saint francis Posted November 15, 2023 Report Share Posted November 15, 2023 Hi there, newbie here. I have recently acquired a 1998 Lupo, 1.4 automatic. It's a great car, VERY solid underneath considering its age (I wonder if it has been garaged). Also only 45k miles. The engine runs great but I've noticed when driving that the car seems to shift very early out of 3rd gear into 4th, as if it wants to skip the gear. Especially noticeable when driving gently rather than when I put my foot down. Hardly wants to stay in 3rd at all. I did a quick ATF change for the hell of it which made no difference, I wasn't really expecting it to. Does this sound like the start of a terminal gearbox problem or is this just the way these gearboxes behave, perhaps for fuel economy reasons? Thanks for any comments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk2 Posted November 15, 2023 Report Share Posted November 15, 2023 Could be gunge in the valve body galleries (inside the box). Did you use the right fluid? They're a bit fussy... What condition was the sump magnet in? Clean, furry? Also might be worth changing the box fluid filter. Once the box has become proper hot after a decent drive, it might clear? What condition was the old fluid (dirty/black or still light coloured)? The variable shift point is mainly determined by the throttle position sensor/throttle pedal sensor (I can't remember which one your model uses). And temperature sensors (engine and gearbox). If you have VAGCOM and an old laptop, you can look at all the sensor data without having to dismantle or randomly swapping everything. Sounds like you have a nice car 👍🏻 Oh, and welcome to club lupo! pics of car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint francis Posted November 15, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2023 Thanks. I didn't drop the sump, clean the magnet or change the filter. I thought that might be too big a project for me, just having ramps on my driveway, but perhaps that's the way forward. Probably hasn't been done for the 25 years of the car's life. I did wonder if this is just how the gearbox behaves. It isn't really a problem when driving, gets me to where I need to go, but I'm feeling that it's such a solid car that the gearbox is the only thing that could potentially let it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk2 Posted November 16, 2023 Report Share Posted November 16, 2023 Yeah, let us all know how you get on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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