Clutch Eats Gearbox and Bank Balance!

[Fabienne]

Does anyone know if there are still similar cases happening of a failed clutch destroying the gearbox?

[MarkTB]

The issue I mentioned that my dad had in August did turn it to be that the clutch had eaten the gearbox. New refurb gearbox was required. 

[silver1011]

On 01/03/2019 at 14:56, Fabienne said:

Does anyone know if there are still similar cases happening of a failed clutch destroying the gearbox?

 

It'll keep happening for as long as there are weak Sachs clutches in use.

 

If it was a bad batch then you'd hope most have either already failed or been replaced by now.

[Ryeman]

On a related matter - are DMFs less prone to failure now?.  Was it also a quality issue or a design reality?.

[chimaera]

13 hours ago, Ryeman said:

On a related matter - are DMFs less prone to failure now?.  Was it also a quality issue or a design reality?.

As something that has moving parts it will always be somewhat prone to failure. It's in the nature of these things to wear out. Most failures appear to be of the springs that isolate the two parts of the DMF from each other, so cheaping out there will increase the likelihood of failure. Specific designs may have peculiarities that increase the risk of failure but it's difficult to comment generally on those.

[J.R.]

My UK neighbour has just had the failure on his 2012 2.0 TDi, luckily he saw some oil drips and I had forewarned him, the independant garage managed to save the gearbox by using plastic metal, new clutch and DMF total about £1100.

 

Only problem is that they said they had fitted a decent make of clutch and he would not have any problem with this type, you guessed it, it was a Sach clutch they fitted They also said they had never seen or heard of this failure on that engine so clearly they are not a VAG specialist and are out of the loop.

[chimaera]

6 minutes ago, J.R. said:

My UK neighbour has just had the failure on his 2012 2.0 TDi, luckily he saw some oil drips and I had forewarned him, the independant garage managed to save the gearbox by using plastic metal, new clutch and DMF total about £1100.

 

Only problem is that they said they had fitted a decent make of clutch and he would not have any problem with this type, you guessed it, it was a Sach clutch they fitted They also said they had never seen or heard of this failure on that engine so clearly they are not a VAG specialist and are out of the loop.

This issue was identified by Skoda/Sachs a very long time ago so I think it's safe enough to assume that the replacement clutch should be fine. Incidentally, as I've pointed out quite a few times in this thread, Skoda/VAG have issued a bulletin to dealers that repairs due to this issue are being covered by VAG/Skoda if the work is done at a dealer.

[J.R.]

I think I will forget to pass on that nugget of information to him!

 

Agreed that the new Sachs clutch should be fine, I just thought it was ironic.

[silver1011]

Wow, £1,100, I paid £600 for a LUK clutch and flywheel.

 

Are prices that much higher 'down South'!?

[SuperbTWM]

On 03/03/2019 at 20:48, Ryeman said:

On a related matter - are DMFs less prone to failure now?.  Was it also a quality issue or a design reality?.

 

I would say that longevity of a DMF has a lot to do with how sympathetically the cars gets driven, power levels, towing etc. I currently own an old 2001 MK4 Golf with 171K on original Clutch and DMF so they can last a very long time

 

10-15 years ago it seemed like a big deal to have flywheel issues but I think everybody has got used to the fact the flywheel is now a wearable item and so accept it when it goes bad.

[Ryeman]

3 hours ago, SuperbTWM said:

 

I would say that longevity of a DMF has a lot to do with how sympathetically the cars gets driven, power levels, towing etc. I currently own an old 2001 MK4 Golf with 171K on original Clutch and DMF so they can last a very long time

 

10-15 years ago it seemed like a big deal to have flywheel issues but I think everybody has got used to the fact the flywheel is now a wearable item and so accept it when it goes bad.

Yeah, I’m definitely living in the past.  The modern auto is just so good for normal purposes these days in any case.

[Danny 57]

If I am correct (probably not) the "old type flywheel had the clutch pack (pressure plate etc.) bolted to it and that was wearing part. I had not known of flywheels wearing out (unless abused) at all as there was nothing to wear out. It is only since the introduction of the DMF and its accompanying clutches that this problem became so apparent.

Yes the modern gearbox are far superior to any previous "auto' type gearboxes but like anything there is a price to pay when there is a problem. 

[Fabienne]

On ‎04‎/‎03‎/‎2019 at 10:44, chimaera said:

This issue was identified by Skoda/Sachs a very long time ago so I think it's safe enough to assume that the replacement clutch should be fine. Incidentally, as I've pointed out quite a few times in this thread, Skoda/VAG have issued a bulletin to dealers that repairs due to this issue are being covered by VAG/Skoda if the work is done at a dealer.

That's interesting - is that them acknowledging the problem as a known issue and if so should they have informed owners about it?

[Ryeman]

Just now, Fabienne said:

That's interesting - is that them acknowledging the problem as a known issue and if so should they have informed owners about it?

VW’s legal department exists for a very good reason.

[chimaera]

11 hours ago, Fabienne said:

That's interesting - is that them acknowledging the problem as a known issue and if so should they have informed owners about it?

The details are in this thread if you read back through it. In short, VAG's bulletin describes it as a quality issue with the clutch but don't go into any detail. My initial hunch was a metallurgical problem but the OP had some metallurgical analysis done and everything looked ok. It may be a design issue also.

 

As for telling owners about it, they're under no legal obligation to do so as it is not a safety related issue. Dealing with it case-by-case is probably cheaper for VAG than recalling every vehicle fitted with this clutch, particularly when a lot of owners (and possibly dealers) are not aware of the technical bulletin, and a lot of owners are paying for the work to be done outside of the VAG servicing network.

[AdventureYeti]

Just a note to say this happened to a 6 speed 2013 Skoda Yeti in Dec 2019 at probably about 50,000 miles - repaired by a third party garage, and from what I've read, unlikely I'm going to receive any goodwill from Skoda UK if I contact them about the problem.

 

 

 

[Madman1]

2013 Octavia Scout 2.0 TDI, manual

Just passed 100K km. Same thing, hole in gearbox, due to a Sachse clutch. Way to expensive to fix at dealer, 187K NOK in parts.

So local shop, Mekonomen, got the job. They found a used box, same milage. Guess what, that gearbox wall, where it breaks, is just about to get punctured!

If all these breakdowns had been documented, I think we had a case.

when I told Mekonomen about the symptoms (before autopsy), he nailed it rightaway. 
I see there is one at the Yati forum as well.

MADman.