Hi..

My 2006 1.416v Automatic Fabia with 90k miles has started driving really slow, with no power at all..

We put it into a local garage who told us it's the gearbox.

I find this strange as there is no high revving slippage as you would get I imagine, from slipping clutch plates etc. It just doesn't want to drive as normal, and in fact it's so slow as to be unsafe as I had to put on the flashers to get it home safely.

Doesn't matter which gear it is in, there is no power. In fact it was down to 5mph on a hill coming home in any gear..

Could it really be the autobox? 🤔

What automatic is it, a 4 speed torque converter one?

It has 1, 2, 3, D. Not sure if it's a wet or dry box or whether it has a torque converter.

There is no dipstick to check the fluid level, so I was thinking, ..could it just be low fluid level, causing the ECU to be putting the engine into 'limp'mode?

12 hours ago, L98 said:

It has 1, 2, 3, D. Not sure if it's a wet or dry box or whether it has a torque converter.

There is no dipstick to check the fluid level, so I was thinking, ..could it just be low fluid level, causing the ECU to be putting the engine into 'limp'mode?

Pretty sure it's a torque convertor 4 speed auto. My first suspicion is that it's low on ATF, but after 90k miles it needs new fluid. The bad news is that I'm not clear how to drain it and refill it. You will get all the information you need from Erwin.

Scan for fault codes.

I agree with pete. scan it for fault codes first. It could be that its low on ATF or in my case on an old auto the ATF was past it. Should be a nice cherry red. Mine was dirty brown and burnt looking. Changed fluid and back to normal.

Alasdair

Thank you for all the replies, we'll look into changing the AT

3 hours ago, Alasdair1 said:

I agree with pete. scan it for fault codes first. It could be that its low on ATF or in my case on an old auto the ATF was past it. Should be a nice cherry red. Mine was dirty brown and burnt looking. Changed fluid and back to normal.

Alasdair

Thanks..

Do you need any specialist gear to drain and refill the gearbox?

I believe there's a drain plug underneath. Is there a filler port on the auto gearbox?

Can I assume that refilling it is just a matter of squirting in the right amount of ATF until it runs out of the port?

Sorry for all the questions but the car is 10 miles from me and I can't remember what it looks like underneath. (I have changed the engine oil and filter twice).

Go here: MK1 Fabia workshop manuals - SKODA Fabia - BRISKODA

Click 'download this file' and a bunch of mk1 Fabia workshop manuals will appear. Download the second one in the list.

Is it safe to assume that there are no fault lights showing? Just because some garage says it's gearbox related doesn't necessarily mean it is.

Edited 24 June, 202524 Jun by Breezy_Pete

1 hour ago, Breezy_Pete said:

Is it safe to assume that there are no fault lights showing? Just because some garage says it's gearbox related doesn't necessarily mean it is.

Also @L98 I was going with information from ZF Transmission that you should change ATF about every 4 years or 48_000 miles. I mean what do they know about automatic gearboxes? (other than more than I do)

2 hours ago, Breezy_Pete said:

Is it safe to assume that there are no fault lights showing? Just because some garage says it's gearbox related doesn't necessarily mean it is.

Have never come across a general garage thats good with gearboxes especially autos. My old local one was honest when I had problems with my van synchro and said they always just take gearbox out and send it away to a specialist unless its something external or obvious. As for autos the most they would do was change ATF.

Alasdair

Well, I got under to take a look and I found the drain plug screw at the back of the autobox.

Next, I scoped for the filler plug and found that too with its black plastic cap toward the front.

I've ordered 5L of Comma MVATF PLUS which has the right (VW G 052 990) spec for the Jatco 001 box.

My question is, given that the box takes 5L, and I assume this is for the torque converter too, ..how do I know when I've added the right amount of ATF as there is no dipstick to guide me? 🤔

Have you looked at the workshop manual?

5 minutes ago, Breezy_Pete said:

Have you looked at the workshop manual?

Just read it.. Its quite an involved process and what I thought was a drain screw, isn't!

It seems you drain it through the inspection hole in the skid plate but the manual doesn't detail exactly what I need to remove as this also somehow, is the ATF level indicator when filling.

Trying to imagine how a drain hole can also be a fluid level without images to explain.. 🤔

I imagine that there is a long overflow pipe inside that inspection hole which will allow the fluid to overflow when it reaches the correct level.

From the drawing, it looks like a square driver is needed to remove it.

I have 3/8" and 1/2" drivers from socket sets, so can I assume that one of these will do or will it be some VW special tool of a different size..

It's such a pain trying to guess this stuff when the car is 10miles away sitting on a gravel drive..

I'm getting an idea now how the overflow/drain plug thing works so hopefully, when I get on it, it'll not need any special tools (that I don't have).

If this cures the slow running, after winter we'll pull the sump and replace the filter and refill again.

Thank you to everyone for your advice, interest and downloads. It's much appreciated. 👍