Transmission problem in a 7 speed DSG (yikes)

[adeward]

Preamble: I didn't believe all the negative comments about DSGs (particularly the 7 speed). I thought "surely not". This is my gulp moment.

 

I went and bought 2 recently - one is a Octavia, the other a Yeti. Both are '65 reg (late 2015), both only around 14k on the clock, both well looked after. I have full confidence in the sellers, and I had both checked over by mechanics. They are both great vehicles.

 

Today, I was driving my wife's Yeti across a cross-roads - it was raining, getting dark, and I was in a bit of a rush. I accelerated slightly too hard, and the wheel span just a bit. ESP kicked in, things stabilised, no big deal I thought. But then I think I hit an unseen pothole, and the car judders suddenly - there's a nasty grinding sound coming from the engine compartment, and even though the engine revs fine, the transmission never engages. There's no warnings on the dash. My ODBII tool reports all clear of errors.

 

Selecting any other position on the selector does nothing. Putting it into N I was able to push it to the side of the road. Selecting R, D, S or any of the manual gears just results in a nasty clanking sound from the engine compartment, the frequency of which is directly related to what you might consider the output speed of the DSG (ie. in 1st it's slow, in 2nd it's faster, in 3rd faster still).

 

Here's a video demonstrating what I'm experiencing:

 

 

Having never experienced anything like this before, and being totally new to DSGs and automatics in general, I'm a bit paranoid this is a dreaded DSG fault. But then, the fact that the knocking sound behaves as if the gears are working correctly suggests that the problem is some other link before the actual wheels.

 

Finally, a caveat: Apologies about the lack of knowledge about car internals. I'm learning as I go, so please explain in basic terms what you think the fault might be.

[Rooted]

Welcome.

It does not sound like any dreaded DQ200 since 2013 fault.  Like ones needing Service Campaign '34H5', a software update.

Sounds like a breakage that needs repaired.

Call Skoda Assist and get it recovered.

[Urrell]

Has one of the prop-shafts broken.

[adeward]

6 minutes ago, AwaoffSki said:

Sounds like a breakage that needs repaired.

 

Thanks! I think that was exactly the relief I needed.

 

I'm quite a way from the nearest official Skoda workshop, so my local friendly garage is retrieving it tomorrow morning. I'll update accordingly.

 

Still can't quite believe a little skid and a pothole can do this to a Yeti, of all vehicles.

[Urrell]

Just now, adeward said:

Still can't quite believe a little skid and a pothole can do this to a Yeti, of all vehicles.

That wind up can put a very big load on components with more torque and inertia than you'd imagine

[Expatman]

I assume it is still under warranty so make sure you get Skoda dealer involved now, otherwise you could get into all kinds of problems by having a "non authorised" garage looking at it. Only time I needed Skoda Assistance was when I misfuelled (petrol in a diesel Octavia in 2010) and Skoda Assistance quickly arranged for the car to be picked up and taken to an approved dealer - although that dealer was miles away. I was fortunate that draining the tank and refiling with clean diesel was all it needed - but in 2005 diesels there was much less technology to screw up!

[Rooted]

^^^ 

This. 

Do not let a non official VW Group workshop touch it.

 

It might be a Warranty issue,  It might be an Insurance claim from your car insurance, lets hope a Warranty Claim.

[Llanigraham]

14 minutes ago, adeward said:

 

Thanks! I think that was exactly the relief I needed.

 

I'm quite a way from the nearest official Skoda workshop, so my local friendly garage is retrieving it tomorrow morning. I'll update accordingly.

 

Still can't quite believe a little skid and a pothole can do this to a Yeti, of all vehicles.

 

Your car is under warranty and covered by Skoda Assistance.

Do NOT allow your local friendly garage to touch it. As soon as they do that Skoda will wash their hands of it.
Ring Skoda Assist and an AA van will come and collect it, and if they cannot do anything will arrange a loan car for you and transport the broken car to the nearest dealer.

[adeward]

Okay, I'm hearing this loud and clear. But hmm... It's a Cat D. So, I'm assuming warranty voided. I kind of expected that if I ran into issues, I'd be on my own.

 

Sorry, should have stated this in my original post.

 

Also, starting to suspect the previous damage may have been a causing factor.

 

 

[Rooted]

?

So what is the story on the Cat D,  was that an Accident, and how or who repaired?

[adeward]

3 minutes ago, AwaoffSki said:

?

So what is the story on the Cat D,  was that an Accident, and how or who repaired?

 

 

First owner got it through Motability in 2015. It was a relatively minor accident about a year later, only body damage was to the front off-side bumper/fog lights/grille, which was all replaced. Airbags had deployed so I believe large parts of the dash were replaced too. Previous owner bought it from a salvage dealer in December 2016 and had it repaired by what appears to be an independent VAG specialist workshop. I have copies of all the receipts. He kept it as a run-around for his wife, but decided to sell it as she no longer drove and they didn't want to keep paying for a parking permit. My own mechanic inspected the vehicle and found no issues, considered it to be an excellent find.

 

[Llanigraham]

Why, oh why, don't people give us all the relevant facts when they open a thread!!

[adeward]

1 minute ago, Llanigraham said:

Why, oh why, don't people give us all the relevant facts when they open a thread!!

 

Ha, sorry. Forgive me, I'm new here. Remember I started the thread because I feared it was a DSG issue, that's all.

 

 

Nevertheless... how does knowing the back story of the Cat D change your assessment of the actual problem? 

 

[Llanigraham]

Because none of us would have advised you to contact Skoda Assistance or mentioned the car being under warranty had we known. The whole "scene" is different because of that information.

To get advice anywhere it is much better to give all the facts in the first instance, and not feed it in dribs and drabs. That way you are more likely to get a correct and full answer quicker.
And that applies in all aspects of life.

 

Now, as has been said, I suspect that the previous accident may have weakened something, and your energetic start combined with the crashing through a pot hole has resulted in the failure of that part. What it could be is anyones guess, until the car is recovered and stripped down. It could be as simple as the drive shaft coupling failing, or it could be the complete collapse of the gearbox.
Please do let us know when you have a result.

[Rooted]

The Manufacturers Warranty is not Automatically Void if the car was classed as a Cat D Write off. 

But then as to what the damage is now, and if the car has had Main Dealers Servicing or an Inspection since the original Accident will matter.

 

But as a Motability Owned vehicle if repaired while they owned it, it should have had a full inspection and repair.

Maybe it was not repaired by Motability and just Sold for Repair after an Inspection, Quotes and an Insurance assessment. 

* So as you know the story and Motability / the Insurer had it off to a Salvage yard and possibly not an Approved Repairer do the repairs,

there are questions, but then if Original Parts are used for Repairs, they have a 2 year warranty possibly.*

 

As to this incident,

it needs inspected to see just what has happened, be it a drive shaft or engine mount, or a linkage that has broken.

 

All the best with it.

Edited 25 January, 2018 by AwaoffSki

[oldstan]

On 1/25/2018 at 00:08, Llanigraham said:

Because none of us would have advised you to contact Skoda Assistance or mentioned the car being under warranty had we known. The whole "scene" is different because of that information.

To get advice anywhere it is much better to give all the facts in the first instance, and not feed it in dribs and drabs. That way you are more likely to get a correct and full answer quicker.
And that applies in all aspects of life.

 

Now, as has been said, I suspect that the previous accident may have weakened something, and your energetic start combined with the crashing through a pot hole has resulted in the failure of that part. What it could be is anyones guess, until the car is recovered and stripped down. It could be as simple as the drive shaft coupling failing, or it could be the complete collapse of the gearbox.
Please do let us know when you have a result.

 

 

No reply since Thursday. And is it any wonder?

 

OK, with the benefit of hindsight the fella would have done well to have included the information about it being Cat D ... but he overlooked it in his first post.  So why then do you have to talk down to the bloke and make him feel like a naughty schoolboy.... as you always do.

Do you talk to everyone like that ?

 

The likelihood of him returning for another basin-full of scolding is pretty remote ... I certainly wouldn't

[ben4012]

34 minutes ago, oldstan said:

 

 

No reply since Thursday. And is it any wonder?

 

OK, with the benefit of hindsight the fella would have done well to have included the information about it being Cat D ... but he overlooked it in his first post.  So why then do you have to talk down to the bloke and make him feel like a naughty schoolboy.... as you always do.

Do you talk to everyone like that ?

 

The likelihood of him returning for another basin-full of scolding is pretty remote ... I certainly wouldn't

Best post on briskoda. Well put that man. 

[Expatman]

45 minutes ago, ben4012 said:

Best post on briskoda. Well put that man. 

Agreed, and if adeward is still reading this forum then please let us know the outcome - the vast majority of people there will try and help. We really are quite nice you know!

[adeward]

9 hours ago, Expatman said:

Agreed, and if adeward is still reading this forum then please let us know the outcome - the vast majority of people there will try and help. We really are quite nice you know!

 

Thanks to everyone for the constructive comments, and yes I was a bit annoyed by the headteacher's (perfectly valid) comments, but the actual reason for silence is because I'm not going to know the full report until Monday. The garage has confirmed there is a broken driveshaft but wont actually start work until Monday, and might find other issues as they go. I will report back!

[Llanigraham]

Following a news item on the BBC recently, do you know where the pot hole was? If you do are you able to revisit it, measure it and photograph it?
The news item was reporting the increased number of succesful claims being made by motorists against Councils due to the state of some roads.
Worth a thought.

[adeward]

1 minute ago, Llanigraham said:

Following a news item on the BBC recently, do you know where the pot hole was? If you do are you able to revisit it, measure it and photograph it?
The news item was reporting the increased number of succesful claims being made by motorists against Councils due to the state of some roads.
Worth a thought.

 

The pothole is certainly stealthy and pretty large (approx 1m x 50cm). I reported it to the county council and mentioned the damage to my car. I also looked into claiming compensation from the local county council for damages from poor maintenance of a highway, although I was interested to see they point out that they rely heavily on Section 58 of the Highways Act to defend themselves from most claims. They would just claim that the pothole wasn't dangerous, and that it was my driving at fault.

 

I suppose posting details onto a public discussion forum might not be the wisest move if I'm going to initiate legal proceedings anyway, so I'm inclined to suck up the bill and tread a little lighter on the accelerator next time!

[Rooted]

Members in Scotland have had compensation because the Companies responsible for the road maintenance had done the inspections, identified the potholes as requiring repair or emergency repair and have not carried it out, or done a temporary repair that opened up, had been reported again and no remedial actions taken.

http://potholes.co.uk 

eg

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/272686-motorway-blowout-2tyres-wrecked-evergreens-fitted-oh-dear 

Edited 28 January, 2018 by AwaoffSki

[Robjon]

Definitely worth putting in a claim.  The worst that can happen is Council will turn it down.

A couple of photos of the pothole would add considerable weight to your claim.

 

I have submitted claims to Birmingham CC on two occasions for potholed tyres - one in 2009 and the other in the 1980's.

On both occasions, the Council covered the costs of replacements.

 

Good luck mate.

[Llanigraham]

11 hours ago, adeward said:

 

The pothole is certainly stealthy and pretty large (approx 1m x 50cm). I reported it to the county council and mentioned the damage to my car. I also looked into claiming compensation from the local county council for damages from poor maintenance of a highway, although I was interested to see they point out that they rely heavily on Section 58 of the Highways Act to defend themselves from most claims. They would just claim that the pothole wasn't dangerous, and that it was my driving at fault.

 

I suppose posting details onto a public discussion forum might not be the wisest move if I'm going to initiate legal proceedings anyway, so I'm inclined to suck up the bill and tread a little lighter on the accelerator next time!

 

Claim. If the hole is bigger and deeper than the specificatons then the Councl is liable, and it doesn't matter that you have posted in a discussion forum.

[Urrell]

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/66/section/58