2001 Volkswagen Jetta RPM at highway speed

2001 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA
150,000 MILES • 4 CYL • 4WD • AUTOMATIC
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JAYNCAZ
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I bought my Daughter a used Jetta that needed to have the transmission rebuilt. A reputable company rebuilt it and the car seems to run fine now. We noticed that the RPM's run at 3000 at highway speeds. The mechanic said that was normal for the VW because the redline is 6500. In speaking with other folks that own Jetta's they said that seems high. It seems like the car is not shifting to automatic O/D. 3000 RPM's at 70 mph for a car with a speedometer that goes to 160 just does not seem to add up. When she runs the car up to 80 the RPM's approach 4000. What gives? It just does not seem right.
Oct 6, 2010 at 9:53 AM
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JACOBANDNICKOLAS
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I agree. The RPM's should be around 2500 @ 60mph. Can you tell if OD is working?
Oct 11, 2010 at 9:44 AM
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JAYNCAZ
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Not sure. I can tell you that we are bringing it back to the company that rebuilt it. I counted the shifts and it adds up to 4. 1,2,3,D. According to the spec sheets I found on that model it should have automatic overdrive. That would add up to 5. BTW sorry about the mention of 4WD. It is a front wheel drive. I am fairly certain that it is not shifting to O/D. I am just not very familiar with V/W. So I am looking for info to help build my case!
Oct 12, 2010 at 8:35 AM
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JACOBANDNICKOLAS
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Chances are the torque converter is bad.
Oct 12, 2010 at 9:05 AM
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JAYNCAZ
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I just wanted to take a minute and thank you for your help. We took the car to another reputable franchise store because the damn thing stopped working all together. Turns out the first reputable franchise basically ripped us off. Not only did they not "rebuild" the transmission it was the wrong one for that car. That year Jetta is supposed to have a five speed auto and it had a 4 speed. That would explain why the RPM's were so high. The only good news here is they are not charging us for replacing it (They are billing number one). I will be contacting their corparate offices to sing praise for number 2 and slamming number one.
Hopefully I can recover some of the other expenses.

Thanks again!
Nov 8, 2010 at 8:43 AM
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JACOBANDNICKOLAS
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Wow... I'm glad you found someone that was able to identify that. This is one of those situations that makes me happy I don't have to depend on others for repairs. Regardless, thanks for using 2carpros.com and let us know if you have questions in the future.

Joe
Nov 8, 2010 at 9:25 AM