The oil-cooler in the DSG gearbox collapsed on me, and the water ran back into the gearbox. The workshop had to flush the gearbox five times befor the oil was clean. It was a repair within warranty, but now the gearshifts feel a little bit off. At low power it shifts relatively smooth, but with a little more power I get a growling sound/feeling when it shifts. I suspect the clutch-pack, but what do I know. Luckily any faults that can be traced back to the water leak is covered by warranty, but it makes me curious as to what it might be. Anyone who has an idea?

The gearbox has been run unlubricated.

 

All flushing the gearbox has done is to remove the contaminated water.

 

Any damage done by loading the gearbox with water instead of transmission fluid has not been rectified.

 

If the DSG is now making a noise that wasn't there before, and the gear changes aren't as smooth, then this confirms damage has been caused. Take it back and ask them to rectify it, under warranty.

 

In all honesty I'd be pushing for a full rebuild of the gearbox. This will be the only way to properly determine the extent of the damage and the likely long terms effects. Assuming the warranty isn't unlimited you can guarantee that any expensive failure, as a direct consequence of the lack of lubrication, will happen after the warranty has expired.

 

DSG gearboxes are extremely complicated and not something you want to be fixing out of warranty.

I was afraid of this. The car is a 2009, but is within the used car warranty. This warranty is normally a 50/50 warranty, where the buyer and seller splits the cost. But this is something else, since the cooler was defective at the point of purchase. Then the seller is responible for the repairs all together.  But now I am a little afraid that there will be a problem, since a rebuild/replacement of the gerabox certainly will be a costly affair on a car this old. I like the car very much, but not enough to accept with a gearbox likely to fail. Should I go for a gearbox replacement right away? Or is it the mechatronic and clutches that gets it, and needs replacing?

The only way to properly diagnose what needs replacing, if anything, is to remove and open up the gearbox. This is an expensive operation on its own.

 

Water and oil do not mix well. Oil isn't much of a lubricator either. On opening the gearbox everything may "look" OK, but it will need a transmission specialist to properly identify what will need replacing.

 

For me, these would be my options:

 

1) Do nothing, run the car as it is, and hope for the best.

2) Return the car to the supplying dealer / garage for a full refund. Take the money and buy a different car.

3) Return the car to the supplying dealer / garage and ask them to put right the damage the water leak has caused.

4) Take the car to a transmission specialist and ask them their opinion, with the possibility you simply pay them out of your own pocket to put things right, and avoid the hassle.

 

Option 3, although the best, is also the most difficult. The garage you bought the car from will be looking to minimise their costs as much as possible. I imagine that there wasn't much profit to be made on a 10 year old car to begin with, so it is possible they'll look to deter you from insisting that the gearbox is examined by a specialist. I'd be tempted to do a mix of 3 and 4, ask for advice from someone who knows what the likely damage will be, arm yourself with this information, and then approach the supplying dealer with a good knowledge of what they need to do.

 

It may be that the garage is very understanding, and will be more than happy to do the right thing. Unfortunately they're rare.

Yeah. This is sound advice you are coming with here. So far the gearbox is working, but it has some glitches along with a strange noise/vibration when shifting under load. I believe it to be the clutch-pack. If the clutch is damaged and maybe the Mechatronic, then the gearbox is effectively dead. I have had the garage send a report to the seller with the possible scenarios. So now time will show. I will contact a lawyer as well as suggesting to get the gearbox thoroughly checked and tested. An overhauled gearbox is pricey, but trying to fix the old one isn’t cheap either. Not my happiest car-purchase...

An overhauled gearbox will be around £4000 plus labor.

Edited 31 May, 20197 yr by TrondOstli

Just a little update. The car is still running, with the same gearbox! No glitches, no problems. Sometimes you just get lucky.

23 hours ago, TrondOstli said:

Just a little update. The car is still running, with the same gearbox! No glitches, no problems. Sometimes you just get lucky.

Good to hear,  maybe worth getting another preventative oil change done just in case ? 

 

Normally when I think or say things like that, the next day/week/month the very thing I was referring to bites me in the arse  !!!