We're talking about a '99 Jetta, 2.0, 4-speed auto transmission.
Doesn't belong to me, but I drive it about twice a year and do routine
maintenance on it.

About 6 months ago, I noticed what I thought was tire tread noise, the
kind that develops if the tires aren't rotated regularly. I advised
owner to have tires rotated, and they were.

This weekend, drove it again, and the noise is much worse. It's
particularly bad from zero to about 25 mph, in first and second gears.
Sounds like very loud tire tread noise, like off-road truck tires make.
Tapers off but never disappears as third and fourth gears engage.

Also noticed for the first time this weekend that it hesitates before
shifting into drive, a second or two. Uh oh.

I'm now thinking transmission trouble. Pulled out the Bentley to see
how to check trans fluid level, and it's just ridiculous. Somehow, they
could have figured out how to add a dipstick -- but anyway, here are my
questions:

Is there a typical, common cause for such a noise in these cars? Are
they prone to transmission or final drive failures that make such a noise?

Is it necessary to jump through the flaming hoops of fire that VW
recommends, just in order to check fluid level? Can I simply drive
until normal operating temp is reached, and then pull the plug?

Can trans fluid be added without using the special tool shown in the
Bentley? Can I simply use a funnel and a length of tubing and snake it
down to the filler hole, like I do with manual VW trannies?

"Brian Running" <brunning (AT) XXameritechXX (DOT) net> wrote

If the noise changed w/the tire rotation, it's not the transmission...it'd
be the tires.

But for the trans, it wasn't really that VW couldn't add a dipstick. VW
used to have them and did away with them, claiming the fluid is for life
(er, yeah whatever).

I'm not sure about the Jetta, but many of us on various Eurovan groups have
come to the conclusion somehow that the required temperature for checking
the fluid (if you don't have a VAG-COM to pinpoint the current temperature)
seems to correspond to the pan being warm to the touch but not burning hot
and at that temp it should just begin to meet the bottom of the fill hole.

It could be tread separation on one of the tires. I had the same
symptoms. I thought it was the transmission, but it checked out fine.
Turned out one of the tires was bad.