Dec 2009 reg VRS TSI, gearchange "clunks" at lever, doesn't matter wether change is fast or slow. Do they all do this or should I be off to the dealer? Would one of those short shift thingys be better and which one to buy. Feel that this noise is letting down a fabulous car. Any thoughts please.

The gear change should not make a sound so I would take it back to the dealer to check it out. The gear change is a little cluncky to the feel but should not make any noise.

Dec 2009 reg VRS TSI, gearchange "clunks" at lever, doesn't matter wether change is fast or slow. Do they all do this or should I be off to the dealer? Would one of those short shift thingys be better and which one to buy. Feel that this noise is letting down a fabulous car. Any thoughts please.

The gearchange on mine has always been fairly precise but I would not say it "clunks". If anything I would say it's one of the smoothest I had so if you're not happy get it back to the dealer. Is there any way you could try another VRS to compare?

As far as the DSG gearboxes go I tried the new Fabia vRS and felt it wasn't for me. Other people love them, so it's really what you feel happy with

Mine's got a definite "graunch" when I change down into third (strangely it doesn't happen when I change up into third). Even my passengers can hear it. Will be getting it looked at sometime but just not got round to it yet, as it's not bad enough to spoil my enjoyment and there's 2 years of warranty left yet....

Funnily enough mine's Dec 2009 too - perhaps they had a dodgy batch of gearboxes.

Bob

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The symptom described by VrsBob almost makes me wonder if there is a clutch problem here. A graunch when changing down to 3rd; but not up could be a symptom of the clutch not fully releasing. (I expect most people, especially bikers have tested their technique at some time by changing gears without using the clutch. Going up is fairly easy but down need the revs spot on....................)

Given the age of these cars; it would be unlikely to be a synchromesh wear prob; but I would be suspicious of the clutch slave cylinder giving up and not fully releasing the clutch. This will hugely affect the gear change.

Slave cylinders in general often give up at quite lowish miles - I recently replaced the one on my pop up headlight MX5 - it had only done some 30k miles and you should have seen the state...............................................Similar symptoms for a well known problem. No idea of cost on the Octy, but shouldn't be that much. It's also regarded as quite acceptable to re-rubber clutch hydraulics, but the clutch slave will probably have a corroded bore, necessitating complete renewal.

Having said the foregoing - it might just be air and a simple bleed will cure it. Hope this is all of some help.

The symptom described by VrsBob almost makes me wonder if there is a clutch problem here. A graunch when changing down to 3rd; but not up could be a symptom of the clutch not fully releasing. (I expect most people, especially bikers have tested their technique at some time by changing gears without using the clutch. Going up is fairly easy but down need the revs spot on....................)

Given the age of these cars; it would be unlikely to be a synchromesh wear prob; but I would be suspicious of the clutch slave cylinder giving up and not fully releasing the clutch. This will hugely affect the gear change.

Slave cylinders in general often give up at quite lowish miles - I recently replaced the one on my pop up headlight MX5 - it had only done some 30k miles and you should have seen the state...............................................Similar symptoms for a well known problem. No idea of cost on the Octy, but shouldn't be that much. It's also regarded as quite acceptable to re-rubber clutch hydraulics, but the clutch slave will probably have a corroded bore, necessitating complete renewal.

Having said the foregoing - it might just be air and a simple bleed will cure it. Hope this is all of some help.

Surely if it was a clutch problem it would do it on all gears. 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th work perfectly so I'm sure it's the synchro on 3rd.

Surely if it was a clutch problem it would do it on all gears. 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th work perfectly so I'm sure it's the synchro on 3rd.

I would say that this sounds to be a duff synchro ring on the 3rd gear. Dealer call mate. As others have said, clutch issue should affect all downchanges.

I would say that this sounds to be a duff synchro ring on the 3rd gear. Dealer call mate. As others have said, clutch issue should affect all downchanges.

I agree totally - I did a search on the forum earlier and found a few similar problems where the fix was a replacement synchro ring, so I'll get it booked in sometime soon as it sounds like that's what it is in my case. I did phone up the dealer and mention it a couple of months back, and the guy on the service desk said "yeah book it in and we'll strip down the gearbox and see what's wrong" - that put me off a bit so left it! Also they wanted to rush me 12 quid a day for a "courtesy car" while it was in. Not much "courtesy" in that I thought! Never had to pay for a dealer loan car before (except to replace the fuel I used).

Bob

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