2012 Polo GTI Engine Shudder between 1st and 2nd from takeoff

[kar2390]

If warranty is voided due to my tune, how much will it cost to get clutch packs replaced and even after its fixed, is it something that will always continue to need replacement?

Sorry about the dumb questions guys.

The part costs about $650 from an independent, I'm guessing a lot more from the dealership. Labour would be say 500 or so I'm guessing.

[gavs]

That's not the engine shuddering, that's you even-gears clutch which is rooted my friend.

Don't get the car 'flashed' back to stock, you need to have the ecu wiped and then reprogrammed back to the original, FACTORY tune, not the APR version of the tune. Dealerships can find all ecu tunes now if they don't instantaneously pop up as a TD1 flag once the computer is plugged in and it is almost impossible for a tuner to hide anymore.

At an independant, budget on $1500 parts and labour, it's a pretty intensive job and takes some time. It might be cheaper than that but budget for the worst case.

Due to the common nature if these clutch packs dying, the positive is that they now only cost 650euros, 3 years ago they were 1300euros from VW when the Vw dealers here were charging $2600 from memory...

[llai8501]

Thanks Gavs for the update.

Good news:

VW has approved it as a warranty repair and I'm booked in for a clutch pack/gear box repair. They said it's a common issue with the 7 spd DSG's.

Thoughts?

[kar2390]

Thanks Gavs for the update.

Good news:

VW has approved it as a warranty repair and I'm booked in for a clutch pack/gear box repair. They said it's a common issue with the 7 spd DSG's.

Question: I've noticed a definite reduction in shuddering since the ECU was flashed back to stock. With the faulty clutch packs replaced with updated versions (words from vw) would it be safe to flash back to apr post warranty repair?

Thoughts?

Hmmm I had the same shuddering issues in my 2010 polo tsi, I mean it was bad, it acted like it was a giant vibrator .

Recently I parked my car at the airport long term car park and went away on holiday for two weeks. ever since I got back the car it has been driving absolutely perfectly, the shuddering has vanished and even the S mode is more drivable, I swear it used to sit at 4k to 4.5k doing 60kmph, but now it sits at around 3 to 3.5k.

The question then I guess is, does the ECU reset after a certain period if the car hasn't been used? Does the ECU have a memory of your driving style? These answers are beyond my knowledge, so guys need your input on this.

Anyhow I found this thread from a Subaru forum for a read.

ECU learning and Clutch Shudder... - NASIOC

[gavs]

Thanks Gavs for the update.

Good news:

VW has approved it as a warranty repair and I'm booked in for a clutch pack/gear box repair. They said it's a common issue with the 7 spd DSG's.

Question: I've noticed a definite reduction in shuddering since the ECU was flashed back to stock. With the faulty clutch packs replaced with updated versions (words from vw) would it be safe to flash back to apr post warranty repair?

Thoughts?

Without trying to speculate too much, ecu tunes generally produce about 300nm of torque at a stage 1 tune, up from 250. As far as I am aware, the car will then detect the higher level of torque and power being generated and will then up-change too quickly into too high a gear, resulting in more clutch slip and wearing out the clutches too quickly. This is where a DSG tune comes in very handy on a tuned car with the DQ200 dsg.

[Proximak]

I had the same thing and mentioned it to them when I took it in for the 30,000 km service a few weeks back. When I collected the car they asked me to bring it back the following week so they could replace the clutch pack. All sorted now.

[llai8501]

Post removed.

[Hail22]

My two cents, get out of it while you still can and find a new brand / car to drive in

VW will give you the "We apologise, however this vehicle falls under our current procedures and practices of working as intended".

If you think I'm talking Bullshift you only need to ask Gavs about my dealings with VWAG.

[ATYPIC]

My two cents, get out of it while you still can and find a new brand / car to drive in

Come on now...2 cent comments like that achieve very little. Most of us had underwhelming experiences with those narcissists at one stage or another but telling people to offload their cars is simply unnecessary.

[gavs]

So I took my car into McCarrolls VW in Waitara and it was determined to have clutch issues and required a clutch pack replacement and a oil consumption test.

I was booked in to have repairs done over two days, Wednesday 27th to Thursday 28th.

Late on thursday 27th I was contacted and informed the car would take an additional day to continue repairs.

This was annoying, no loan cars were available and there was nothing for me to do other than not have a car for another day and put my training and life on hold.

Friday 29th
11:00am: I called McCarrolls and was directed to the service center where I got an answering machine.

1:00pm: I received a call from Shannon from McCarrolls and was told until the report comes through that there was no news to report. I was told once the reports come out that I would be contacted.

3:00pm: I hadn't heard from the McCarrolls team and so I called again only to be told there's no update and no one in the service center was available to speak to me, I left my details again despite my details being left earlier along with the details on the forms in the service center when I handed the car over.

The workshop closes at 4:30pm and given I work in the city I left work to commute to Waitara assuming that things would be fine given it's a two day job that for no explicable reason took three days.

As I was commuting from work (North Sydney) to Waitara I received a call informing me that the car was still having issues and that the car would be required for the weekend for continued work. Note that this was 4:15pm.

When I asked why I wasn't informed earlier and my calls not returned I was given no explanation other than they were busy. When I asked about a loan car I was told no loan cars are available.

I was offered no pickup or drop off from the station which is standard practice in my previous experience.

Understandably I was furious for various reasons.

1. A new car should not require a clutch replacement after two years.

2. I wouldn't have a car for the weekend and a combined time of 6 days for work that required 2 days.

3. The after sales service McCarrolls VW has provided was nothing short of atrocious. I am not asking for a lot, as a customer I don't expect to need to hound the dealership to inform me as to when the car is available, let alone not return calls or display any level of decent accountability.

I hope that VW Australia will comment on this and provide some explanation.

I walked to the dealership from Waitara station and when I got there, I asked about my car. I was told by their Service manager "you've been contacted that your car isnt ready" in a very annoyed and condescending tone.

I asked him why a hire car wasnt arranged for me when they knew the car wouldnt be ready and they would need it for the weekend. I was told again there are no hire cars.

I then asked why I wasnt contacted or phone calls returned. I asked why they didnt let me know in advance that they needed the car on the weekend as they would have known this long before they called me.

They had the audacity to then say "We have never had issues putting on software on the cars, they adaptive drive software is having some issues, have you done anything to the car?"

I told him the car is stock aside from my cold air intake and some wheels + coilovers.

He looked at me funny and said i've also modded the exhaust system.

I then stopped him and asked him what this had to do with the lack of customer service and them not letting the customer know after repeated calls to them.

He had no explanation other than asking me again if the car had been tuned.

This back and fourth and refusal to accept responsibility for their poor customer service was infuriating.

Needless to say yesterday I got the car back without issues. So far no shuddering has been detected but i'm not confident in my car. I hope this is the end of the shuddering. Engine oil consumption tests indicate that my car is consuming the standard amounts of oil and don't need any repairs.

I'll be lodging a formal complaint that a 2 day repair took 6 days. We'll see where we land.

Avoid Waitara VW. What a terrible experience.

To be fair mate, all the service manager needs to do is jump on here to find out you had a tune on the car.
Reloading software into the ecu can be problematic and as such, there is a risk that any software being loaded can corrupt and then brick the ecu, it's known to happen to stock cars and when tuners start working their magic, things can get a bit more interesting. Most of the time there is no issue however.

I'm going to straddle the fence here because I agree with ATYPIC but I have had horrible dealings with VW Australia and I know that Hail22's dealings made mine pale in comparison. What I will say though is this: I warned you previously that you were playing with fire. You were dishonest with the dealership and they were dishonest with you in return yet you still ended up in the far better situation but you also feel hard-done by because you were inconvenienced? Yet you got approx. $2000 worth of work done to your car for nothing when technically, you exacerbated the mechanical issue to begin with?

Hmmmm.


Dealerships aren't stupid, I'll bet the reason that they took so long is because they knew the car had been tuned, they were just looking for some kind of telltale....