DSG Box - Intermittent "clunk"

[lenny007]

Morning all

I'm currently driving an A3 2.0Tdi S-Line with DSG on an 05 plate.

The car is suffering from an intermittent clunking going from 1st - 2nd and 2nd - 3rd. There's no pattern to it. For example, i might be trundling away from a junction and it'll happen, the next junction it might not. I might be "vigourously" accelerating and it might happen, next time, might not.

The best way to describe it is almost like a transmission "shunt" or as if there were an engine or gearbox mount damaged. It doesn't stop the car changing gear but you can feel the "clunk" through the seat.

Strangely it only happens when using it in manual mode, i.e. using the paddles or the gear lever itself.

It's been into the stealers for a week now and they can't find anything wrong with it. No loose mounts and no fault codes.

The mechanic sorting the problem has tried (in my opinion) to fob me off, stating that because the ECU is changing at the "optimum" time in D, it's always going to be smoother. My response to him was that if it was always changing with a clunk, i'd accept that, but it's not. Plus, Audi wouldn't release a box where the change is smooth only at a certain point in the rev range, but i don't seem to be getting anywhere with this line of questioning.

The car's warranty runs out at the end of March and i'm understandably concerned it might result in big bills if the box goes kabooey not long after.

Anyone else experienced this sort of problem and what were your solutions?

Cheers in advance.

[edo]

I think a few people have had intermittent issues with DSG. Keep pushing it - even in manual mode it should be crisp and smooth.

If they wont do anything, make sure you get documentation of the issues and their reponse, then if you get a failure out of warranty you can show that the issues (fault) started before the warranty ran out, and thus they are liable.

[lenny007]

Finally, a response!

Seriously, cheers. I'm picking the car up tonight and will ask them for a copy of the report they sent to Audi, or some other form of evidence proving the "fault" prior to the end of the warranty.

[Jools]

Also known as Doesn't Select Gears

[ScottyRay]

I have been racking my brains trying to solve same problem...More? Thanks!

[Mr Man]

I have an Audi A3 2L Tfsi DSG and I`v covered just over 40k miles from new in 3 1/2 yrs.....The cluncking problem you describe when changing gear in manual mode has been discussed before on this site....The majority of owners only experienced this problem then the gear-box oil was cold....My car will clunk from time to time when changing in manual mode from 1>2>3 but only when the engine and gearbox oil is cold..(ie from start up and first drive of the day)...and the clunk is more pronounced when the revs are low...The general concensus was to drive in auto mode until the engine had warmed up....and this is what I tend to do....Once nicely warmed up, the gear changes in manual mode are seemless and there`s never a hint of a clunk....I`v never found it to be a problem as I worked out pretty soon after buying the car that cold oil=clunk...(particularly very cold oil at start up...I`v even noticed it`s worse in the winter)....and in my case the clunk is`t that pronounced.Auto changes have always been seemless regardless of engine temperature.I hope this helps.

[audi_chick]

I had an '05 3.0 cab, once I reached 20k the auto box used to sometimes clunk from park to reverse - I was fobbed off with "it's inherent of auto box's in audi's love" even when it sometimes did it and sometimes didn't do it in front of the tech, he couldn't give me a reason why it hadn't done it before the 20k mark, but did give a good oscar winning performance with "maybe you never noticed it before .....??"

[mikemod]

I have a '05 GTI and have had this problem since new, only in manual mode and never in Auto and only going from 2nd to 3rd.

I pushed the dealers for a software update as that what it seemed to be as it is always fine in auto.
I was aware of an update to some models, but VW came back and said that people expect too much from the box and sometimes expect it to be much smoother than it is.

So it is still there and doesn't seem to have got any worse. Apart from this small issue the box is faultless and superb in every other way.