tiptronic gearbox,problems to look for on a test drive

[niall1001]

hi all,i am looking to upgrade my 2.3 galaxy to a tdi auto but ive heard a few horror stories with the auto box from whichever engine you choose,my wife is adamant she wants an auto but tbf i dont really knw much about these boxes,can any1 point me in the right direction as to what to look for on a test drive......

many thanks

[Chrispb]

Thing is you only hear about the bad ones eventually any auto will have problems when it's done a few miles doesn't matter what car it is .
A s for the galaxy the gearbox relies on inputs from various sensors on the engine  so what may seem like a fault in the gearbox could be down to to one of many sensors that send info to the gearbox ecu  so as for what to look out for take the car for a test drive your looking for smooth gear changes without any slipping between changes, any delay when selecting reverse or when pulling away could mean impending failure, some electrical faults show up on a scan but not mechanical.

[niall1001]

how easy are they to change the fluid on them,on some you cant check the level let alone the condition,i sort of get the point of autos,iv had a few over the years but never had a tiptronic,i have been reading some of the posts on here and on galaxy forum and some more than others seem to point to bad maintenance or as you say faulty sensors on the engine,iv got a bit more knowledge on them from what youve said tbf,more than i had yesterday!!!! lol

[marinabrid]

on the subject of servicing   does anyone know if the auto box is sealed for life or at what mileage should the fluid need changing if it does.

[Chrispb]

Servicing/Fluid changes
There is no official schedule as they say it's unnecessary, it can be changed but the biggest problem is you cannot change the fluid in one go as half the fluid is trapped in the torque converter and valve chest so would need a couple of changes after the fluid has been circulated through the box, the four speed has the advantage of being able to remove the sump and renew the filter screen, the five speed you cannot do this as it's buried deep in the box.

https://www.fordmpv.com/smf2/ford-galaxy-reference-library/ford-galaxy-automatic-transmission-fluid-replacement-level-check-(ag5-09b)/

[Mirez]

One thing to make sure of is that it moves in reverse - this is probably the most common fault seen with them which appears to be a solenoid failure.

[bigjeeze]

Might be worth doing a survey of members with auto's. My experience was a MK1 which I had for 2 years and did 88k from new and never had any issues at all. My friend has a MK2 2003 which has done 200K plus again with no issues. I firmly believe that regular servicing and more importantly lots of miles is the key to these vehicles.