[supradaddy0803]

Well if you want an honest opinion on this from a guy that worked with a ASE certified master mechanic rebuilding autos you have a problem. lol. It sounds like you are having a slipping issue and the tranny is not engaging in 2nd gear at all. I am not to familiar with the auto in mark 3's because I will only buy a stick because a real sports should only have one type of tranny. Now that is out of the way if you feel real adventurous have someone pull the pan on the tranny and check the seals around the pistons in the valve body. They may be wore out and leaking causing the transmission to have problems building pressure. Seeing as a automatic is more of a pump than anything else without pressure you have nothing.
A slow build of pressure would probably not throw a code so that is why you arent finding any on this issue. I have seen it many times on a lot of different transmissions doing the same thing and pretty much every time it was the the seal around either the 1 2 piston or the 3 OD piston leaking and messing up the whole works.