Hi Everyone.

 

I am new to this forum but I was hoping that I could get some help with regards to this issue I am having with my Skoda Citigo. It is a 2014 (63) ASG semi auto petrol - roughly done 100k mileage.

I have owned the car for just over a month. However, in the recent 2 weeks or so - the automatic transmission overheat sign has been coming on.

 

First occurrence: I was driving up a very steep hill, and after getting off that hill the sign came on. Once then sign (+acoustic sound) comes on, I am unable to accelerate any further and the car slows down (or I have to brake), and I put my hazard lights on. Then I have to put the car into neutral and re-start ignite/start the car a few times (maybe after 10 seconds of trying) before the engine starts.

 

In the remaining ~9 occurrences, they have been related to my (~35mi) motorway commutes. The warning sign suddenly comes on as I am getting off the motorway and I have to do the same thing as above (come to a stop, put hazard lights on, re-ignite the car a few times, off I go). This normally happens at the exact same location (getting off the M3 towards Twickenham)

 

However, in the last ~2 occasions, the car failed to turn back on. I kept trying to switch it back on and waited a few times, but it failed to stop. I had to get it towed to my work place. During my break time, I hoped the car would work and it did turn on, so I decided that it would be safe to drive home. Little did I know, the car then stopped on the dual carriageway with the same issue - and it would not turn on. I ended up having to get towed to my home (Reading).

 

My dad charged up the battery, and the mechanic came over to take a look and there were no outstanding faults in the diagnostics. I decided to take it to work one last time; it survived the commute there, but on the way back the same exact problem happened. The police had to push me to the side. However, this time, I popped open the bonnet for around 7 minutes and the car ended up switching on.

 

I would greatly appreciate ANY advice on this matter; I am confused with regards to if there is even a problem in the first place or if it is just the consequence of taking a 1.0L for motorway commutes. The seller told me that semi-auto gearbox repairs would be cheap due to its infrastructure, but after researching it seems quite the opposite.

 

I have attached a video of what normally happens.

 

Thank you all in advance!

Welcome.

Best you go talk with an Automatic Gearbox specialist and find out if they have dealt with ASG's before.

Or if it is a VW Specialist or Tech you talk to they will need to have worked on them and not farmed the work out to a specialist. 

Weird one - the auto is basically just a standard gearbox with a solenoid actuated changer and clutch.

Intrigued by "charging up the battery"... How old is the battery? It may start the car but these autos are quite fussy about having good batteries (at least the computer controller is fussy). There's a chance your battery is dying.

 

Thank you both for your answers.

 

I've tried ringing around and most garages seem to be intimidated with dealing with the semi-automatic gearbox. Specialist gearbox garages are quite far from me so not ideal, unfortunately!

 

And with regards to 'charging up the battery', I was also quite intrigued as to what this entailed. My dad simply told me he hooked it up with the cables to his Mercedes E class for about 15 mins, and job done. I never knew that (semi-)automatic gearboxes are influenced by the battery. Is there any way to check if my battery is dying? I haven't driven it since, and it's just on the driveway now.

 

Very weirdly, the other car I purchased (a Vauxhall Corsa 1.4 petrol 2016) to replace this one has also started showing an engine overheat message on my way back home from work today. I'm just so confused. 

 

Is a 35 mile journey really that difficult for a 1.0/1.4 litre car - I'm only on the M4 for about 10 mins, and then a few A roads here and there, and then the M3 for about 20 minutes. 

 

Is it anything to do with the revs? In both cars the rev counter is around a 3200 mark when in 5th gear (maximum) doing 70mph.

 

I'm just so baffled and feel very out of pocket.

Try on a VW UP forum for more info:-

https://www.google.com/search?q=vw+up+asg+overheating&rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB917GB917&oq=vw+up+asg+overheating&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i546l5.9212j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

27 minutes ago, T_Ahmed said:

cables to his Mercedes E class for about 15 mins

This won't have charged your battery enough.

 

 

28 minutes ago, T_Ahmed said:

Is a 35 mile journey really that difficult for a 1.0

No. My Citigo recently went on a 500 mile round trip including stints on a motorway with no problem.

 

Thanks, AG Falco

Okay thank you - I will definitely check out that link and see if they can help out at all.

Please up date us when fixed / solved.

 

Thanks, AG Falco

"hooked it up with the cables to his Mercedes E class for about 15 mins"

 

As commented above...  That may be OK, if for some reason you had flattened the battery and you needed to get it jump started. But really, there is a point at which your battery voltage can get so low that it is irreparably damaged. Or just age. - it may longer hold charge well.

 

It has been discovered by some users with the ASG that the computer which controls the mechanism gets flaky if the battery is not in good nick, like many CPU-based things can go 'odd'. The solenoids, which are inductive, put a huge sudden load on the battery which can drop the voltage further, and even for an instant, that can be enough to upset the CPU - and I suspect the ASG controller has not been engineered to have a robust DC-DC converter and power reservoir, which should have guaranteed the internals get enough volts, even if your battery is lower than normal...

 

That is all speculation though, and it may be that none of the above is relevant and the clutch is truly overheating, which means it is slipping. You may even smell it! Likely reasons are:

1) The clutch friction plates are worn out (need new clutch)

2) The clutch finger springs are failing (need new clutch - and weak finger springs are a known fault on pre-facelift Citigo/Up! cars)

3) The actuation solenoid for the clutch is faulty and is preventing the clutch from engaging firmly.

4) The actuation mechanism is out of calibration and needs checking

[3 & 4 may have damaged the clutch and it may need replacing]

As for general engine overheating, that most often comes down to one of:

1) Lack of cooling water in the radiator (a leak)

2) Thermostat gone faulty (there are two on the Citigo/Up!)

3) Electric radiator fan not coming on (fuse, or failed relay or fan motor)

 

While some people love their ASGs and have had no trouble, problems do seem to come up a lot with that 'box (pro-rata), and because it is a rare unit, getting help is hard to find and expensive. If you can change the car at some point, I would go for a manual - if you can get the face-lift version, that is. If you have to have an auto, get a different car with a proper torque converter-type or CVT-type auto box - they are almost certainly more reliable than the bodge that is the ASG, and far smoother to drive.

 

Edited 4 October, 20223 yr by freemansteve

@T_Ahmed

Did you ask at the Skoda or VW / SEAT dealers who does their Auto Box repairs.  Automated Manuals if they do not touch them.

 

 

 

Hi, just wondering if you ever found a solution for this? I also have a Skoda Citigo 2014 and have the same issue, sometimes the light comes on and it can still be driven and other times the car won’t start at all, have had to either get it towed or just leave it sometimes for a day, other times for upto 3 days, and it always seems to be after it rains very heavy. Mechanics can never seem to find anything wrong, the last mechanic a few weeks ago did find a hole somewhere that was filled with water, so they fixed that up but it has conked out drive since! 

2 minutes ago, Natasha84 said:

Hi, just wondering if you ever found a solution for this? I also have a Skoda Citigo 2014 and have the same issue, sometimes the light comes on and it can still be driven and other times the car won’t start at all, have had to either get it towed or just leave it sometimes for a day, other times for upto 3 days, and it always seems to be after it rains very heavy. Mechanics can never seem to find anything wrong, the last mechanic a few weeks ago did find a hole somewhere that was filled with water, so they fixed that up but it has conked out drive since! 

 

Hi Natasha, thank you for your message (and to everyone else who I hadn't seen until just now). Here is the update:

 

- We had taken it to a few local mechanics who generally refused to come anywhere near the gearbox. However, one of our mechanics (after a while of trial-and-error with what could be the problem), 'resetted' the electrics or something like that. I haven't looked at the invoice because my dad was the one who got it repaired, whilst I focused on my other new car purchase to take to work.

 

The repairs cost a total of £350. Since then (last week), I have been taking my car to work as normal! I used to have some level of trauma with it, fearing it would break down any second....but thankfully - it hasn't! I'm almost 'sold' again in keeping the car - but alas, I have put it up for sale because the 1.0L is just not really fun anymore.

 

One thing I noticed is that - the LAST time it broke down, I popped the bonnet open to diagnose what could be the problem - and in doing that (perhaps), the permanent sign (when it breaks down) disappeared and the car re-started as it did in the initial temporary break down. So I thought it could be due to the very cold night that day, which cooled the engine down whilst the bonnet was open for about 10 minutes. Hopefully that could come in clutch (pun not intended) in the future if it does happen again. But thank you to everyone else who replied with their advice and technical help and whatnot. It was indeed a VERY stressful thing - especially with Skoda charging over £130 for just a diagnostic, alongside a potential major fix.

 

@Natasha84 if you are local to Reading, do let me know and our mechanic would take it look at it for free - it may be the exact same problem! But meawhile, I'll see if I can somehow retrieve the invoice for it or find out actually what the mechanic did to it. But my dad told me he spent a good ~5 hours fixing it and charged a discounted fee of around £350 including labour.

 

I hope that was of any help.

 

Cheers everyone.

Thanks for the reply! Unfortunately I am not local to Reading, I am in Northern Ireland. Will have to get in touch with another mechanic and see if I can get it sorted. 
 

Thanks again and hopefully you have no more issues!

 

Natasha