tips before pulling transmission from 2002

[markcm2]

We are back at it. Engine installed and electrical connected. About to fill oil and test start

We have a small 2” square silver fabric heat sheild with a snap in it and don’t remember where that went, any ideas?

Also, we will need to get the passenger side half shaft connected, the intermediate axle is still out. Any tips on the “easiest” way to get some slack to couple the c/v and intermediate shaft? The ball joints look pretty stuck, not looking forward to breaking those loose.

[soissisc]

On my 99 there was a foil sleeve over the speed sensor connector on the back of the trans. Also passenger side rear side of head there is a small square .

As far as the pass CV, I just turned the wheel all the way to the right and there was enough room to just drop it in.. I did not take it out of the outer hub.
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Mark

68 Westy
92 Jetta (oh it is retired)
99 Eurovan
05 NBC
06 Audi A3
72 Westy (I am going to fix it up)

[markcm2]

Thanks for all the tips everyone.

For the passenger side half-shaft we had to remove the 2 12-point bolts holding the lower ball joint to the hub to be able to get the intermediate axle back in. That's all done now.

We just started it up, at idle it ran well.

[markcm2]

Got everything back on and took it for a short drive.

The engine is so smooth it was almost silent, lots of power. Transmission was smooth, we actually weren't sure if it was shifting because we couldn't feel a shift but it launched well and ran at low rpm when we got up to 40-45mph so it must have been shifting.

After a few miles we stopped and put it in park then back in drive, it seemed to kick a little when going back in drive. I'm suspecting that when we filled it up, the new transmission cooler from GW was empty and hadn't opened the thermostat yet and after driving for a bit it opened and we are now low on fluid.

We also have "short to ground" fault codes on all the solenoids. It's late so we haven't looked at the connectors yet, hopefully just need to re-seat the connector.

[markcm2]

More progress today.

The transmission connector was loose at the front of the transmission. Its the round connector with about 12 pins. This has an odd and weak clip on it which in our case is broken. After re-seating it, we used some zip-tie magic to hold it securely in. Re-seating this resolved the databus issues and the errors for solenoids grounded.

Checking the fluid level, it was still full so the thermostat in the GW external cooler concern was not an issue.

We took it for another drive and it had a couple pretty hard up-shifts around 2nd gear.

At this point we used vagcom to set readiness and throttle body adaption, then cleared the TCM again. Then we drove it around for about an hour, stopping, starting, climbing hills and so on. Fingers crossed but this last drive was all smooth with no issues.

Cooling system wise, getting all the air out was a PITA. We finally got it but it took many attempts holding up the surge tank while cracking the hoses at the firewall heater core.

[Abscate]

I've got a bleeder valve on mine at cooling group high point? I've never used it, but should be easier than hose cracking?
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.ssS!

[markcm2]