Yesterday when backing out of the garage, I got a warning stating "Warning, Transmission in emergency Mode You can continue to Drive". I put the car in park, then in reverse again and the warning went away. It happened again after being parked in the driveway. This time I put the car in drive, the warning came on. I put it in park and back in drive again and the warning went away. I've searched around and have found that others have had the sane problem with other VW models, including the atlas, but I have not been able to find anyone who has been able to state that there is a recommended fix for this. The car is a Launch Edition Atlas. I apologize if this has been discussed on here in the past. I looked around but couldn't find the topic.
Transmission in Emergency Mode
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We are having the same problem with our 20219 Atlas. We've had the car for almost a year now. The problem first occurred last October/November. It only happens when the engine is first warming up. It seems to happen about 5 minutes into the first drive of the day, at around 30-40 mph. Sometimes it is a "one and done", and sometimes it will keep chiming with the message about every 60 seconds. After shutting down the car and restarting, the message doesn't come back (and I think this is because the engine is now warmed up).
We took it into the VW dealer last week to have them look at the issue. They kept it for two days. They ultimately decided the battery was the issue. Apparently, the fault occurs because of a low voltage condition at the transmission, and they think this is due to the battery being faulty. When I picked up the car, the service tech told me they had been having problems with the batteries on the 2018-19 Atlas models, and they've actually gone to a new battery for the 2020 model year to help solve this problem.
Fast forward a whopping 5 days, and the problem is back. I called to get the car back into the shop, and that will happen in about 10 days. I'll give an update when we get the car back.
We took it into the VW dealer last week to have them look at the issue. They kept it for two days. They ultimately decided the battery was the issue. Apparently, the fault occurs because of a low voltage condition at the transmission, and they think this is due to the battery being faulty. When I picked up the car, the service tech told me they had been having problems with the batteries on the 2018-19 Atlas models, and they've actually gone to a new battery for the 2020 model year to help solve this problem.
Fast forward a whopping 5 days, and the problem is back. I called to get the car back into the shop, and that will happen in about 10 days. I'll give an update when we get the car back.
Dear all -- approximately two weeks ago this same situation happened to me in my 2018 Atlas as I had just left the house in the morning, headed down our fairly steeply-pitched driveway. It happened the next day about 2-3 minutes into my drive to work. And, it happened to my husband as we were riding to church together one weekend ago. I took it into my VW service site because it was almost time for an oil change. They couldn't find anything wrong. I was there about two-2.5 hours. After I left I was only about 10 miles down the road when it happened again! I brought the vehicle back and am driving a loaner Jetta while they look at it this morning. The maintenance rep said they had one other customer who had the same complaint and the mechanic had finally found a loose connection somewhere under the hood and it seemed to have fixed the problem. That doesn't really fit with the "warming up" or "battery" hypotheses here, but hopefully this post will also lead to more information. Clearly, if there are two at my garage then this is a bug that needs to get identified. Thanks.
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Hello all. I've read through the posts here and experienced the same this morning. I've had my 2018 Atlas almost a year with no real issues. What has been posted all makes sense. I park mine in the garage so it isn't exposed to temperatures at night unless we are traveling. The weather here today dropped drastically overnight with wind chill in negatives. This morning when I backed out of garage and drove, there were no warnings or issues. However, I went to work, parked, went in for few hours, went to leave and when I started it, that's when I got the same warning message as you all. I drove it for a bit, all with the warning still on, no explanation on the monitor or in the manual, parked it, went in to a store. When I came out a bit later and started it, warning was gone. And still no other issues. I have left a message with VW dealer I bought it from and haven't heard back. I am wondering if this warning does in fact have to do with temperature outside and letting engine/transmission warm up. I have recently had the oil changed but don't think anything happened while it was there. I will update post if I hear back from dealership.
Hi there -- My dealership actually has my Atlas right now. They diagnosed this problem: something about the transmission gear box or harness...something....is sending faulty signals to the computer. It's not a problem with the car, it's a problem with that element of the car sending faulty signals. Luckily this issue is still covered by warranty. Unfortunately, the fix is going to take about 4-5 days because of the diagnosing, parts, and repairs. Hope this helps.
Update on my transmission issue: The dealer had the car for 3 weeks. During that time, they changed the MAF sensor, which did not fix the problem. They then told me the engineers at VW advised them to change the engine wiring harness. They had to order the part. Of course, they ordered the wrong part, and had to reorder it. This time, it has to come from Germany. They say it will be 5-6 weeks, or even longer because of the travel restrictions currently in place from the Corona Virus. Awesome. So I told them to put it back together and let me drive it until the new part comes in. More updates to follow when that happens. If I am still alive by then...
Hi there: When I took my Atlas back (see comment #6), they ended up keeping my vehicle for about 3.25 weeks. They also had to order a part, but I'm not certain where they got it. They said the repair was extremely labor intensive because they had to take so many things apart. Luckily, my dealer provided a loaner car for us. Since the repair, we've had no problems. But I will say the transmission feels different. When I move it into drive or park, the gearshift seems to have more tension than before. Otherwise, it's running just like it always did. If there is someone on here who needs the language from my repair receipts, I can copy it and share. But if this is going to be a problem with all Atlas's, I hope customers find it before the warranty runs out.
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Any update? I'm experiencing very similar issues in my 2017 GSW.
I'd be interested to get a copy of the repair.
Finally got this taken care of last week. They replaced the engine wiring harness. It's been about 10 days- so far, so good.
I have an '18 Alltrack SE. I have an error that comes up similar to these which states "Transmission in emergency mode. No reverse gear". It has happened 3x. First two times I was within 0.25mi of where I had been parked for a while, so I pulled over and parked right away and restarted the car. Today it occurred when I turned it on, and again, restarting the car made the issue disappear. I am taking the car into the dealership next week so I'll keep you posted.
Further developments... yesterday I was on a long drive (30-45mins from my house) and this error came up again while I was driving ("Transmission in emergency mode. No reverse gear"). I pulled over immediately and tried to restart the car, but the issue did not clear this time, and now the check engine light is on. I turned around and drove the car to the dealership immediately (especially since i have an appt on Tuesday to get this looked at anyway), but the car was driving as if it was stuck in 2nd gear the entire time so I could only drive at 30mph maximum, causing me to turn my hazard lights on. I tried to pull over a couple times to try to restart the car to see if the error would clear again, but no luck. I also tested the reverse gear, but it would not engage. More to come on this tomorrow.
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In your Alltrack? That's the DSG and v. different from the Atlas's slush-box auto. Likely a bad mechatronic unit in the Alltrack.
Thanks for that context. I'll let you know what they find. I'm hoping it is purely an electrical issue/ mechatronic issue like you said, and that I haven't done any damage driving the car ~40mi in emergency mode. I tried to keep the RPMs below 4k.
Sounds like you were right! The diagnosis is a faulty mechatronic, which apparently is what forced me to stay in 2nd gear the other day. Should have the car back in under a week total. All covered under warranty, of course. The dealership said they had never heard of this error before, but I'm not sure if they meant just with the Alltrack, or in general.
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Bad mechatronic isn't an uncommon issue with the DSGs from what I've seen.
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