Hi all, I've got a FWD 2019 MK3.5 Skoda Octavia 1.8 TSI with the infamous DSG7 DQ200 gearbox.

My gearbox is giving me the usual problems like clutch slip, massive juddering so I thought might as well change the gearbox and finally push higher power through with the help of a bigger IS38 turbo, Wavetrac diff etc. The only limitation on my car is the DSG7 DQ200 gearbox as it won’t withstand the torque and will fail prematurely.

I was able to source a 6 speed wet clutch DQ250 gearbox off of a 2017 Octavia vRS 230 locally. But I need helping in finding other supporting parts needed for this gearbox swap. I have sourced a few parts but need help with a few others. I can't find much useful information online.

As far as I know, I would be looking at:

 

DSG6 DQ250 gearbox of course (already sourced)
A new flywheel (already sourced)
New transmission mount (already sourced)

New transmission bracket (already sourced)

 

Drive shaft (sourced the left side drive shaft but not sure if I also need to change the right side drive shaft?)
Oil cooler (if I install a Racingline DQ250 DSG oil cooler instead of the OEM, would that work?)

DSG coolant pipe (can't find the exact part #)

Starter motor (This is the most confusing bit. My car doesn't have auto start stop feature and I have seen that starter motors are of two types, either with auto start stop or without. The DQ250 vRS 230 from which I got the box has auto start stop. Hence I am having problems on finalising the correct starter motor my car needs.)

Other small parts like shifter cable, connector, wiring etc. will be sourced by my installer. 
 

Would love it if guys share your insights about this swap.

Edited 29 May, 20242 yr by skodafan666

@thomasaspin is who can maybe help. 

Hi mate commend the gearbox swap effort , you need the starter motor for a dq250 you cannot use the one on the dq200 gearbox you also need the gearbox connector for the dq250 as the dq200 has a square connector and the dq250 has a circulator connector and 

1 hour ago, thomasaspin said:

Hi mate commend the gearbox swap effort , you need the starter motor for a dq250 you cannot use the one on the dq200 gearbox you also need the gearbox connector for the dq250 as the dq200 has a square connector and the dq250 has a circulator connector and 

Thanks for chiming in. I believe you were unable to complete the sentence after “circular connector and” due to some error?

Edited 5 June, 20242 yr by skodafan666

8 minutes ago, skodafan666 said:

Thanks for chiming in. I believe you were unable to complete the sentence after “circular connector and” due to some error?

“and I used a external oil cooler from rtmg performance when I did a dq250 swap on my fabia vrs so I didn’t have to cut into the cooling circuit I’m running a quaife diff over a wavetrac diff you need to get the dq250 taken apart and count the number of bolt holes on the park ring as there is two different types off diffs inside the dq250’s and this determines what diff you need to buy   “

hope this helps should be easier on an Octavia as the chassis is the same as most vw and Audi models which accept a dq250 so should be plug and play you’ll need to do some wiring in the connector front as stated above , make sure you buy a dq250 that doesn’t have an immobiliser built in or it just won’t start pre 2012 dq250’s are the best for this kind of stuff , also make sure you buy a diesel dq250 for a diesel engine and a petrol dq250 for a petrol engine as they also have different gear ratios and gear change points in the map etc 

6 hours ago, thomasaspin said:

and I used a external oil cooler from rtmg performance when I did a dq250 swap

So I can skip the oem cooler altogether and go with either rtmg or racingline, right? 
 

Thank you for all the information. Now I am ready to get this done. 

1 hour ago, skodafan666 said:

So I can skip the oem cooler altogether and go with either rtmg or racingline, right? 
 

Thank you for all the information. Now I am ready to get this done. 

Morning , yes you can but you need to top up the gearbox oil as it will need more to fill the oil cooler and pipe work inbetween the plate and oil cooling radiator 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006253121843.html?pdp_npi=4%40dis!GBP!80.69!59.71!!!722.36!534.55!%4021013dad17173414653557214d13f1!12000036480646551!affd!!!&dp=CjwKCAjwvIWzBhAlEiwAHHWgvWpMxklmfRxnYUHgw6aLlZA433olEAzok6433Ybj0sobYfS86jFOaRoCOHUQAvD_BwE&gad_source=1&aff_fcid=ce89c20ad311499886f1342bf3f81b75-1717673188641-07514&aff_fsk&aff_platform=api-new-product-query&sk&aff_trace_key=ce89c20ad311499886f1342bf3f81b75-1717673188641-07514&terminal_id=ea007a97c3bd46a2aab6e1f8298b6438&afSmartRedirect=y
 

 

just as good as the racing line one at a fraction of the cost of money is tight on the build 

3 hours ago, thomasaspin said:

just as good as the racing line one at a fraction of the cost of money is tight on the build 

Thanks. I’ll look into it. 
I will just skip the oem dsg cooler and go with an aftermarket one. Because I was planning to install an aftermarket cooler either way. 
And thanks for letting me know about the differential. I was about to order it today. I’ll look into the bolt holes inside the tranny. 
 

One last query I have is about the starter motor. There are too many variations of the starter motor and I can’t find the one my car will need. They vary between power rating and with or without start/stop feature. It’s confusing, don’t know what exact part # to look out for. 

I used a starter motor from a golf r , you could just use the start stop one , it will just be more robust than a normal starter motor as it will be rated to run more frequently it’s literally probably the same the ecu tells it when to crank etc it doesn’t have the capabilities to have an ecu inside it etc so I can’t see it being a problem, better to use what you already have than mess about with buying stuff you don’t need , it’s either the bolt holes or number of teeth on the park ring what determines what diff you need I can’t remember as I did the gearbox swap in 2021 , the oem open diff is riveted on the plate so to fit a aftermarket diff you need to drill out the rivets and use bolts instead 

9 hours ago, thomasaspin said:

I used a starter motor from a golf r , you could just use the start stop one , it will just be more robust than a normal starter motor as it will be rated to run more frequently it’s literally probably the same the ecu tells it when to crank etc it doesn’t have the capabilities to have an ecu inside it etc so I can’t see it being a problem, better to use what you already have than mess about with buying stuff you don’t need , it’s either the bolt holes or number of teeth on the park ring what determines what diff you need I can’t remember as I did the gearbox swap in 2021 , the oem open diff is riveted on the plate so to fit a aftermarket diff you need to drill out the rivets and use bolts instead 

Thanks mate. For bothering with all my questions. I’ll def go ahead and do this swap. Will report back to this thread when it’s done. 

6 hours ago, skodafan666 said:

Thanks mate. For bothering with all my questions. I’ll def go ahead and do this swap. Will report back to this thread when it’s done. 

Best of luck mate if you need any help you know where I am , I saw your question about driveshafts if worst comes to worst and you need some I got the shafts for my conversion off AUTODOC as it was miles cheaper than what vw/ Skoda wanted 

1 hour ago, thomasaspin said:

Best of luck mate if you need any help you know where I am , I saw your question about driveshafts if worst comes to worst and you need some I got the shafts for my conversion off AUTODOC as it was miles cheaper than what vw/ Skoda wanted 

I got the shaft sourced already. 
Now let’s see how this works out.

22 hours ago, skodafan666 said:

I got the shaft sourced already. 
Now let’s see how this works out.

Great news , I forgot to mention please stress to the company you decide to do the conversion to use new flywheel bolts as the old ones are a one time fit item , also on driveshafts make sure you use thread lock on the bolts I didn’t and they came undone when driving and caused some damage even when they were torqued to spec 

On 08/06/2024 at 05:36, thomasaspin said:

use new flywheel bolts as the old ones are a one time fit item , also on driveshafts make sure you use thread lock on the bolts

I'll make sure of that. Thank you for such intricate details.

Don't bother changing the dsg box get a vrs 230 with the front diff makes a big difference I am running stage 4 with all supporting mods 

1 hour ago, mtwrallye said:

Don't bother changing the dsg box get a vrs 230 with the front diff makes a big difference I am running stage 4 with all supporting mods 

For me, getting a vrs will be a more expensive proposition and not able to find any clean vrs's around here.