When Is a Stick Not a Stick?
Which brings us to the meat of this article, which is BorgWarner’s DualTronic™ six-speed transmission, otherwise known as a DSG (direct shifting gearbox) or AMT (automated manual transmission), which was adopted by Volkswagen and Audi when the VW Golf R32 and the Audi TT 3.2 made their debuts.
April 2004 Issue
Issue Summary:
The 341E type of valve bodies used in various Toyota, Lexus and Volvo models look alike but are very different and are not interchangeable.
Before or after an overhaul, a vehicle equipped with the RL4FO3A/V transaxle will not upshift after warm-up.
Nissan Quest/Mercury Villager models may exhibit persistent codes for the throttle-position and/or vehicle-speed sensor.
Ford Motor Co. vehicles with the 5R55N/5R55W can experience delayed or no engagement that is more frequent when the transmission is cold.
Diagnostic Dilemmas
So what is fuel trim? Fuel trim is rebalancing the fuel mixture for reduced emissions. It is a number that represents the computer’s learned amount of total fuel need. That number is derived from the time the fuel injectors are pulsed on and off. The higher the fuel-trim number, the more fuel is being commanded, the more injector pulse-on time. The lower the number, the less fuel is commanded, the less the injector is pulsed on. The fuel-trim command is a result of what the oxygen sensor tells the computer. You don’t want to see short-term fuel trim over 10 on your scan tool. Fuel trim starts at 0 and can go positive (more fuel) or negative (less fuel).
I Lost My EPC!
The AODE/4R70W transmission has a problem with wear in the pressure-regulator-valve bore that can cause a reduction or complete loss of EPC pressure when the unit is hot. This equates to no or minimal line rise, causing the transmission to have medium- to full-throttle slipping in gear and sliding shifts.
Once a pressure gauge has revealed that EPC pressure remains near 0 at any throttle opening (as well as when the transmission is unplugged), the technician usually replaces the EPC solenoid, yet the problem remains.
Retirement – Will You Outlive Your Money?
People are living far longer than the Congress and Senate leaders thought they would when they drafted the Social Security Act. Back then people were lucky to reach even 65 years of age. Many were not likely to go beyond collecting their first few years’ worth of payments. Now we live into our 70s and 80s. That’s one reason Social Security is running short of money. Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve chairman, mentioned in a recent speech that we may have to cut back Social Security or make the retirement age higher. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if people in their 30s and possibly 40s never get to benefit from the program.
Making Money with Transmissions and Transfer Cases
At least 50% of the calls on the tech line are generated by shops that are not fully educated in the work they are doing or have not learned to look at the whole vehicle. The modern automobile is a combination of very complex interconnected systems that must function together correctly. Do not let the unit you are working on isolate your thought patterns from the whole vehicle. A knowledge of how these connected systems affect each other is a must for you to remain profitable.
