Afternoon all,

 

Hope you're all enjoying your Easter weekend. As you may have read I recently bought a 55 plate Skoda Octavia 2.0 TDI DSG.

 

Well 2 days after I bought it I had a new flywheel fitted this seemed to stop the jerkiness when slowing down and the rattle at idle, but still suffered with intermittent vibration when pulling away in 1st and 2nd.

 

Today on the motorway cruising a long at 70 in 6th I noticed there was a rumble that would come and go I also noticed the revs rising and dropping, so came off the motorway rumble and fluctuating revs was still there in any gear, gear change was more jerky in 1st, 2nd when going up and down the gears.  

 

I'm feeling really down at the moment and thinking of getting rid as I've just spent 600 this week, it's booked into the dealer on the the 25th for a gearbox oil, filter and clutch adaption/reset that's going to cost almost 300, I don't fancy spending that if it doesn't cure or improve it. It feels as though I'm throwing good money at a bad car

 

Would anyone have any idea if this sounds like a clutch pack or mechatronics issue. 

 

Thanks in advance folks 

Just tried something out nice smooth road knocked it over to manual in 4th put my foot down there was a vibration felt through the car that would come and go 

Another thing I noticed on the drive back from the inlaws this evening, the gears most affected with the fluctuation is 2nd, 4th and 6th, also noticed a slight chirp sound as it goes into 4th and 6th, started to vibrate in 2nd and 4th now if I give it a bit of poke. No vibrations noticed in reverse gear

I had my mechatronic replaced under warranty twice because i had these symptoms. I would suggest to get this checked i know that this also can be the software.

good luck

It is sounding a bit concerning. If it has new and now more noticeable symptoms, maybe cancel the DSG service and book back in for diagnosis so that you do not spend £300 only to be told BTW, the mechatronics needs changing as well as the clutch packs!

 

Although, with an unproven service change history, I do wonder how much oil contamination could cause misbehaviour as well....

 

Or look at the VCDS listing on these forums and find a member who could scan and check for codes (to check if any are reported) and do the reset.  You could also DIY the DSG oil and filter change if you wanted to,  but it is a bit of a faff and will cost you £100 plus any tools and quite a bit of time. For around £160-£175, garage charge  is probably not an excessive amount pay depending on how much spare time you have.

 

After doing those things, if problems remain you are into the more expensive land of likely major service repairs or an exchange unit.

Edited 16 April, 20179 yr by TheClient

Hi thanks for the replies, this is my issue I've spent £600 on a flywheel, Skoda want £175 for the oil and filter change plus another £100 if I want the clutch adaption/reset so don't really want to spend almost £300 if the problem will be the same.

 

Anyway it's a lazy Easter Sunday so I decided to have a quick look around in particular the gearbox mount, removing the battery and air filter box I found if I rocked the engine by hand using very little pressure there was considerable movement on the gearbox mount, so I supported the gearbox from underneath and loosened the mount, I took a quick video of what I found, here's the link

 

 

 

Surely that "looseness" cannot be right?

 

 

Edited 16 April, 20179 yr by Abz2005

Not sure. I haven't ever removed the transmission, so I'm not familiar with the fixings. Sound / looks like a flexible / rubberised mount? But there is a fair bit of movement.

 

If the transmission is only behaving badly on odd or even gears though that suggests an internal problem by my reckoning...

 

Hopefully someone who has removed a DSG can comment definitely on the mount.

 

 

 

Hi The Client,

 

You're right regarding the odd and even gears, my understanding of the DSG one clutch/sub-box does evens and the other clutch/sub-box does odd gears, clutching at straws here that's all will be replacing the mount anyway.

UPDATE

 

Not good news, the car was booked in at Skoda Stourbridge today for a gearbox oil change and clutch adaption/reset.

 

They've just rang me back saying there would be no point in replacing the oil or doing the clutch adaption as the clutch has disintegrated and there are some broken couplings in the gearbox, cost to repair £1300 plus VAT.

 

So what to do now, find a second hand gearbox, but won't know the condition until it's fitted, part ex it for another motor? scrap the car, but I'm into it £1800 so far after having the flywheel done and the car is only worth £12-£1400 at most. Not sure what to do

Edited 25 April, 20179 yr by Abz2005

It may be worth contacting an independent specialist who may be able to source a replacement and do the work or they may be able to recommend a local gearbox specialist.  Both *should* be cheaper than the dealer.  Perhaps saving the cost of VAT.   Any reputable company should put a warranty on their work, even on reconditioned boxes. 

 

Always a tough call when repairs start coming close to, or exceed,  the value of the car.  Personally I would consider - will the car be good for the foreseeable future once the fix has been done? Do you plan on keeping the car long term?  Can you buy a suitable alternative which is as good as the Octavia for the cost of the repair?  You'll likely be in for ~£3k (with the flywheel cost incl) will that then leave you with an otherwise good car you'll be happy to keep and run for a couple of years longer? 

 

 

 

 

Hi Penguin

 

Thanks for your reply, I did plan on keeping this car as I wanted to taxi it, the problem is if I get it fixed what else could be next, the oil cooler is on the list of things to do but that's not too bad and I can do it myself.

 

I had a recovery truck a few years back, I put over £4000 into it in less than a year on mechanical repairs in the end sold it as I couldn't keep putting the money into it. I'm just worried in case this goes the same way. The same goes if I bought a £4/5000 it might have issues too, I'm stuck lol

Well I've just rang slaters in Nottingham (gearbox specialist) to recondition my gearbox £1800 +VAT!!!

Well I have the receipt in front of me now, the price is inclusive of VAT I was mistaken earlier. 

 

I asked them to clarify what the repair is he said clutch pack kit which includes some bearings and some other internal gearbox parts. Not sure if this is true if someone works for Skoda or VW could you confirm please. If it's just the clutch pack I can get this for around £330 from Dark Side Developments. 

Edited 25 April, 20179 yr by Abz2005

Quote

 

Tough one, especially when it ramps up like this the further you go in. When does it stop. Clearly the car has had some issues avoided and neglected by previous owners, it becomes hard to know what to do.  

 

If it is only the clutch packs and it resolves all the transmission troubles (and there are no further major issues) another £1,300 is possibly palatable in the knowledge you've addressed a lot of issues. But if the transmission has other faults or there are other majors lurking it would be a bad decision!  How much confidence does the dealer have that it is only the clutch packs?

 

Crystal ball territory really making a decision and I wouldn't want to choose for you! 

 

Edit: PS. At a dealer they must be allowing 6 hours or more for the job at >£100 per hour +vat, so probably £500 or less in parts as a rough guess. Do they have the parts itemised?  If you can find an independent who can do clutch packs you maybe able to get it under £1k. 

 

I had some work done at Lion Garage in Hinkley, they also have other branches one in Tamworth and one in Coventry I think.  I only have experience of the Hinkley branch  and they were good. Maybe give them a call though and see if they can do anything on the DSG transmission.

Edited 26 April, 20179 yr by TheClient

How recently did you buy the car? If it is within 6 months and purchased from a dealer I would take it back to them and see what they say. If not id take them to court as most courts will see up to about 6 months from purchase, the dealer is responsible for the repair of major faults.  You mentioned Nottingham so you arent too far from me in Newark. Have you tried Shark Performance in Mansfield or Smart VWs in Newark? I have used both garages and both are independant VAG garages that i would highly recommend.

Hi

 

Thank you to everyone for your replies.

 

The Client, this is my dilemma do I cut my losses now and buy something else, or do I repair this one, I spoke to my wife last night she's telling me to buy something else, today she's telling me to fix this one, arrggghhhhh she's really not helping.

 

Ecomatt, I'm near Birmingham just heard very good reviews about Slaters in Nottingham and would be willing to travel but £1800 +VAT is too steep.  I probably could go back but it was a small trader all they would do is close down and open under another name, I've known that to happen to someone else.

 

I rang Driver Transmissions on the recommendation of another gearbox specialist, they've quoted £750 +VAT to replace the clutch, I may go down this road yet, the saga continues.

Another update, I've been using the car as it is probably not a good idea as I think I may have done irreversible damage. 

 

Anyway before I'm going to spend a minimum of  £1000 on an unknown quality gearbox I thought I'd do a little digging of my own and am I glad I did.  The coolant keeps filling with a white gel like substance didn't smell like engine oil but did have a distinctive smell so I thought I'd check the gearbox oil cooler and filter, my god what I found is the root cause of problems here are the pictures below, with the dsg filter out that white stuff is the gearbox oil, the other picture is the condition of the filter as I took it out. When I rub the oil between my fingers it feels like it's lost all it's lubrication and more watery, I'd say the dsg oil cooler has given up the ghost. I'll do a oil and filter change see if that improves anything, cheapest option shy of changing the gearbox.

 

 

Pic of the oil filter 

Yep, wonder how long that problem has been lurking. Since the last DSG oil and filter change (sarcasm implied).  You going to have to change out the oil cooler and change the oil aren't you?  I am not sure how much faith you can put in that gearbox now. 

Hi The Client,

 

Well apparently according to the service history the dsg oil and filter were done at 130k, 15k miles ago, hmmmmm

Thought I would keep this thread updated should anyone else run into the same problem although I've not found a similar problem to mine even when searching on google and various audi/vw/skoda forums.

 

Anyone reading my have seen the condition of the gearbox oil when I took the oil filter top off, the oil cooler had had it and was mixing coolant and gearbox oil. My thinking now was the gearbox has had it so if I carry out an oil change what's the worst that could happen, the gearbox goes bang I would have to replace it anyway.  So I bought a new oil cooler, gearbox oil and filter from a local motor factors only cheap stuff, if this improves things I will replace the oil with some genuine oil and filters.

 

Now I didn't do the procedure properly because I don't have VCDS or Vagcom to check the temperature to check the level in the box after filling, I also opted for the top fill method because I don't have the tool to do the correct bottom fill method. Again as I said I wasn't to fussed if all this went wrong. So drained the gearbox and what can only be described as salad cream came out just over 5 litres in total, it was overfull due to the coolant in there, replaced the oil cooler filled the gearbox with 4.7 litres of oil, put everything back together started the car and cycled through the gears. Took the car for a drive and couldn't believe the difference so much smoother, but this was short lived because when the car had warmed up the vibration had come back when pulling away but had gone when driving along.

 

Now my next thought the gearbox holds approximately 6 litres of oil, so there is still around 1.5 litres of salad cream in there I'm planning on taking it to an indy to get the oil changed again and have the clutch adaption done. Fingers crossed

Good luck. Keep us posted!

Sorry to hear about your problems, these stories put me off DSG which I was considering on next skoda when I change.

Thanks Sarge and Petescim 

 

I'll be honest it's a fantastic gearbox when it works, I've tried 2 other cars with DSG, another Octavia and a Passat CC, but after my troubles I wouldn't have another unless it was a brand new car or had a decent warranty.

Well picked it up from the Indy after another oil and filter change plus a clutch adaption, seems to be driving worse, after I'd changed the oil the vibration ans sound while driving had gone, its all back again now, booooo.

 

I'm too much into it now, so I'll keep driving it till it goes bang then cross that bridge when I get there.