2010 2.0 Diesel Auto - Gears Slipping?

[paulfoel]

Been thinking its been doing this for a while. When it changes gear its not as smooth as it used to be. Its like if you take too long and leave your foot on the clutch when in a manual.

 

Anyway, this weekend pulled my caravan and it seemed worse. Going uphills it was as if the car was revving slightly, then catching, then revving again over and over. Not extreme but noticeable.

 

Anything oibvious to check?

[chromedome]

Change the ATF (Auto Transmission Fluid). It wears out over time and can cause the symptoms you are having. This is the best and cheapest thing to do first but needs to be done with the transmission temperature at the correct temperature so may be best done by a garage you know and trust.

[paulfoel]

Thanks. To be honest, its overdue a service so that might just be it.

 

Fingers crossed thats all it is.

[paulfoel]

Well arranged to have the car serviced by a mobile mechanic. Told him the problems and that I wanted the fluid changed.

 

He told me no point doing service but for

[chromedome]

I would certainly go else where. Two hours to plug a computer in.......pah.

 

Follow your three steps.

[paulfoel]

I would certainly go else where. Two hours to plug a computer in.......pah.

 

Follow your three steps.

 

Yeh. No idea why he wasnt keen to just do the service check the levels etc but seemed too keen to go down the disaster route.

[paulfoel]

Well had the car serviced by someone else and the level checked - no problems there. The guy who did the service (independent not dealer) reckoned it was ok for him.

 

Hmmm. Definitely not right if you ask me. I have noticed that in Sport mode its not the same or not as bad. Could it be just me or are the symptoms listed sound about right?

 

Car is back next week for brake pads so might get him to change the fluid anyway.

[chrispb123456]

Do you have the  5 speed box?

Bare in mind if you do drain fluid you will only get half of it out as you cannot drain the converter or valve chest so all you can do is repeat the change several times with a drive in between changes to get the fluid looking reasonably clean, the slipping is part of the design to avoid jerky gear changes, when the slipping gets excessive and the engine overly revs during a change could be down to lazy solenoid valve(s) left unchecked excess slipping will cause higher gearbox temperature and wear on clutches & bands.

[paulfoel]

Well I never got this looked at. Wifes car so I rarely drive it and she swore blind it was fine and it was just me.

 

Shes now admitting it might not be right. lol.

 

Time to get it looked at. Ford dealer or independent?

[BrianH]

You say you have had the level checked but the level isn't the only thing to look at. The state of the fluid is just as important (if this has been getting gradually worse its much more likly to be either not enough fluid, or its changed state sufficiently to cause issues).

 

TBH i've found Ford are a waste of time with the earlier Galaxys - the parts desk tends to suggest going to VW instead.... (given that all they do is appear to buy most of the parts from vw and just apply a markup anyway).

 

Phone the previous guy you used and ask him to change the fluid for you - bear in mind the above points about it possibly taking more than one go to clear enough of it out and see what he says. Or get the spanners out and tackle it yourself (theres some instructions on doing it on here under the faq section).

[paulfoel]

Yes levels were checked a few months ago but not changed.

[BrianH]

Does it usually do miles around town (lots of speed changes, lots of pulling away from stationary etc?) or is it usually on the motorway.

And what sort of milage is it looking at now? (and which box & version of the Galaxy is it?)

 

Think the answer is whats already been said above last year either way - get someone who will change the fluid (or as much of it as they can get out of the box) and go from there.

[paulfoel]

Well its been changed and its much better. Much smoother gear changes.

 

Still judders a bit pulling off so not sure if its 100% but much better.

 

See my other post re: engine malfunction warning. This disappeared for few days so wondering if its connected?

[BrianH]

It may be a sign that you've improved the fluid overall, but still got it in a less than optimum condition due to some of the old fluid being in there, Best bet is leave it to circulate through the box and perform the prodcedure again if its still a problem. Don't know on your other post, but since you've placed it in the MK3 forum rather than the mk2 that might be why you've not had anything helpful? (the mk3 being a totally different vehicle!) Yours being a 2003 one will be a mk2

 

If you want diagnostics on the box to find out whats happening then a vcds cable and vcds lite will do the job though, and can be obtained for relatively little off ebay (vcds lite is free), will also do the scan of the engine codes for you.

[paulfoel]

It may be a sign that you've improved the fluid overall, but still got it in a less than optimum condition due to some of the old fluid being in there, Best bet is leave it to circulate through the box and perform the prodcedure again if its still a problem. Don't know on your other post, but since you've placed it in the MK3 forum rather than the mk2 that might be why you've not had anything helpful? (the mk3 being a totally different vehicle!) Yours being a 2003 one will be a mk2

 

If you want diagnostics on the box to find out whats happening then a vcds cable and vcds lite will do the job though, and can be obtained for relatively little off ebay (vcds lite is free), will also do the scan of the engine codes for you.

 

Thanks Brian. Confused as to how it all works? Im guessing its not like oil where its just one pot then?

How does the old fluid get stuck in there?

 

Sounds like you might be right. Mechanics told me they only swapped out 2.5 litres when they were expecting 6ltr. So is it possible they left the rest in there?

How is segmented and how does it ever mix? confused.

[paulfoel]

It may be a sign that you've improved the fluid overall, but still got it in a less than optimum condition due to some of the old fluid being in there, Best bet is leave it to circulate through the box and perform the prodcedure again if its still a problem. Don't know on your other post, but since you've placed it in the MK3 forum rather than the mk2 that might be why you've not had anything helpful? (the mk3 being a totally different vehicle!) Yours being a 2003 one will be a mk2

 

If you want diagnostics on the box to find out whats happening then a vcds cable and vcds lite will do the job though, and can be obtained for relatively little off ebay (vcds lite is free), will also do the scan of the engine codes for you.

 

BTW - my fault its a 2010.

[BrianH]

 

 

It may be a sign that you've improved the fluid overall, but still got it in a less than optimum condition due to some of the old fluid being in there, Best bet is leave it to circulate through the box and perform the prodcedure again if its still a problem. Don't know on your other post, but since you've placed it in the MK3 forum rather than the mk2 that might be why you've not had anything helpful? (the mk3 being a totally different vehicle!) Yours being a 2003 one will be a mk2

 

If you want diagnostics on the box to find out whats happening then a vcds cable and vcds lite will do the job though, and can be obtained for relatively little off ebay (vcds lite is free), will also do the scan of the engine codes for you.

Thanks Brian. Confused as to how it all works? Im guessing its not like oil where its just one pot then?

How does the old fluid get stuck in there?

 

Sounds like you might be right. Mechanics told me they only swapped out 2.5 litres when they were expecting 6ltr. So is it possible they left the rest in there?

How is segmented and how does it ever mix? confused.

It's caught in the torque converter. The drain will allow you to drain the fluid in the rest of the box. But the only way out of the converter is in the middle of it. It's a donut shaped ring so anything inside it doesn't come out. Hence repeated attempts to drain with driving in between to circulate the fluid.

[paulfoel]

 

 

It may be a sign that you've improved the fluid overall, but still got it in a less than optimum condition due to some of the old fluid being in there, Best bet is leave it to circulate through the box and perform the prodcedure again if its still a problem. Don't know on your other post, but since you've placed it in the MK3 forum rather than the mk2 that might be why you've not had anything helpful? (the mk3 being a totally different vehicle!) Yours being a 2003 one will be a mk2

 

If you want diagnostics on the box to find out whats happening then a vcds cable and vcds lite will do the job though, and can be obtained for relatively little off ebay (vcds lite is free), will also do the scan of the engine codes for you.

Thanks Brian. Confused as to how it all works? Im guessing its not like oil where its just one pot then?

How does the old fluid get stuck in there?

 

Sounds like you might be right. Mechanics told me they only swapped out 2.5 litres when they were expecting 6ltr. So is it possible they left the rest in there?

How is segmented and how does it ever mix? confused.

It's caught in the torque converter. The drain will allow you to drain the fluid in the rest of the box. But the only way out of the converter is in the middle of it. It's a donut shaped ring so anything inside it doesn't come out. Hence repeated attempts to drain with driving in between to circulate the fluid.

 

 

Right so the correct way is to empty what you can and the drive it. So you empty and then don't refill? And its ok to drive it like this?

Surely then the fluid in the torque converter circulates out leaving none in there? Is this ok?

 

Like I said my mechanics were surprised there was only 2.5 ltrs rather than 6 ltrs so I think what they did was just drain and then refill. I did tell them it was more complicated than this but I dont think they listened!

 

I suppose eventually its all going to mix so we'll have 50/50 old/new fluid? To be fair, there was an immediate improvement and its got better and better over the past few days as well. Probably 95% improvement over how it was.

 

Worth sticking with it now? Or going back and getting it done again in your opinion?

 

Still got engine malfunction light which may or may not be related.....

[BrianH]

I'd leave it for a bit to let it fully finish circulating, if your still not 100% happy repeat whats been done already it should improve it (bear in mind the earlier comment from Chris - the longer its left not right, the more damage you risk doing).

 

Alot of it will depend on the type of driving you do though. Lots of stop/start driving round town will kill it quicker than regular motorway driving.

 

If yours is a 2010 model though its a mk3, this post is in the mk2 forum which isn't the same thing (your other post is in the mk3 forum, the one with the engine malfunction message, and you've referred to 2010 as well so I'm not sure!) if you mean its showing p2010 as the fault code then I don't know what that means, it appears to translate to the following which doesn't mean anything to me?

P2010 - Intake Manifold Runner Control Circuit High Bank 1

Read more: http://engine-codes.com/p2010.html#ixzz3ZwPzzzZR

 

If its a 2003 model though (as you suggest in the title) vcds will probabbly be far more helpful since its really a vw in disguise your dealing with. (the cable for it can be had off ebay for relatively little, and the lite version will do what your likly to require, once you've found the code from that you can look it up on here and may find yourself an answer). it will also speak to the gearbox in the case of the auto unit which may well be the source of your error code/light anyway.

[chromedome]

Has your car got the power shift transmission? If so the fluid should be changed every two years at the time as a two year service.

 

The power shift burns the ATF quite badly and this is why it should be changed. I think Fords charge about £240 on top of the normal service.

 

Do a Google search.

[paulfoel]

 

I'd leave it for a bit to let it fully finish circulating, if your still not 100% happy repeat whats been done already it should improve it (bear in mind the earlier comment from Chris - the longer its left not right, the more damage you risk doing).

 

Alot of it will depend on the type of driving you do though. Lots of stop/start driving round town will kill it quicker than regular motorway driving.

 

If yours is a 2010 model though its a mk3, this post is in the mk2 forum which isn't the same thing (your other post is in the mk3 forum, the one with the engine malfunction message, and you've referred to 2010 as well so I'm not sure!) if you mean its showing p2010 as the fault code then I don't know what that means, it appears to translate to the following which doesn't mean anything to me?

P2010 - Intake Manifold Runner Control Circuit High Bank 1

Read more: http://engine-codes.com/p2010.html#ixzz3ZwPzzzZR

 

If its a 2003 model though (as you suggest in the title) vcds will probabbly be far more helpful since its really a vw in disguise your dealing with. (the cable for it can be had off ebay for relatively little, and the lite version will do what your likly to require, once you've found the code from that you can look it up on here and may find yourself an answer). it will also speak to the gearbox in the case of the auto unit which may well be the source of your error code/light anyway.

 

 

Sorry for the confusion. I need to edit the title. Its defiitely a 2010 model.

[paulfoel]

Has your car got the power shift transmission? If so the fluid should be changed every two years at the time as a two year service.

 

The power shift burns the ATF quite badly and this is why it should be changed. I think Fords charge about £240 on top of the normal service.

 

Do a Google search.

 

Power shift transmission? How do I tell?

 

Hmm it may well have missed this change I think. Like I said, the change albeit possibly only half done has made a fairly big difference.

 

£240 is not cheap. My local mechanic charged £80 (although looks like he did half a job!) and I remember Halfords wanted £40.

 

Problem is it was like this for a few months until I realised this might be the case. Hoping it hasnt caused further damage. Fingers crossed that with the change its relatively ok now.

[BrianH]

 

 

I'd leave it for a bit to let it fully finish circulating, if your still not 100% happy repeat whats been done already it should improve it (bear in mind the earlier comment from Chris - the longer its left not right, the more damage you risk doing).

 

Alot of it will depend on the type of driving you do though. Lots of stop/start driving round town will kill it quicker than regular motorway driving.

 

If yours is a 2010 model though its a mk3, this post is in the mk2 forum which isn't the same thing (your other post is in the mk3 forum, the one with the engine malfunction message, and you've referred to 2010 as well so I'm not sure!) if you mean its showing p2010 as the fault code then I don't know what that means, it appears to translate to the following which doesn't mean anything to me?

P2010 - Intake Manifold Runner Control Circuit High Bank 1

Read more: http://engine-codes.com/p2010.html#ixzz3ZwPzzzZR

 

If its a 2003 model though (as you suggest in the title) vcds will probabbly be far more helpful since its really a vw in disguise your dealing with. (the cable for it can be had off ebay for relatively little, and the lite version will do what your likly to require, once you've found the code from that you can look it up on here and may find yourself an answer). it will also speak to the gearbox in the case of the auto unit which may well be the source of your error code/light anyway.

 

 

Sorry for the confusion. I need to edit the title. Its defiitely a 2010 model.

 

Ignore the vcds stuff then it won't work hence why i asked!. Still looks like you have the issue identified as being the fluid though.

 

Could someone move this to the mk3 forum?

[chromedome]

Do a search for ETIS and enter your vehicle registration and it should give you some build details.

[paulfoel]

Ah think I get it now. You're supposed to empty what you can, re-fill and let it mix, empty again, refill etc. So each time you're diluting down the old stuff.

 

I guess very time consuming to get it almost all new fluid. Looks like my guys did it just the once....