Clutch slipping at 4.5k miles? APR stage 1

[XGC75]

Yea no kidding! My friend with an 06 GTI just had to replace his DSG (snapped the dog bone right out of the trans casing). It was $2500 for a used trans that turned out to be junk (burnt clutches and bad mechatronics unit) and VW wanted $6500 for a remanufactured DSG or $11k for a new one

His father owns a body shop and through his distributors was able to source a reman'd trans for about $3500 but that is still an extremely sobering experience.

Edit:

 

[McQueen77]

jesus lord. me being a 'keep the car til it turns to dust' kind of guy, i can't vibe the DSG. yeah, its amazing. guess what: relatively new, 'amazing' technology costs amazing money to maintain and fix. simple as that. i can beat the shit out of this clutch for probably, I dont know, 60-80k miles, and then put another one in and get another 60-80k and then finally retire the car. i can't hang with multi-thousand dollar transmission servicing. that is insane. what are mechatronics? is that german for "we will destroy your finances and hand your wallet back to you in little pieces?" but i am clearly an 80 year old man in a 35 year olds body, so whatever.

clutch disc, pressure plate, throwout bearing, refinish the flywheel, $1500 and done.

 

[DaveSTR]

Some light reading on the DSG and Mechatronics unit...

jesus lord. me being a 'keep the car til it turns to dust' kind of guy, i can't vibe the DSG. yeah, its amazing. guess what: relatively new, 'amazing' technology costs amazing money to maintain and fix. simple as that. i can beat the shit out of this clutch for probably, I dont know, 60-80k miles, and then put another one in and get another 60-80k and then finally retire the car. i can't hang with multi-thousand dollar transmission servicing. that is insane. what are mechatronics? is that german for "we will destroy your finances and hand your wallet back to you in little pieces?" but i am clearly an 80 year old man in a 35 year olds body, so whatever.

clutch disc, pressure plate, throwout bearing, refinish the flywheel, $1500 and done.

http://www.my-gti.com/832/volkswagen-dsg-mechatronic-control-unit

Any wonder why they fail: --The transmission control unit is a sophisticated, compact mechatronic component installed directly on the gearbox, meaning that it is immersed in hot transmission oil---

 

[veedoubleme]

Yea no kidding! My friend with an 06 GTI just had to replace his DSG (snapped the dog bone right out of the trans casing). It was $2500 for a used trans that turned out to be junk (burnt clutches and bad mechatronics unit) and VW wanted $6500 for a remanufactured DSG or $11k for a new one

His father owns a body shop and through his distributors was able to source a reman'd trans for about $3500 but that is still an extremely sobering experience.

Very very rare case, and doesn't worry me in the least. There will always be the one off horror story.

 

[speed4568]

I just bought my 2012 GTI in April and about 3 weeks ago had APR Stage 1 installed (thank you Futrell Autowerks). I drive my car spiritedly, but I had never redlined the car, never launched it, never burned out, never done anything stupid. I baby the crap out of my GTI. I live in Portland so my idea of a fun driving day is to go out on the backroads in Mt Hood national forest and take some twisty country roads, as opposed to racing in a manner that would be hard on my clutch.

Getting to the point: when I give the engine a solid amount of gas in 4th or 5th gear and build up some boost, the tachometer is not corresponding to my acceleration. As the car is accelerating my tach rises quickly and then dips. Somtimes the tach will rise more quickly than my speedometer and hold a high RPM level and then the speed will catch up with the RPMs. In any case, this is worrisome. I have noticed this only on the highway and mostly only in 4th or 5th gear and maybe once in third gear. Never in 2nd gear.

WTF is going on?

as soon as i went revo stg 2 my clutch started slipping at about 3500 miles. the stock clutch simply doesn't hold the torque. if i put in stock mode, no slipping.

 

[OldDirty]

as soon as i went revo stg 2 my clutch started slipping at about 3500 miles. the stock clutch simply doesn't hold the torque. if i put in stock mode, no slipping.

Agreed, stock clutch won't reliably hold a tune.....which is why the aftermarket clutch situation for these cars is mind boggling.....there is a huge market for a good "up to k04 power" clutch that has a slightly stiffer than stock feel and doesn't make a bunch of chattering noise.

 

[McQueen77]

Agreed, stock clutch won't reliably hold a tune.....which is why the aftermarket clutch situation for these cars is mind boggling.....there is a huge market for a good "up to k04 power" clutch that has a slightly stiffer than stock feel and doesn't make a bunch of chattering noise.

there isn't consistent enough data to support this. if a 'tune' means Stage 2 and beyond, perhaps you are right, in theory, but plenty of guys with OEM clutches and Stage 1 are running strong for tens of thousands of miles. Difference between Stage 1 & 2 power isn't that vast and anyway, in CA with 91 octane, I'm lucky if I am even touching 270 lb ft. @ the crank. Granted, thats more than factory/stock, but Ive talked to a lot of techs etc. who say the OEM clutch can handle 300.. so, time will tell.

 

[Rcraig84]

Well, I've got some good news. I went to the dealership this evening after work to pick up my plates (90 tag expired today). I went around back and spoke with one of the mechanics and explained my issue. The answer that I received was that tuned or not there's no reason for the clutch to be slipping before I have even put license plates on the car, regardless of my driving style. He fully expects that the issue should be corrected under warranty. However, there's obviously no way to know how it will play out until after I make an appointment and formally take it in to get it looked at.

Thumper, I decided to follow your advice before I even read your post. It was a thought I was toying with.

Keep us updated.

 

[Cryptic19111]

As good as the info sounds from the dealer, I HIGHLY doubt they are going to do anything for you. They are not going to warranty a clutch because it slips after you added 70ft/lbs more than it was made for. I know the mechanic sounds optimistic, but I really think the service advisor is going to shitcan that whole plan once they find out the whole situation. Stock mode isn't going to make it slip, and these days, they don't take too kindly to tuned ecu's.

Your best bet is to just bite the bullet and get a real clutch installed. Its either that, or switch back to stock mode and leave it alone, because the clutch isn't going to get any better on its own

 

[Dubscraper]

as soon as i went revo stg 2 my clutch started slipping at about 3500 miles. the stock clutch simply doesn't hold the torque. if i put in stock mode, no slipping.

...so did you buy a new clutch?

 

[Dubscraper]

As good as the info sounds from the dealer, I HIGHLY doubt they are going to do anything for you. They are not going to warranty a clutch because it slips after you added 70ft/lbs more than it was made for. I know the mechanic sounds optimistic, but I really think the service advisor is going to shitcan that whole plan once they find out the whole situation. Stock mode isn't going to make it slip, and these days, they don't take too kindly to tuned ecu's.

Your best bet is to just bite the bullet and get a real clutch installed. Its either that, or switch back to stock mode and leave it alone, because the clutch isn't going to get any better on its own

In the meatime I just try not to give it more than 60-70% throttle in 4th and 5th. No problems in any other gears. And, honestly, I still have a lot of fun, even not being able to floor it in those two gears.

Also, I want to keep my mods to a minimum so I can expect maximum resale value. Let's face it, most of us, myself included, will want to upgrade to the MK7 in a couple years. This is my only car and I don't make enough money to not be concerned with maintaining a high resale value.

Anyone know how adding an aftermarket clutch affects resale value (do you even have to disclose that if trading in at the dealership)? I hope this isn't diverging from the threat too much....

 

[Dubscraper]

Keep us updated.

Will do.

 

[dirty_dub]

update?

 

[Lou Maiuri]

Define spiritedly?

 

[barische]

Is it slipping on stock mode.. If they cant replicate they wont replace