Gear engagement problem, Aut., Golf MK2

[ctange]

I have installed another aut. gearbox on my Golf.
I don't know the condition of the "new" gearbox.

When I move the gear selector from P to R,
there is a clearly felt gear engagement.

When the selector is moved from N to E,
there is no gear engagement until the
speeder is pressed slightly.

What can be the cause of this problem?

The problem persists after a change of ATF.

[Dakotakid]

You don't have a problem. This is how they are. If you want immediate engagement, put the damn thing in "D".

[bscutt]

They are made to disengage when not accelerating so they can coast and thus supposedly increase mileage. I think I would find it a little disconcerting personally. Too bad they did not have 5 speed automatics back in the day. That would have made the n/a diesel and auto tranny combination much better on fuel and driveability

[ctange]

OK, so its a feature not a fault.

What is the small can above the gearbox?



The oil-filter is in the oil-pan, so it is not a filterhousing?

[bscutt]

could be a vacuum modulator. Hard to tell from the pics and I have never owned one of those but it looks reminiscent of some of the Ford ones I have seen.

[Dakotakid]

Governor (misspelled?).
Added: within the bottom of the trans (in the pan) is a clean-able screen which you can carefully remove and wash in gasoline and replace. Renew the transmission pan gasket. Inspect fluid which comes out. Is it all atf? the problem with these trans is the seal between the atf and gear lube. I ran one of these for 435,000 miles without a fail of that seal. I pulled the pan and put in that amount of atf every 5,000 miles. THAT is probably how come I was able to make one of these survive so long.

Wash out all the clutch fibers from bottom of pan.