2014 SEAT Leon 1.6 Diesel automatic - juddering

[Slugfarm]

My partner drives a 2014 SEAT Leon 1.6 Diesel automatic with a little over 100K miles. It has developed a judder at low speeds which is worse when it is first driven. It feels like the engine is bogging down and should be in a lower gear, and if you force the car to drop down a gear it stops juddering.

The garage we use has attempted to diagnose it twice with no luck. We've tried diesel injector cleaner added with a tank of fuel, which does help for that tank of fuel. The problem quickly comes back on the next tank of fuel without the cleaner. Do the injectors need replacing?

We don't want to constantly run the cleaner, so so anyone have any ideas of what it could be? Also tests to help diagnose it? Thanks in advance.

[paul_c123]

Sounds like an issue with the gearbox - the 1.6 diesels use a dry clutch version of the DSG which is known to have many issues. So I'd start with some data logging there.

[E-bmw]

Slugfarm said:

My partner drives a 2014 SEAT Leon 1.6 Diesel automatic with a little over 100K miles. It has developed a judder at low speeds which is worse when it is first driven. It feels like the engine is bogging down and should be in a lower gear, and if you force the car to drop down a gear it stops juddering.

paul_c123 said:

Sounds like an issue with the gearbox - the 1.6 diesels use a dry clutch version of the DSG which is known to have many issues. So I'd start with some data logging there.

Not wanting to take anything away from P above (as it sounds like he has first hand experience of this) surely you have found the issue on your own.

One of the (many) issues with the "nanny" features on modern vehicles is the propensity towards economy over all else.

For instance (not sure on your gearbox obviously) in a 6-speed, I would expect 30 mph to be in 3rd for effective speed control, this allows the vehicle to engine brake if required rather than endless use of the brakes for speed control, whereas most vehicles will keep changing up & likely end up in 5th/6th, which is completely the wrong gear for the speed of the vehicle.

This frequently puts/wants to put the vehicle in a gear that is higher than it actually should be in for proper control.

This is true of both autos & manuals, but in a manual obviously it is easier to just ignore the endless requests to change gear unnecessarily.

Edited by E-bmw on Thursday 9th October 07:54

[Smint]

Doesn't that engine suffer with EGR issues like most other Diesels, unfortunately its a pig of a job to do being buried deep.
If running enjector cleaner fixes the issue whilst in play have you tried running Millers DPS4 through it regularly (its meant for constant use) or see if a tankful of premium fuel has a similar effect.

[trevalvole]

Yes, I do recall at least some versions of the VAG 1.6TDI engine being problematic. A Google says EGR, plus "premature injector failure (especially older Siemens models ending in "B")".

[paul_c123]

You could get the injectors tested but it will be expensive, unless you have the tools to remove/replace injectors properly.

Or you could do a visual inspection of the dry clutch pack, which will be expensive.