these mini bus/combi build. I don't like them at all!
This Belongs To One Of Those Pimpsters!
I am not a fan, really I am not. What is it with these people that get this idea in their heads that dropping their vehicles as low as they can possibly go is fun? Really? Don't get me wrong I do like the stance but people drive them around as low as that. That ain't nothing but bad for a vehicle and the sooner these oaks realize it the better for them and their vehicles.
With that said this one didn't pose any problems at all, I had to jack it up from the sides though but that is about as far as any troubles went.
The Story Behind This.
Okay as you can see it is very clear that the transmission has been recently replaced or rebuilt. I think it was a scrapyard transmission that was just given a proper good wash with some proper de-greaser!
So this comes all the way from a Volkswagen dealership! Yes believe it or not but the truth has been spilled. The client was forced to pay a substantial amount of money and not even have the vehicle in a working condition.
As far as the information goes that we got he booked the vehicle in at his local Volkswagen dealership to have it repaired and they then quoted for a new or second hand transmission and when they were done with the fitment and all that the vehicle didn't want to start at all.
That is also the first mistake we've made before pulling it apart, was to check if the vehicle might start and if not we could have done a scan to clear all of the errors from the transmission control module. Usually that is the problem when fitting a rebuilt transmission. The vehicle doesn't know that it's been rebuilt so you've got to manually wipe the memory.
This is what catches me about this vehicle, this and a few other things. It was built with the idea of being compact in mind. Compact in the mechanical side and when things are built in that fashion they don't give a rats ass about the technicians that has to service or work on this wretched vehicle!
In order to access any of the upper attachments and bolts of the transmission I have to strip through a couple of things here. The cooling system is the first to go, then I've got to remove one of the boost pipe from the motor and for some weird reason I have to remove the battery as well which is sitting on the side out of the way. Although I think with a bit of a struggle I can keep it in but I chose to remove it eventually. Once all those are out you have to remove the diesel fuel filter as well.
This sums up that you've now got both anti-freeze/coolant dripping everywhere and diesel. What a fun thing to experience ey!
When Problems Arise Solutions Shine.
I've done quite a few of these vehicles so I do know for a fact that I can remove this transmission, although not with ease. Everytime I have to pull one of these (BTW I had two to remove after another! This was the first one!) I sit there and think to myself, how on earth am I going to pull this thing out, but that's the easy stress. The hard stress is having to put it back in, the transmission and the jack aren't really friends. It really is the only transmission where sweat would cross my brows when I refit it!
Well at-least with the diesel filter removed I can start to see down in there, I still have some digging to do though but we are getting there!
Notice the yellow wires going into the transmission? Well that isn't suppose to be like that! So yeahhhp that's where we slipped up because it had a starting problem and since the wiring was done for some unknown reasons we now only realize that this could have been there problem in the first place. Although the removal of the transmission isn't all that bad, it had to come out because the oil inside it also contained water. Hence me saying that this is a scrapyard transmission!
Or not, What do I know?
It Might Have Been A Easy Fix After All.
The benefit of having this as a problem now is finding out if this wiring was done correctly on this vehicle. Luckily for us we have another vehicle to use as a reference and re-loom the loom using the other vehicle. Or at the very least inspect to see if there might be wires in the wrong places.
I could really kick myself for not even trying to start up the vehicle, it could have been a really easy fix. Well besides for the water inside the transmission, things are hectic sometimes but at least I get to do something different for a change again!
Dated 22/08/2023
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