DQ200 DSG7 mechatronic tear down, repair and changes in body

[Plantman]

A really fascinating video from this chap.  Interesting to see the changes in the body/housing showing where the weakness is next to the pressure accumulator which is a common area for leaks on the mechatronic unit.

 

 

Pretty cool to see the pressure pump and all the solenoids that make this thing work to change the gears! 

Edited 3 December, 2019 by Plantman

[benterrier]

The guy makes it clear saying it's the worst DSG that he has come across.

[Breezy_Pete]

Thanks, that was a fun lunchtime watch!

[Guest]

2 hours ago, benterrier said:

The guy makes it clear saying it's the worst DSG that he has come across.

 

Yeh but as ever there's little information which just adds to all the confusion. They certainly had issues with DQ200 but is this one of those early gearboxes? Is this the one where VAG had changed the oil? Does this relate to the latest DQ200?

 

So much detailed information given but nothing that really matters to us non technical punters who're just looking to buy a car. As far as I can gather, the DQ200 is as reliable as any other gearbox when mated to a 1.0tsi engine so why all the scaremongering?

[Rooted]

Hopefully the DQ200's fitted to 1.0TSI's pre and post GPF are reliable.

But then you never know about something at 3 years and out of warranty until 3 years has passed.

Skoda / VW are not going to reveal how things are going in the past 3 years.

They do produce a lot everyday, like over 2,200 for the 4 brands.

 

There have been DQ200 DSG issues since 2015 & right up until now, and there are Clutch Packs Upgrades & Software updates which are covered in the TPI's.

Not so sure that the 7 speed Dry Clutch DSG is as reliable as a 5 speed or 6 speed manual, but they are not 100% reliable either.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/439395-the-story-of-the-famous-dq200-clutch-slip/page/13

 

[alesypalsy]

Hi Guys I have a unit that you can do in matter of around 2 hours that permenatly repairs this fault that will happen in EVERY DQ200 Mechatronics gearbox!!

 

If you have the error code P189C and or P17BF ,, as the same codes in your video ,, you will lose drive , some times the car will still drive in certain gears, there will also sometimes be a spanner flashing in the gear selected on dashboard display,  well I have now fixed numerous cars,   I have the repair kits available here in the UK and sell then for £230 or to members here £200 , It is possible to repair your car while the mechatronics is still attached to your car so is very easy to do, 

although some people are scared or dubious of this I offer to do the complete job for £500 dependant on where about in the uk you are !   I have full fitting instructions 

Please see my pictures, 

[alesypalsy]

4 hours ago, Scot5 said:

 

Yeh but as ever there's little information which just adds to all the confusion. They certainly had issues with DQ200 but is this one of those early gearboxes? Is this the one where VAG had changed the oil? Does this relate to the latest DQ200?

 

So much detailed information given but nothing that really matters to us non technical punters who're just looking to buy a car. As far as I can gather, the DQ200 is as reliable as any other gearbox when mated to a 1.0tsi engine so why all the scaremongering?

These gearboxes are certainly faulty up to 2015!  I can say that as I have just repaired a mk7 golf DSG with this gearbox,   As far as main stealers go, when people tae the car back to them with faulty mechatronics unit they will not even consider to repair it, they will only say that is needs a complete new mechatronics!  VW wanted to charge a guy £2800 for this and luckily he found me!   I repaired his car for £500 and the part I use is a permanent repair better then it ever was ,, and the beauty is that even though the housing was cracked , this part has its own housing that fits straight inside the existing mechatronics, 

 

The newer the cars the less quality in parts I am finding these days,,  nothing seems to last like it used to 

[Guest]

And what about after 2015?

 

Nothing seems to last like it used to? newer cars have less quality parts? Err, in my experience, cars are more reliable than they've ever been. Or put it another way, exactly when was this golden age when cars lasted longer? I've been buying cars for the past 40 years, I've yet to come across it. I remember if your car lasted more than 2yr without signs of rust you thought yourself lucky.  

 

You even contradict yourself. You're saying the boxes are faulty up to 2015, so applying your logic, the DQ200's after 2015 must be even worse because they're of lesser quality. Is that really the case? Everyone is smart enough to make up their own mind but personally I think you sound like Arthur Daley.

 

Sorry if this sounds like a rant, but from Mr Joe Public's point of view, I get really annoyed at this generalisation where all these so called experts are unable to provide any information. They're all faulty, it WILL fail during it's lifetime - that's all Joe Public needs to know. Well I say crap to that. No wonder folk are so confused.

 

It's the older gearboxes that had issues, even the manufacturer admits to that. They changed the type of oil in them. Question is are those DQ200's with the different oil more or less reliable than the older boxes? Are DQ200's in 1.0tsi more or less reliable than in 1.5tsi? And is that more or less reliable than in the 1.6tdi?  Nobody seems to be able to answer that because nobody appears to be interested. When these things fail does anyone know why they fail? Give me £500 and I'll provide a permanent repair?   Question - why should the repair be permanent? question - what's the difference in that unit to that of the manufacturers? question - who manufacturers this new £500 solution? Question - and where's the evidence it's permanent? Question - if it's so good and cheap then why isn't VAG using it?

 

I just get a tad annoyed when folk seemingly swallow everything their told without question.

 

 

 

 

[Rooted]

Skoda are producing DQ200's for more than 28 applications.  They were for use with 75, 86, 95, 105,110, 115, 122,130, 148,150,160, 180 & 192 ps engines.

(1.8 TSI Polo GTI 192ps /250Nm. manual is 320Nm)

 

Not all MCU's do go faulty, obviously there are by the now 10 year old cars with a DQ200 DSG fault free,

There is the 2009-2012/13,  then 2013-2015, then 2015-2018 issues, and even the 2019 issues with some fitted to 1.5TSI EVO's.

  Vorsprung Durch Technik , No way Jose!

Edited 5 December, 2019 by Roottootemoot

[alesypalsy]

4 hours ago, Scot5 said:

And what about after 2015?

 

Nothing seems to last like it used to? newer cars have less quality parts? Err, in my experience, cars are more reliable than they've ever been. Or put it another way, exactly when was this golden age when cars lasted longer? I've been buying cars for the past 40 years, I've yet to come across it. I remember if your car lasted more than 2yr without signs of rust you thought yourself lucky.  

 

You even contradict yourself. You're saying the boxes are faulty up to 2015, so applying your logic, the DQ200's after 2015 must be even worse because they're of lesser quality. Is that really the case? Everyone is smart enough to make up their own mind but personally I think you sound like Arthur Daley.

 

Sorry if this sounds like a rant, but from Mr Joe Public's point of view, I get really annoyed at this generalisation where all these so called experts are unable to provide any information. They're all faulty, it WILL fail during it's lifetime - that's all Joe Public needs to know. Well I say crap to that. No wonder folk are so confused.

 

It's the older gearboxes that had issues, even the manufacturer admits to that. They changed the type of oil in them. Question is are those DQ200's with the different oil more or less reliable than the older boxes? Are DQ200's in 1.0tsi more or less reliable than in 1.5tsi? And is that more or less reliable than in the 1.6tdi?  Nobody seems to be able to answer that because nobody appears to be interested. When these things fail does anyone know why they fail? Give me £500 and I'll provide a permanent repair?   Question - why should the repair be permanent? question - what's the difference in that unit to that of the manufacturers? question - who manufacturers this new £500 solution? Question - and where's the evidence it's permanent? Question - if it's so good and cheap then why isn't VAG using it?

 

I just get a tad annoyed when folk seemingly swallow everything their told without question.

 

 

 

 

Errrr what does one say to this lot?

 

I am afraid you seem a little jaded to me, I am Joe public , and was fed up with sub standard palm offs from main dealers in the UK, and if you actually knew anything about these Mechatronic units then I am sure your reply would not have been worded as it is,   The USA have 10 year warranty on this totally unreliable gearbox, I drive a MK7 2014 DSG golf!   you know something ? it is one I have repaired!   it was 4 years old when I got it and only 48,000 miles on the clock 

I get fed up with cars supposed to be so reliable as you say yet cost thousands of pounds if you take into a main dealer to be told warranty doesn't cover it, or they never heard of that problem before yet in other countries they have recalls on the exact problem, 

As far as me sounding like Arthur Daley ? wow , I am here to help any "Joe public" that searches for why his 5 year old octy dsg wont go into gear and the dealer wants £2800 for a repair off him.

And yes the amount of the faulty Mechatronic units I have seen , and the amount of repairs carried out on a daily basis I feel I am in a position to comment that I feel it totally true that each and every unit will fail in time,   As for why VAG fitted a sub standard part made of alloy that cracks the fails , well would they really own up to it and the spend god knows how much to have the part re made  

 

And this part directly to you mr Scot5, dont come along here and become rude , I have hands on experience in this department do you?

 

I wont be replying to any rude abusive replys

 

[alesypalsy]

I am saying with what I have come across that I know for certain the cars certainly have problems up to 2015 ,and may have newer then this, but they should still be covered by warranty , so I have not had anyone wanting the repair kit for the newer models. 

 

So I am not saying the boxes are faulty up to 2015, I am saying I have not come across any as yet due to the cars still being under warranty so they would have gone back to he dealer

[Rooted]

@alesypalsy

Was your DQ200 DSG in your 2014 Golf one that was part of the Service Campaign '34H5' that started in 2017 and was a software update, and was this done?

 

This was covering vehicles from 2013-2015, and many vehicles that should have had this preventative recall action carried out have not and are out of manufacturers warranty.

There was a kind of usual Skoda Secret Service Campaign where cars not getting Dealership Services might well not have been done, 

but then there are Skoda Approved, VW Approved, SEAT Approved & Audi Approved used cars bought since 2017 that never had '34H5' carried out in 2017 or since.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/473213-another-dsg-recall-today-sorry-if-already-posted

 

Edited 5 December, 2019 by Roottootemoot

[alesypalsy]

Roottootemoot , My local VW main dealer told me there was no recall or service campaign 34H5 on my model although I showed then print out of forum posts  , in fact they told me they never heard of it, 

Completely incompetent main dealer, I had them change the DSG gear box oil after I had carried out the repair to the mechatronic unit myself , they had also told me that the gearbox oil was for the life of the car ,, 

 

This is exactly the kind of behaviour I am emphasising , Skoda have the service campaign more like recall 34H5 yet VW said they never heard of it ,  I am not completely sure but is this recall more do to with the clutches? 

The repair I do to them is the hydraulic pump as the alloy housing cracks with hot and cold pressure and needs to be attended to. It stops the pressure and in turn the function cannot physically push the gear clutches to get the car into gear.

 

[Rooted]

No the Service Campaign had to do with heat and pressure and failures. 

There was no 'RECALL' in Europe. 

Not in 2012/13 & not in 2017.

Just this week a member found out that his 2013 Octavia required '34H5'.   Skoda Secret Service Campaigns.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/425424-2017-another-dq200-7-speed-dsg-service-campaign

 

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/473213-another-dsg-recall-today-sorry-if-already-posted

 

 

???

What changes do you thing have happened since 2015, because since then there is the Clutch Slip issue, and software updates for that.

And Clutch Plate replacement and software updates.

Then with the 1.5TSI EVO and DQ200's the Loss of Drive issues, and again software...

Edited 5 December, 2019 by Roottootemoot

[alesypalsy]

Good links Roottemoot!

 

I have no idea what the current situation is with the VAG group, but I certainly know they will not put their hands up to failures unless they get told to by higher powers which does not seem to happen in the UK unlike other countrys.

 

Peace

[Breezy_Pete]

That Kinergo repair kit looks like a much cheaper and easier fix than that shown in the OP's video. 

I wonder when the housing with the reinforcing ribs (shown in the OP's vid) started getting fitted in the factory?

 

[themanwithnoaim]

With the greatest of respect to all, I ragged the absolute F... outta my DQ200 at every opportunity for 36k miles, I tuned it to, in excess of 200bhp & 320Nm & still I couldn't break it.

 

I mean FFS they changed the oil in some hot countries & a few failed but, mainly on the twin chargers, some people are blowing a bit of bad luck outta all proportion.

Edited 5 December, 2019 by themanwithnoaim

[Rooted]

Some people blow smoke out their exhaust and their backside.

They ended up calling a Service Campaign to change the oil in Europe and tropical / humid / scorchio UK.

 

The failures were and are not mostly in 1.4 TSI / TFSI Twinchargers.  There are a small percentage of 1.4 TSI Twinchargers globally in the 4 brands cars / vans with a 7 speed twin dry clutch DSG..

Plenty Twinchargers remapped to over 200ps & 300+ Nm have had no issues with the Dq200 DSG.

The DQ200 DSG's are not all running the same Software for different engines power outputs.

 

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/444027-201718-dq200-dsg-34f7-service-campaign-any-further-issues

 

There are many failures in 1.6TDI's fitted with a DQ200 DSG.  Members here UK based with failures of the DSG in those, and Yeti, Octavia, Roomster, Fabia with 1.2 TSI's, and then the same in VW, SEAT and Audi.  Failures of the DSG in Models that do not come with Twincharger engines, do not come with more than 150ps.

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

 

Edited 6 December, 2019 by Roottootemoot

[clutchtime]

On 06/12/2019 at 02:22, themanwithnoaim said:

With the greatest of respect to all, I ragged the absolute F... outta my DQ200 at every opportunity for 36k miles, I tuned it to, in excess of 200bhp & 320Nm & still I couldn't break it.

 

I mean FFS they changed the oil in some hot countries & a few failed but, mainly on the twin chargers, some people are blowing a bit of bad luck outta all proportion.

I re-iterate what you said, people get jitters when they hear DQ200, but they seem to have fixed the problem, the IS20 on my 1.8TSI with 300hp/420nm has done around 10k kms and still works just as intended. Done about 20-22 launches with the car so far, nothing wrong with any part of the car. But I must point out, the stock software does run the engine a LOT hotter, the oil on average is about 10-15C hotter in normal traffic compared to a simple simple tune to 230bhp/350Nm with no physical mods.

In my experience, the reason I have noticed for such failures might purely be down to stock software and autos co.'s wanting better FE. At stock, The car regularly lugs the engine (60kph in 7th gear, WOW!) , the GB switches to 2nd gear and slips it in moving traffic instead of holding 1st for a little longer thereby increasing the load on the engine (increasing oil temps in the process) and causes more wear, heat, etc. to the clutch, GB, engine bay, etc. which might cause excessive heat in the MTU.

 

Again this from my personal experience, I have run the following and based my observations on the same:

1. Stock ECU and stock TCU tune.

2. Stock ECU and Superchips TCU tune (not sure if it was Superchips or TVS)

3. Superships 1.8T tune to 230bhp/350Nm with TCU tune (as above)

4. IS20 upgrade with ECU tune to 300bhp/420Nm with TCU tune for the higher output. I had to restrict TQ for GB longevity.

 

The car is a 2018 model and runs like new. My personal recommendation to owners would be to run a TCU tune with or without an ECU tune, it seems to solve all GB related problems that come with this GB (think clutch wear, MU, etc.). 

 

With that said, i must admit that the most key factors that affect a car is driving style and efflux of time. 

 

Just thought I should put this out there for owners scared of the DQ200. Cheers!

Edited 7 December, 2019 by clutchtime
forgot tune

[Rooted]

A 2018 model should run like new, or at least nearly new.

It should do as well come 2023 & on to 2025..

 

What a shame that the VW Group can not feel confident to put a 7 year warranty on a DSG that has no Manufacturers Guidelines or Schedule for maintenance.

[J.R.]

On 05/12/2019 at 04:17, Scot5 said:

Everyone is smart enough to make up their own mind but personally I think you sound like Arthur Daley.

 

Sorry if this sounds like a rant, but from Mr Joe Public's point of view, I get really annoyed at this generalisation where all these so called experts are unable to provide any information.

 

 Give me £500 and I'll provide a permanent repair?   Question - why should the repair be permanent? question - what's the difference in that unit to that of the manufacturers? question - who manufacturers this new £500 solution? Question - and where's the evidence it's permanent? Question - if it's so good and cheap then why isn't VAG using it?

 

I just get a tad annoyed when folk seemingly swallow everything their told without question.

 

 

 

 

Well not wanting to swallow everything that people tell me I watched the OP's video to see what the fault was then looked at the very informative photos (each picture worth a thousand words) to see what the difference was (its right in front of your blinkered eyes) and why it would be a permanent repair.

 

Alesypalsy has invested significant time in designing and producing a good engineering solution, he probably subs out the manufacture, why should anyone care if he makes them or has them made by a specialist?

 

With an inherent weakness like that in the casting I think its reasonable to say that it will affect all vehicles fitted with that part at some time unless they are never driven, the numbers of failures may be low at present, they may remain low but if you were the victim of one you would be applauding Alesypalsy for saving you from spending thousands with VAG and not criticising him.

 

I agree with Wino and want to publicly thank Alesypalsy and all others like him that create well engineered affordable solutions to the design failures of modern vehicles.

[esoxecosse]

I've just bought a my20 Octavia VRS Tdi with a 7 speed DSG box, which gearbox is in it as I can't find much info online and my dealer isn't much use either, Is it dry or wet clutch and which model..?

 

Cheers

Edited 7 December, 2019 by esoxecosse

[alesypalsy]

32 minutes ago, esoxecosse said:

I've just bought a my20 Octavia VRS Tdi with a 7 speed DSG box, which gearbox is in it as I can't find much info online and my dealer isn't much use either, Is it dry or wet clutch and which model..?

 

Cheers

HI, I would take a guess that it is the DQ200 , and defiantly the dry clutch   

Your dealer will know for sure , give them a call and tell them you need to know !  

[esoxecosse]

Thanks for the reply

[alesypalsy]

5 hours ago, J.R. said:

Well not wanting to swallow everything that people tell me I watched the OP's video to see what the fault was then looked at the very informative photos (each picture worth a thousand words) to see what the difference was (its right in front of your blinkered eyes) and why it would be a permanent repair.

 

Alesypalsy has invested significant time in designing and producing a good engineering solution, he probably subs out the manufacture, why should anyone care if he makes them or has them made by a specialist?

 

With an inherent weakness like that in the casting I think its reasonable to say that it will affect all vehicles fitted with that part at some time unless they are never driven, the numbers of failures may be low at present, they may remain low but if you were the victim of one you would be applauding Alesypalsy for saving you from spending thousands with VAG and not criticising him.

 

I agree with Wino and want to publicly thank Alesypalsy and all others like him that create well engineered affordable solutions to the design failures of modern vehicles.

Thank you for the kind words!  very pleasant of you , 

I will let you know that the design is not mine though , I came across this repair kit after purchasing a mk6 golf and 30 mins down the road finding out it had the common fault!

So after being unable and unwilling to afford to be able to comprehend paying ££££'s for a repair I searched out high and low and found these kits that are actually made in Russia , and these fellows certainly know how to deal with these cars that for sure, 

I have done the repair on quite a few cars since! and I also have sold quite a few units to people who have been most satisfied and very very happy with the instructions I gave them to fit themselves, I can supply a link to my ebay sale if allowed?

 

So I really am only trying to help people out here in being able to offer a cheap fix,  I wish I had come across a thread like this when I had the problem ,  and I have since found that it is a massively common problem affecting a lot more cars then you would believe which leads me to honestly believe it will affect ever one of these gearboxes. I have had a lot of these cars now and already know to expect the fix to have either been done or will need to be done in the future.

I appreciate your kind words and own opinion , its nice to have a glass half full rather then half empty!