Manual car seems confused
Discussion
Before we all laugh at this concept, I am in no way mechanically minded so please hold back your laughter at this one.
So basically in the last few months or so I've noticed that my car seems 'confused' - I say confused for want of a better word. This confusion has occurred a few times now... The most recent example being just now on my drive home. I'm in 6th cruising at 50mph, I downshift to 4th and plant my foot (I think this may be key), and my the revs surge as though the car is losing traction and kind of fluctuate for a second or so and then increase as expected. I can assure you the car definitely didn't lose traction at any point though.
As mentioned above this has happened a few times now and the only correlation between these occurrences that I can think of is that I've been at low rpm ~1.8k-2.4k (this is just before the turbo kicks in @ ~2.5k) and downshift or simply just planted my foot. It's also worth noting that when this happens the gear indicator on the dash flickers between 4th/5th gear for example.
I've also noticed that when planting my foot in third/fourth this can also happen sometimes, except without the gear indicator issue. The only way I can describe it is that it feels as though I have a massive surge of torque almost as though my car has been remapped without any knowledge of it and not in a particularly good way. I can never replicate the 'issue' either so I'm thinking it could be something to do with the ECU?
For info the car is a 66 plate 1.8TSI Ibiza Cupra with 20k miles, the only 'performance' modification if you could call it that is a K&N panel filter.
As I said I'm not mechanically knowledgeable and I've never experienced this in any other car. I've read about a similar issue happening with 1.4TSI DSG Ibiza Cupra's for example but definitely not in a manual. The only thing that comes to mind is that the something to do with the clutch could be on its way out, the panel filter is messing with the ecu, the physical gearbox/selector is on its way out.
Any ideas, help would be appreciated.
So basically in the last few months or so I've noticed that my car seems 'confused' - I say confused for want of a better word. This confusion has occurred a few times now... The most recent example being just now on my drive home. I'm in 6th cruising at 50mph, I downshift to 4th and plant my foot (I think this may be key), and my the revs surge as though the car is losing traction and kind of fluctuate for a second or so and then increase as expected. I can assure you the car definitely didn't lose traction at any point though.
As mentioned above this has happened a few times now and the only correlation between these occurrences that I can think of is that I've been at low rpm ~1.8k-2.4k (this is just before the turbo kicks in @ ~2.5k) and downshift or simply just planted my foot. It's also worth noting that when this happens the gear indicator on the dash flickers between 4th/5th gear for example.
I've also noticed that when planting my foot in third/fourth this can also happen sometimes, except without the gear indicator issue. The only way I can describe it is that it feels as though I have a massive surge of torque almost as though my car has been remapped without any knowledge of it and not in a particularly good way. I can never replicate the 'issue' either so I'm thinking it could be something to do with the ECU?
For info the car is a 66 plate 1.8TSI Ibiza Cupra with 20k miles, the only 'performance' modification if you could call it that is a K&N panel filter.
As I said I'm not mechanically knowledgeable and I've never experienced this in any other car. I've read about a similar issue happening with 1.4TSI DSG Ibiza Cupra's for example but definitely not in a manual. The only thing that comes to mind is that the something to do with the clutch could be on its way out, the panel filter is messing with the ecu, the physical gearbox/selector is on its way out.
Any ideas, help would be appreciated.
I don't think it was too clear above when talking about planting my foot in third. This happens far more frequently than the other/related issue - I can replicate that easily by simply planting my foot in third from relatively low RPMs (even after 2.5k rpm).
The 'surge' can last more than a second or so and will literally go up and down all the way up to 4/5k rpm. Funnily enough the car does actually feel faster because of that, I haven't checked but even so it just doesn't feel natural.
Could it simply be that now the car has done a fair few miles everything is bedding in and the addition of the panel filter has enhanced the torque significantly causing the ECU mess up in some way? Or is it something more mechanical?
The 'surge' can last more than a second or so and will literally go up and down all the way up to 4/5k rpm. Funnily enough the car does actually feel faster because of that, I haven't checked but even so it just doesn't feel natural.
Could it simply be that now the car has done a fair few miles everything is bedding in and the addition of the panel filter has enhanced the torque significantly causing the ECU mess up in some way? Or is it something more mechanical?
How much can I expect this to set me back then including labour costs at SEAT main dealer you reckon? I'm awaiting a price but until then...
A clutch kit which apparently fits is here: https://www.autodoc.co.uk/valeo/1108723
I intend to buy that and get them or somewhere else to fit that if it's the correct one.
A clutch kit which apparently fits is here: https://www.autodoc.co.uk/valeo/1108723
I intend to buy that and get them or somewhere else to fit that if it's the correct one.
Took it to the dealer and couldn't replicate the issue. That was two days ago, drove 150 miles since without replicating... Is a slipping clutch constant? The mechanic told me if it isn't happening all of the time there's no issue but I don't know whether to believe that or not. He tested the 'wear' of the clutch by putting it in gear with the handbrake on and feeling the biting point and said there's loads left...
TooMany2cvs said:
"RIP"? You're going to scrap an 18mo car for a clutch? £800 at dealer prices sounds quite reasonable to me, tbh.
No RIP me, potentially £800 down for no reason.I don't ride the clutch or drive this car hard constantly, 60% of my 20k miles have been motorway driving... I had a 2015 Ibiza FR which I put over 30k miles on with no issues. An owners group for the 1.8TSI engine Cupra's have ran a questionnaire regarding clutch wear issues and out of 100 people, 32 had problems before 20k miles... Says something.
stevieturbo said:
S9JTO said:
Took it to the dealer and couldn't replicate the issue. That was two days ago, drove 150 miles since without replicating... Is a slipping clutch constant? The mechanic told me if it isn't happening all of the time there's no issue but I don't know whether to believe that or not. He tested the 'wear' of the clutch by putting it in gear with the handbrake on and feeling the biting point and said there's loads left...
So this "dealer" didnt even drive the car ?Sounds like it'd be better to go to a competent mechanic than a dealer...whatever it is they deal in.
Gassing Station | Engines & Drivetrain | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff