2015 California. Difficult to get out of Park!

[Mark Langdown]

Hi. Just taken my Cali in for its first service - only 5000 miles. Told them that I have experienced a problem a couple of times where it has been difficult to get it out of Park into drive. The problem is worse if on an incline. It is almost as if the gear box locks on to the selector and will not let go.

They have told me that they need it it for a day as they have to "glue" in the gearbox oil bolt?? It takes a while for it to cure apparently and it must be done "exactly how VW tell them to do it. Apparently I have a small oil leak as a result. I asked if this is causing the Park problem and they said possibly.

Said it was the second one they have had to do.

Can anyone out there explain in terms that I can understand and what the heck they are on about and has anyone experienced the same problem?

 

[pjm-84]

Mine can be difficult sometimes but only when on levelling blocks on site and I need to drop the handbrake in order to turn the seat (silly that).

 

[bigmac77]

Hi. Just taken my Cali in for its first service - only 5000 miles. Told them that I have experienced a problem a couple of times where it has been difficult to get it out of Park into drive. The problem is worse if on an incline. It is almost as if the gear box locks on to the selector and will not let go.

They have told me that they need it it for a day as they have to "glue" in the gearbox oil bolt?? It takes a while for it to cure apparently and it must be done "exactly how VW tell them to do it. Apparently I have a small oil leak as a result. I asked if this is causing the Park problem and they said possibly.

Said it was the second one they have had to do.

Can anyone out there explain in terms that I can understand and what the heck they are on about and has anyone experienced the same problem?

Do you use your handbrake?

 

[Hotel California]

Handbreak off first than from P in D .

 

[Loz]

Handbreak off first then from P in D .

Hold on the foot brake then ON with the handbreak first then into P when you stop to prevent this.

The gearbox has a solid gear that the gearbox shifts into when you select park, if the vehicle is allowed to roll back against this gear then you have the weight of the vehicle on the transmission and thats what makes difficult to move.

 

[Hotel California]

Could be correct as @Loz says .
I almost never pull up the handbreak , but when i do ( on slopes or ramps) i also feel resistance when putting in gear so assumed it was the handbreak needed lowering first

 

[Loz]

Could be correct as @Loz says .
I almost never pull up the handbreak , but when i do ( on slopes or ramps) i also feel resistance when putting in gear so assumed it was the handbreak needed lowering first

You are correct as long as you held it on the handbreak first when you stop.

 

[Mark Langdown]

Hi. Thank you for the replies. It makes sense as you suggest. I have got into the habit of not using the electronic handbrake on my LR Discovery (handbrake known to seize on and a big job to get it released) and the Park locks everything down so it is not moving anywhere. That said - it is not a problem moving from Park to Drive afterwards. Different designs I suppose.

Anyone had the gearbox bolt/oil leak issue that I mentioned in the initial thread?

 

[Loz]

Anyone had the gearbox bolt/oil leak issue that I mentioned in the initial thread?

Sounds like they are doing a bodge if they use glue as it has an 'O' Ring see the attached section of the workshop manual.

 

[Mark Langdown]

Sounds like they are doing a bodge if they use glue as it has an 'O' Ring see the attached section of the workshop manual.

They said that the bolt goes in at an angle which in my language means it is cross threaded. The only true solution is to either replace the gearbox casing or retap the thread - then you need a bigger thread. Mmmm. I will ask more questions when it goes in for the work. I can understand why they want to try the easier fix but..... I paid a lot of money for it to be right and is a subsequent bodge acceptable?