118TSI - General Discussion

[tigger73]

I don't think so but there's a lot more fluid which helps with heat transfer. The "dry" clutch design is trying to save on expensive DSG oil to try and reduce costs... but this then has had an impact on life of the unit.

[Tobes_WIR35]

Perhaps the heat dissipation properties of the fluid is part of the reason why it's more expensive than top shelf scotch!

[tigger73]

Yes it's liquid gold!

[Rawcpoppa]

From my basic understanding, the DQ200 generates too much heat which it can't dissipate properly and ends up cooking itself.

This is made worse by how much the gearbox "rides the clutch" in slow speed traffic. If you're caught doing a lot of crawling the DSG will slip the clutch to keep everything nice and smooth, however this generates a lot of heat. With the gearbox running "dry" with only a small amount of oil there's not so much fluid to transfer the heat. To make things worse, the electronics are mounted right nearby and this ends up getting cooked along with the gearbox itself.

Shouldn't this be caught in testing? The damn thing has been in production since what? 2007? 2008? Ford uses a dry clutch DSG as well and I don't hear owners complaining of transmission control unit failures.

[Tobes_WIR35]

Shouldn't this be caught in testing? The damn thing has been in production since what? 2007? 2008? Ford uses a dry clutch DSG as well and I don't hear owners complaining of transmission control unit failures.

Ford Focus, Fiesta, EcoSport warranties extended over dual-clutch transmission shudder

I had a Ford Focus dual clutch auto in America last year, the thing lost all power on the freeway and came to a clunky halt half way between Santa Barbara and Monterey. I left it for a bit, restarted the car, engine light on, limped it for about 100 miles to the rental desk at Monterey Airport waiting for it to die completely at any time... Not a pleasant experience.

[brad]

Shouldn't this be caught in testing? The damn thing has been in production since what? 2007? 2008? Ford uses a dry clutch DSG as well and I don't hear owners complaining of transmission control unit failures.

I know several people with the Ford dual clutch - it has its' share of issues. I also believe that Ford initially decided it was "sealed for life" until they started failing. I think the fluid change is now every 60k - I could have that entirely wrong though.

It's interesting, they do thousands of hours / kilometres in various conditions & Joe Public still manages to kill them.

[BluChris]

It's pretty much the same deal as VW - the wet clutch 6 speed in the diesel Focus and other Ford models is generally OK. The 7 speed dry clutch in the Focus and Fiesta has had software updates for shift quality and other issues, but also suffers from clutch shudder and some have had leaky seals.

Seems the dry clutch tech is not there yet. The wet clutch boxes also had plenty of issues in the early years but are now a more mature tech.

[Brett_J]

I wonder if the 7 speed would benefit from a pump/cooler set up.

[Rawcpoppa]

Fair enough. I generally hear of powershift having shudder issues similar to the gear 1-2 shudder in VW's dq200 so it would seem that issue of heat is inherent to dry clutch DSGs as both of these are made by separate manufacturers. I can live with shudder in my jetta as it can be avoided altogether in manual mode. What I can't overlook is mechatronic unit failure. The part is none serviceable and us $3400 to replace if a little hydraulic fluid leaks out of it as there apparently is no way to replace its oil by the dealer or owner. Out of warranty it's a mixed response from VW as well.

Anyways this thread is about the 118tsi and its recently come to my attention that the CAVD engines in the 2011 and 2012 models here have begun cracking pistons even when owners use the correct RON fuel. Someone mentioned that the 118tsi Twincharger used to run very lean but that the 24s4 software fixed that years ago. I was following that thread on here and it seemed hit and miss as to whether more recent cars had piston issues.

[Mk R]

Interesting to hear there's some 2011/12 engines blowing out too. My 2009 is finally in for the engine swap this week. made it to 95,000 with the original engine and the APR tune and is actually still running but a little under powered. Also noticed the boost was inconsistent at times so the old K03 might need a rebuild too.

The new donk is a late 2011 CAVD (sump up to plugs but no blowers attached) with a little under 30,000 on the clock. I'll report back on how it goes but will be keeping the old 2009 engine for a potential future rebuild in case this one burns out too...

Also, had the VWR sport springs for a good 6 months now, they've been great and feel to have softened up a tiny bit. Either that or i'm just used to them now.