Jump to content

skoda citigo can't get reverse


stefanjo

Recommended Posts

citigo 2013. In third year of warranty 12000 miles.Car would not go in reverse, other gears OK.  AA man couldn't fix, took me to dealer/service centre. 

Dealer says car worked OK when tested   (though not OK after many tries by me and AA man)   Dealer admits it is a known problem but Skoda offers no fix and intimates I should "live with it" because the fault is intermittent.  Any opinions?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

Interesting, mine is a little picky about going into reverse. Normally thanks to learning on straight cut tractor gearboxes a wiggle and a pffft it lets me engage. I have wondered if the linkage needs adjusting or if it's a trait.

 

1st is also a little fiddly from cold.

 

Not a solution, but more info.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Think it's a common trait in many cars. Easy way is just put it in neutral clutch up and down, have another go.

If it still won't go, something is amiss.

Edited by Chris GB
Link to comment
Share on other sites

" a wiggle and a pffft it lets me engage. "

 

Is there a Part Number for this Colin? :giggle:

 

Fred 

Edited by g6zru
  • Groan 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a known characteristic across all three brands that have their own incarnation of the citigo and has been for some time.

The suggestion from skoda before attempting to select reverse gear is make sure the vehicle is 100% stationary, leave a couple of seconds gap between deselecting the previous gear and selecting reverse and double pressing the clutch.

The gearbox in the citigo is very simple, rough and ready. It's not greatly refined and by no means perfect.

Our kid has one, brand new less than 6 months ago and in the couple of thousand miles she's covered it's happened to her less than a handful of times.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for your reply James. My Citigo is currently sat in your premises after being brought in, accompanied by the AA man  as I described above. I should point out that he tried many times to engage reverse, spent about an hour trying and investigating linkages etc. Even recording his attempts on his phone camera.  As it is "a known characteristic" perhaps it should be made known to the Skoda/VW  dedicated AA reps? Also, perhaps they should be made aware of the fix that you suggest here? Being an "old geezer" I'm familiar with the "double de-clutching" move, which the AA guy also tried, to no avail.  Do you really believe that a fault occurring "a handful of times in the first six months" is acceptable? And should we not be made aware of this situation during the buying process, so we can make a considered decision on purchase? Has any pressure on this been brought to bear on Skoda/VW? And are they bothered? Kind Regards. Stefan.

This is a known characteristic across all three brands that have their own incarnation of the citigo and has been for some time.

The suggestion from skoda before attempting to select reverse gear is make sure the vehicle is 100% stationary, leave a couple of seconds gap between deselecting the previous gear and selecting reverse and double pressing the clutch.

The gearbox in the citigo is very simple, rough and ready. It's not greatly refined and by no means perfect.

Our kid has one, brand new less than 6 months ago and in the couple of thousand miles she's covered it's happened to her less than a handful of times.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm afraid that whilst the AA are now the main skoda assist company - the road side technician might have no experience with skoda at all. He does however have full access to the skoda technical data which has a bulletin with the exact symptoms you've described, if they don't look for it or can't find it then that's down to them.

As for this occurring on my sisters new car - she wasn't aware that there was any issue, she took my advice and now it only occurs when she forgets how to use the gear correctly.

If it's deemed normal by skoda then that's all we have to go on.

The citigo is a cheap car and the gearbox is obviously designed with sparse tolerances, hence it not being perfectly refined and as smooth as some would like.

When I worked for seat we had a customer with this issue on a MII. Their previous car had a different reverse gear setup and they complained reverse gear was faulty in the MII. We kept the car and tested it without an issue found, it kept returning for the same issue and we kept turning up nothing.

Seat authorised us to fit a gearbox as a trial - exactly the same with the new box.

The customer rejected the car in the end and got a new MII, it was exactly the same.

They never complained about it thereafter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Doesn't it say in the manual. Come to a full stop, neutral and wait a second or two before engaging reverse?

All my cars apart from my DSG ride did something similar. From a tata indica, fiesta, corsa, two New astras, Mini Cooper.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I find it hard to engage first gear on my 1959 Austin A40 sometimes,but there's no synchromesh on it.

 

This should not be acceptable on any modern car,no matter how 'cheap' it is.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I find it hard to engage first gear on my 1959 Austin A40 sometimes,but there's no synchromesh on it.

 

This should not be acceptable on any modern car,no matter how 'cheap' it is.

Why? It's a comfort issue that takes a bit of getting used to and with the correct operation can be largely avoided.

Plenty of cars suffer the same functionality flaws regardless of cost.

A straight cut dog tooth gear, like reverse will never engage as smoothly as a gear with a syncro hub.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I find it hard to engage first gear on my 1959 Austin A40 sometimes,but there's no synchromesh on it.

 

This should not be acceptable on any modern car,no matter how 'cheap' it is.

Spot on!.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The gearbox in our Yeti will sometimes crunch slightly when you put the gearstick into reverse whilst moving forwards, and first gear can sometimes not engage, meaning you just have to push it in firmly, but apart from that, it's perfectly fine.

If the Citigo's gearbox is the same as above, then I think that's perfectly normal, but if it's worse than above, then that's frankly unacceptable on any modern car.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The reason for it crunching when reverse is selected whilst rolling forward is because the gearbox is still in motion and for reverse it needs to be complety stopped to allow for the rotational direction to change .

because the other gears turn the same direction during operation you don't get crunching when they're selected unless they don't mesh correctly, also if you balance the engine and gearbox speed correctly you can select gear without the use of the clutch.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why? It's a comfort issue that takes a bit of getting used to and with the correct operation can be largely avoided.

Plenty of cars suffer the same functionality flaws regardless of cost.

A straight cut dog tooth gear, like reverse will never engage as smoothly as a gear with a syncro hub.

Too technical for me i'm afraid.

 

I used to work for a car rental company,in 2004/5 and drove many different sizes and makes of cars,including vans,and never had a functionality flaw engaging reverse gear on any of them.

 

Can't agree,the car is at fault in this case,not the driver.

Edited by RickW
Link to comment
Share on other sites

James is correct, it's a straight cut reverse gear (not helical) with no syncro hub. With no leading edge to the gear teeth it has to be aligned for it to go in. This is a hit or miss operation, allowing the car to move or re engaging the clutch allows you to have another stab.

Does it happen on other cars? Prob not as most have a helical reverse these days but the box is very basic to cut costs.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So apparently we should all live with it Stefan and stop moaning about a known problem on a cheap car.

 

It's a pity it's not mentioned in the brochure or by the main dealer sales team so that we would have an informed choice.

 

C'est la vie.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Every small VAGgon I've ever driven (a couple of Polos, an Ibiza, a few Up!s and a Citigo) have done this -- the occasional (less than 1 in 20?) refusal to go into reverse or 1st when stationary. Spinning the box in neutral solves it.

 

Bit like the Starship Enterprise: 'Boldly going forward/'Cause we can't find reverse.'

 

[For those of you too young to get this reference: be thankful. Old geezers: yeah, on a 45rpm.]

Edited by ettlz
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Given the OP knows how to use a non synchronised reverse gear and neither he nor the AA man could get the car into reverse, I would say that this is not the normal operating characteristic of this type of gearbox and there is a fault.

The occasional baulk on a non synchronised gear is to be expected and is common to a number of small cars. Anyone who lacks the skill to work with this probably should stick with an auto box. However, the OP obviously knows his stuff, the AA man likely does too and a dealer trying to fob him off doesn't look good.

Edited by Chris GB
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Given the OP knows how to use a non synchronised reverse gear and neither he nor the AA man could get the car into reverse, I would say that this is not the normal operating characteristic of this type of gearbox and there is a fault.

The occasional baulk on a non synchronised gear is to be expected and is common to a number of small cars. Anyone who lacks the skill to work with this probably should stick with an auto box. However, the OP obviously knows his stuff, the AA man likely does too and a dealer trying to fob him off doesn't look good.

There's no fobbing off involved.

That dealer would be us, more specifically ME who was given the task of finding an issue with this car.

Job card: "car will not select reverse, other gears ok"

AA note: "unable to select reverse gear, driven to dealer"

Finds car in car park, starts it up, flawlessly selects reverse gear, reverses car out of the spot it was parked in then attempted to select reverse repeatedly, again without an issue.

I then checked the linkages, checked the clutch hydraulic system for air then carried out a road test where the car performed without flaw.

I checked for any tech data and found a corresponding bulletin with these symptoms.

I've now been using the car for a week. Once again without an issue.

And sadly, a vast majority of AA roadside technicians are only capable of towing a car to the nearest garage.

When the RAC was in control of skoda assist they had dedicated VAG techs who knew their stuff, now any AA MAN can turn up and claim to be skoda assist.

The AA tech we used to have has moved patch, he fixed or diagnosed nearly every skoda he was called out to. We saw him 5 times in 12 months, this new AA man has dropped off 3 cars in 3 weeks all with simplistic faults that shouldn't really have warranted a recovery. This guy is apparently an "expert" and we're just oil and filter spinners I suppose.

Edited by James@RRGRochdale
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Community Partner

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Welcome to BRISKODA. Please note the following important links Terms of Use. We have a comprehensive Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.