S-tronic (DSG) issues?
Discussion
Wonder if anyone, particularly any resident technicians, could give any thoughts on this, please?
Recently bought an approved used 2014 A3 Sportback Quattro. It's the 1.8TFSI with S-tronic.
Had an issue with flakes of black residue in the coolant (which is a different story, and hopefully being sorted under warranty) but I'm a bit concerned whether the S-tronic is showing early signs of issues?
Googled it, and searched forum, but most of the threads date from quite a few years ago on older cars (around 2006-11), when it seems there was a batch of bad mechatronic units?
Until yesterday my symptoms were a slight delay and hard engagement on downshift in Manual mode, not so much under coasting, but more under braking (especially 3-2 and 2-1). My local Audi dealer said this was 'normal' and couldn't find a fault, despite the loan car they gave me, also with DSG, being smooth as butter in M-mode. They explained this away by mine being a 6-speed wet clutch and the loaner a 7-speed dry clutch (any excuse
).
They almost had me convinced until driving yesterday on one trip the car was very jerky on pickup after a full stop, or when coming back on the power after a near stop in 1st or 2nd. (This was in D, not Manual). You'd come off the foot brake and instead of instantly and smoothly engaging (normally mine creeps when you release the footbrake) it would rev up then very suddenly fully engage the clutch so the car jolted. This persisted for the whole of that journey, until I restarted the car. It seemed OK this morning, but still has the downshift behaviour in Manual.
I guess my question is; how normal is this? Can these S-tronics be delayed/jerky on downshift under braking when on the paddles in Manual mode, especially in 3-2, 2-1? And can they occasionally have a 'funny five minutes' in D mode, as with the jerky pickup, without either being signs of impending failure? Or are these the early signs of an inevitable mechatronic/clutch pack failure?
It's under manufacturers warranty still but, from past experience, my local dealer would need pushing VERY hard, or have absolute proof of failure, before they'd do anything at all, so people's experience on here would be useful so I know how hard to push it at this stage.
Cheers!
Recently bought an approved used 2014 A3 Sportback Quattro. It's the 1.8TFSI with S-tronic.
Had an issue with flakes of black residue in the coolant (which is a different story, and hopefully being sorted under warranty) but I'm a bit concerned whether the S-tronic is showing early signs of issues?
Googled it, and searched forum, but most of the threads date from quite a few years ago on older cars (around 2006-11), when it seems there was a batch of bad mechatronic units?
Until yesterday my symptoms were a slight delay and hard engagement on downshift in Manual mode, not so much under coasting, but more under braking (especially 3-2 and 2-1). My local Audi dealer said this was 'normal' and couldn't find a fault, despite the loan car they gave me, also with DSG, being smooth as butter in M-mode. They explained this away by mine being a 6-speed wet clutch and the loaner a 7-speed dry clutch (any excuse
).They almost had me convinced until driving yesterday on one trip the car was very jerky on pickup after a full stop, or when coming back on the power after a near stop in 1st or 2nd. (This was in D, not Manual). You'd come off the foot brake and instead of instantly and smoothly engaging (normally mine creeps when you release the footbrake) it would rev up then very suddenly fully engage the clutch so the car jolted. This persisted for the whole of that journey, until I restarted the car. It seemed OK this morning, but still has the downshift behaviour in Manual.
I guess my question is; how normal is this? Can these S-tronics be delayed/jerky on downshift under braking when on the paddles in Manual mode, especially in 3-2, 2-1? And can they occasionally have a 'funny five minutes' in D mode, as with the jerky pickup, without either being signs of impending failure? Or are these the early signs of an inevitable mechatronic/clutch pack failure?
It's under manufacturers warranty still but, from past experience, my local dealer would need pushing VERY hard, or have absolute proof of failure, before they'd do anything at all, so people's experience on here would be useful so I know how hard to push it at this stage.
Cheers!
Not sure if this helps but I had a 2004 A3, 3.2 DSG (6-spd, wet clutch) in which I did 80,000 miles, during which time the DSG behaved itself perfectly except for when I had battery charge/reserve issues (I got through 3 batteries in my ownership, it would discharge them them when not being driven).
If the battery was low then after startup I would get random warning lights which would clear after going through a sequence (maybe 20 - 30 seconds) but on 3 occasions although everything started fine I had the gearbox gradually get less responsive until it stopped working all together, leaving me in neutral and the gear indicator lights flashing.
It would then be fine again after switching off/restarting and I never found the fault. It went to Audi after the first time as it was still fairly new (shortly afterwards the first battery failed) but they could find no errors when scanned.
The fact that it only ever did it when the battery was low makes me think that battery voltage on startup is fairly critical.
If the battery was low then after startup I would get random warning lights which would clear after going through a sequence (maybe 20 - 30 seconds) but on 3 occasions although everything started fine I had the gearbox gradually get less responsive until it stopped working all together, leaving me in neutral and the gear indicator lights flashing.
It would then be fine again after switching off/restarting and I never found the fault. It went to Audi after the first time as it was still fairly new (shortly afterwards the first battery failed) but they could find no errors when scanned.
The fact that it only ever did it when the battery was low makes me think that battery voltage on startup is fairly critical.
Thanks catso, that's a helpful idea. Yeah, I've experienced problems in previous cars because of startup amperage on the battery getting lower than planned.
(Oddly enough just in the process of trying to sort a problem for my dad on his Seat Alhambra - an intermittent no-start fault due to the electronic handbrake not disengaging. Vag-com showed a whole raft of fault codes, from all different systems on the car, so suspect low battery as it has a lot of short trips).
So yeah, will definitely check that possibility out and give the battery a top up in case.
Please keep the thoughts coming if anyone else has any experience of similar issues
(Oddly enough just in the process of trying to sort a problem for my dad on his Seat Alhambra - an intermittent no-start fault due to the electronic handbrake not disengaging. Vag-com showed a whole raft of fault codes, from all different systems on the car, so suspect low battery as it has a lot of short trips).
So yeah, will definitely check that possibility out and give the battery a top up in case.
Please keep the thoughts coming if anyone else has any experience of similar issues
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