DSG oil change required?

[Davey1234]

I booked in my 63 plate Octavia (50,000 miles) for a service and asked for a DSG oil and filter but when I got there they said my DSG was zero maintenance.

 

Is this correct? 

 

Plenty of independent garages are offering it.

 

Advice would be very welcome!

 

Thanks

[robs12]

I asked my dealer the same last week (15 plate) and they said the same - not needed.

 

Some say it should be done anyway.

[Stuart-h]

It's 40,000 miles. That's for the 6 speed. Not sure on the 7 speed box.

[mbames]

40k interval for the 6sp wet box.  Not sure what you have fitted in the 1.4petrol.

[Davey1234]

It's 7 speed, not sure what type, sorry.

[Davey1234]

I don't get it.

 

I thought all automatic transitions needed regular oil changes?  Why not DSG?

 

If the garage won't take our money, what's the catch?  Is there risk of damage if they are opened up?

[Davey1234]

I might have answered my own question with this link:

 

https://axleaddict.com/auto-repair/Common-Faults-in-the-7-Speed-DSG-Automatic-Transmission

 

I now have an understanding of the reason why there's no oil.

 

(Don't look at the Comments below if you want to get to sleep tonight...)

[Kenny R]

There are dry clutch and wet clutch DSG gearboxes. The wet clutch requires an oil change at 40k. I suspect yours is the dry clutch version.

[stubev156]

How do you know which version of DSG gearbox you have, year of manufacture? 

[Woland]

Looks like you have a DSG-7 dry clutch (dq200). Indeed VW declares the DSG7 "maintenance free" and the dealers do not service them. However it is never bad to have an oil change for gearings ! Try to find an automatic transmission shop, they will know how to do it

[MarkyG82]

9 hours ago, stubev156 said:

How do you know which version of DSG gearbox you have, year of manufacture? 

 

Age of the vehicle is not a major factor in dsg type.

DQ200 fitted to your car has 7speeds, a lower torque limit and a dry clutch system.  It is generally fitted to smaller engines (petrol and diesel).

DQ250 has 6 speeds, higher torque limit and a wet clutch system.  Usually fitted to 2.0 engines and above (again both petrol and diesel)

Then there is DQ380/500 among other that I think all have wet clutches and more speeds and/or higher torque ratings.

Edited 25 June, 2019 by MarkyG82

[Lingnoi]

Wet clutches contaminate and wear out gearbox oil hence the need to change it at regular intervals (motorcycles generally have wet clutches and being bathed in the same oil as the engine it's regularly changed). The 7-speed dry clutch gearbox has the same kind of requirements for oil changes as normal dry clutch manual gearboxes i.e. 100K miles if that. Gearbox oil is so good these days (the chemistry of them) that they maintain their properties for a very long time. My previous vehicle was a BMW and the manufacturer said the gearbox oil was for life, no change schedule at all. I had it changed at 120K and quite honestly it made zero difference and the mechanic who did it said the oil that came out was fine, clean and clear and no metal fillings on the magnetic catcher inside.

[Davey1234]

22 hours ago, Lingnoi said:

Wet clutches contaminate and wear out gearbox oil hence the need to change it at regular intervals (motorcycles generally have wet clutches and being bathed in the same oil as the engine it's regularly changed). The 7-speed dry clutch gearbox has the same kind of requirements for oil changes as normal dry clutch manual gearboxes i.e. 100K miles if that. Gearbox oil is so good these days (the chemistry of them) that they maintain their properties for a very long time. My previous vehicle was a BMW and the manufacturer said the gearbox oil was for life, no change schedule at all. I had it changed at 120K and quite honestly it made zero difference and the mechanic who did it said the oil that came out was fine, clean and clear and no metal fillings on the magnetic catcher inside.

 

That's very reassuring. I really appreciate your advice, thank you.

[krigl]

Just do the oil change, It will not hurt.

 

A lifetime fill on my manual Polo wrecked the diff bearings at 160kkm and a 500 EUR bill for VW lifetime gearbox oil fill to repair the damn gearbox...

If I did a oil change every 100kkm everything would last much longer.

 

BR

[stubev156]

On 25/06/2019 at 08:04, MarkyG82 said:

 

Age of the vehicle is not a major factor in dsg type.

DQ200 fitted to your car has 7speeds, a lower torque limit and a dry clutch system.  It is generally fitted to smaller engines (petrol and diesel).

DQ250 has 6 speeds, higher torque limit and a wet clutch system.  Usually fitted to 2.0 engines and above (again both petrol and diesel)

Then there is DQ380/500 among other that I think all have wet clutches and more speeds and/or higher torque ratings.

Thanks for the advice.  So are you saying that with a VRS 220 I am more likely to have a 6 speed wet clutch? Thanks

[MarkyG82]

2 hours ago, stubev156 said:

Thanks for the advice.  So are you saying that with a VRS 220 I am more likely to have a 6 speed wet clutch? Thanks

 

Maybe.  Some high power VAG cars have the 380/500 boxes so I'm not sure what versions are in the vrs.  Doubt its the 500.  Probably either 250 or 380 both with wet clutch.

 

Come to think of it, the 380 may be 4x4 specific and the 500 for the huge engines in audis and VWs.

[Gaz]

The DSG in the 220PS TSI Octavia 3 vRS is indeed the DQ250 six speed wet clutch unit.

 

Gaz

[stubev156]

Thank you.🙂

[SurreyJohn]

As a general rule the wet clutch boxes are fitted to 2 litre petrols upwards, the dry clutch upto 1.8 litre

 

The diesels have more torque, so any engine over 250 Nm is wet clutch 

from memory base 1.6 and smaller are dry clutch

 

Used to be smaller DQ250 had 7 gears, bigger ones 6 gears, but I think all now have 7 gears to help lower emissions 

[logiclee]

1 hour ago, SurreyJohn said:

 

 

Used to be smaller DQ250 had 7 gears, bigger ones 6 gears, but I think all now have 7 gears to help lower emissions 

 

Not correct, for transverse engined platforms we have.

 

The DQ200 is a 7 speed dry clutch (All Octavia's below 2.0)

The DQ250 is a 6 speed wet clutch and is now being phased out across VAG. (Most Octavia's 2.0)

 

More recently we have.

DQ380/381 which is a 7 speed wet clutch. (Later vRS and the 2019 WLTP 2.0TSi and 2.0TDi)

DQ500 is a 7 speed wet clutch with higher torque rating.

 

There is also a DQ511 patented with 10 speeds but it suited future diesel tech and as now VAG will focus on PHEV and EV the 10 speed development has been canned.

 

Audi have two longitudinal Dual Clutch Boxes DL382 and DL501.  But we are seeing Audi slowly introduce the ZF8HP conventional transmission in a number of vehicles as some engines now exceed the 600NM torque limit of the DL501.  The ZF8HP can be used with engines upto 1000NM

 

For vehicles on VAG's MSB platform (Panemera, Bentley etc) an 8 speed Dual Clutch is available with a reported torque handling of 1000NM but it wont fit Audi's MLB platform cars.

 

Then of course VAG have the dual clutch in the Bugatti Veyron/Chiron.

 

Intersting times for dual clutch boxes though as many manufacturers have canned development. Partly due to conventional off the shelf auto's getting very close to DSG efficency, many markets prefer conventional  autos and  EV wont need them.

 

Edited 26 June, 2019 by logiclee