vw caddy - 7 speed dsg faults

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Sat 3 Sep 2011 08:00
vw caddy - 7 speed dsg faults - agmaster

i think i have bought the worse 7 speed dsg gearbox ever made, my vw caddy van was new in june 2011 and as soon as i got in it i found that this was not brilliant made better. if i put the van in drive on a hill from a stop the van will get upto 4700 rpm before it will change, if i dont give it the beans it will not change, the only way is to do it in manual, also if on a hill if i am creeping forward in slow moving traffic upto 5mph the gearbox will disengage and roll back after about 3 seconds, and there is a horrible delay from hitting the throtle to engine responce, vw say this is a charectaristic of the gear box, i said i will see them in court.......has anybody has similar faults with there 7 speed dsg.

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Sat 3 Sep 2011 12:13
vw caddy - 7 speed dsg faults - gordonbennet

Sounds quite normal for automated manual box regardless of how many clutches it has.

The vehicle cannot know your precise traffic or hill situation or know in advance what you require from it, it can only be as good as it's programming.

I've driven many hundreds of thousands of miles with all makes of auto manuals (trucks, they've been at it longer), the one thing i've learned from it all is that if you want a smooth competent drive use manual override, if not expect all sorts of over-revving and hesitation at junctions and steep hills, and especially in heavy traffic crawl....the only exception i've found to this is Volvo trucks, they've been at it longest, the box will be in the correct gear every time,

Or do the other thing and get a proper manual box or a proper auto box.

Edited by gordonbennet on 03/09/2011 at 12:15

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Sat 3 Sep 2011 14:56
vw caddy - 7 speed dsg faults - mustangman

I have a 7 sp dsg Golf, about which I have posted some comments on HJ previously.

The delay from pressing the throttle is a problem, you never know if the response will be sudden or sluggish.

I agree that it is at its worst in slow traffic, very jerky below 20 mph.

I don't have the problem with the box going into "neutral" up slow hills, but I now have a fault that feels just like clutch judder when pulling away from rest. I've got the car booked into the dealers for Tuesday next, we will see how this goes.

Overall I'm not in a hurry to have another.

I will comment that I think the older wet clutch 6 sp dsg is much smoother. ( We have both in the family )

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Sat 3 Sep 2011 16:31
vw caddy - 7 speed dsg faults - agmaster

i am glad to hear from another who is having similar faults to me, i too have had a 6 speed for four years and it was a superb gearbox, i have heard of the mechatronic faults but mine was perfect, but the seven speed, not good at all and i would advise caution to who ever is looking to buy one....... i also have had two other faults develop, when the gear box is hot ( been driven all day ) it starts to whine when setting off and a bad judder and also on the gear display the gear indicator light flashes and the engine will not rev past 15oo rpm, so if i am on a motorway it just looses power and you have to roll to a stop, turn off the engine, re start and away you go. i can assure you that when you take your golf to be repaired they will simply pasify you, i have had to instruct legal action after getting nowhere with either the dealer ship or vw customer services. quite disapointing to say vw are pretty good overall. good look in your repair.

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Sun 4 Sep 2011 15:28
vw caddy - 7 speed dsg faults - brum

A bit of thinking reveals the following about clutch type autos...regarding the 1st gear clutch.......

1.A dry clutch will almost always sometime in its life develops "judder". How does a computer program handle that? Its difficult enough for a human on a manual clutch.

2. A dry clutch will wear with use and so the "bite point" will vary. Finding the elusive "bite point" is likely to be the reson for the delays in DSG starts.

3. An auto box program doesnt attempt to control slow moving 1st gear type manoueving in the same way people do manually. It will spend most of its time slipping...

4. Humans are very good at combining freewheeling/handbrake use/clutch control in difficult slow speed manoueving situations as they can plan what they aim to acheive. A computer can never do this.

Points 1 and 2 dont effect wet clutches as the evidence in this threads seems to support.

Hill holds and "predictive shifting" where the box is restricted in its choice of next gear are also impossible control problems that are addesssed in what programmers call "kludges" which I suggest are not effective for some people or situations.

DSGs are like DPFs and DMFs - they are not suitable some driving patterns/styles/environments.

Only time will tell if DSG boxes will be regarded as sufficiently reliable or not.

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Sun 4 Sep 2011 16:09
vw caddy - 7 speed dsg faults - unthrottled

I don't think that I agree with point 1.

In my experiences clutches either judder right from the start (poorly aligned or contaminated faces during assembly) or they don't. I haven't noticed a clutch becoming juddery over use.

Point 4 is debatable! I entirely agree that a human knows the end outcome of a manoeuvre wherea a computer can only deal with the current conditions. This is perhaps the biggest 'failing' of any automatic transmission and no amount of fuzzy logic can tune it out. But most drivers' clutch control/gear change is quite sloppy, and a computer will do a better job. Automatic idle speed control flatters low speed manoeuvres with a manual clutch, but it can be hard on parts. Drivers like to lock the clutch before mashing the gas because they think it saves the clutch and it avoids embarressing over revving. But it sometimes better to slip.

I think DSG may prove to be more reliable than DMF/manual.

A lot of the high performance engines (especially diesel) are only available with automatic transmission. This can hurt sales-especially in the US. Manufacturers think that autos are less likely to be abused.

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Wed 7 Sep 2011 10:04
vw caddy - 7 speed dsg faults - mustangman

I have a 7 sp dsg Golf, about which I have posted some comments on HJ previously.

The delay from pressing the throttle is a problem, you never know if the response will be sudden or sluggish.

I agree that it is at its worst in slow traffic, very jerky below 20 mph.

I don't have the problem with the box going into "neutral" up slow hills, but I now have a fault that feels just like clutch judder when pulling away from rest. I've got the car booked into the dealers for Tuesday next, we will see how this goes.

Overall I'm not in a hurry to have another.

I will comment that I think the older wet clutch 6 sp dsg is much smoother. ( We have both in the family )

Upadate: On going for a test drive with technician, murphy's law prevailed, no shuddering / juddering, even after travelling a few miles. Two good one's on the way home though.

I guess I can't expect VW to do much until fault gets worse. Ho hum .................

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Wed 7 Sep 2011 20:27
vw caddy - 7 speed dsg faults - agmaster

if you want to make it judder on command, try to do what i did, go to a steep hill and come to a dead stop, put the car in to drive then hold it on the revs, ( as though you are finding the biting point ) then wait for about 5 seconds while holding it on the revs, then slowly set off up the hill but dont exceed 4000 rpm, the gear box should not change and the juddering will get worse. i found that all my problems was when the clutch plates where hot. let me know how you get on...........also when you do the test i would be intrested to see if your car disengages drive when you carry out the test on a hill, you never know but ill bet it will.

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Fri 9 Sep 2011 20:42
vw caddy - 7 speed dsg faults - mustangman

Just had some good news today. The dealer sent a set of ecu readings to VW HQ & said that they would analyse them & they would get back to me with any news.

I thought " I won't hold my breath " but the car is now going in next week to have the clutch pack replaced, under warranty. The dealer has gone up somewhat in my estimation.

I will try your test before the car goes in. Mind I do often pull away on a local steep minor road junction, much as you describe, without obvious problems.

Not sure how your car behaves, but mine will change from 1 to 2 very quickly as you set off from rest, unless you use sport mode.

I'll post again once the job is done.

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Sun 18 Sep 2011 12:33
vw caddy - 7 speed dsg faults - mustangman

The Golf has now had it's clutches replaced. It took the dealership 3 days.

Gone is the shudder / judder and rattling at low speeds & when pulling away.

Of course the seemingly "standard" pause, snatch & go from rest or when attempting to regain speed are all still present. It's as if eg: 10mm of throttle travel is perfect, but 12mm and you lurch away with a snatch and jerk. But you can never be that accurate, so pulling away is always a lottery.

For this reason, good though the rest of the car is, I would never have another.

OP - I have great symphathy for your problems, are you making any progress ?

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Sun 18 Sep 2011 23:00
vw caddy - 7 speed dsg faults - injection doc

My Pal has a caddy diesel auto DSG and he has no problems apart from slight hesitation and the reverse escapde.

I had a passatt DSG 170 and it was great to drive after the dealer had done several mods and downloads to stop it being really rough and jerky. never used to drop out creeping. Reverse was always the worse. never had any problems cold iether.

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Sun 2 Oct 2011 07:54
vw caddy - 7 speed dsg faults - agmaster

just a quick update on my caddy dsg, the dearlership has given me a full refund and £800.00 for all my troubles. i have to say that the dealership in the end was quite proffesional and tried very hard to keep my business, so much so they have given me a new van with a gerabox and swapped all my bits from my old van to the new one for free. ( i dont mean the van was free ) a bad problem with a happy ending, BUT............... is there a huge fault with the gearbox, most people would never get a refund if there was nothing to hide? and i wish all you 7 speed dsg owners very good luck for the future, i will never be joining that club ever again. cheers guys.

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Mon 19 Sep 2011 01:20
vw caddy - 7 speed dsg faults - Avant

These problems seem to happen only to the 7-speed DSG, and not to the 6-speed as in my Octavia which fortunately has none of these faults. I believe that mine has a 'wet clutch' and the 7-speed has a 'dry clutch' - whatever that means.

Given that it doesn't need any more than 6 speeds, I wonder why on earth VAG introduced the 7-speed - and why they didn' t field-test it properly.

Edited by Avant on 19/09/2011 at 01:20

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Mon 19 Sep 2011 13:08
vw caddy - 7 speed dsg faults - gordonbennet

.

''Given that it doesn't need any more than 6 speeds, I wonder why on earth VAG introduced the 7-speed.''

To appease the vanity of certain owner types who want something big to wave about in the one upmanship battle, and to get certain motoring mags to wax lyrical encouraging said people.

They join MB and BMW who are in competition to put the most gears in their boxes, i understand they are both going 9 speed if they haven't already done so.

Remember those heady days when you'd buy a 10 year old 80/90's German (whatever badge it wore) used car, safe in the knowledge it would give you years of service with a bit of care, simple but tough well engineered designs.

I expect when they are 7+ years old you won't be able to give these things away...expect many future questions on technical forums from those who didn't research the out of warranty money pit they thought was the bees knees.

I wonder if the usual suspect road tester journalists who guff lyrical about these things will be around to help.....the Guvnor here excepted, he don't seem too impressed by things that are too clever for their own good unless they stand the time test.

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Mon 19 Sep 2011 13:14
vw caddy - 7 speed dsg faults - mike hannon

The other day I tested a 2-year-old Honda Jazz with the I-drive automated manual gearbox. It was every bit as horrendous as I had been warned. A zillion miles from the excellent 4-speed auto/sequential shift box I have enjoyed for years in the Prelude. Who buys (or, in the case of the Jazz, bought) these things?

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Mon 19 Sep 2011 13:16
vw caddy - 7 speed dsg faults - mike hannon

The other day I tested a 2-year-old Honda Jazz with the I-drive automated manual gearbox. It was every bit as horrendous as I had been warned. A zillion miles from the excellent 4-speed auto/sequential shift box I have enjoyed for years in the Prelude. Who buys (or, in the case of the Jazz, bought) these things?

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Mon 19 Sep 2011 13:29
vw caddy - 7 speed dsg faults - gordonbennet

.

''Duplicated post, the sites having a wobbly.

Edited by gordonbennet on 19/09/2011 at 13:32

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Mon 19 Sep 2011 16:47
vw caddy - 7 speed dsg faults - LikedDrivingOnce

Good points, GB, especially about the negative impact of motoring mags making it worse.

The other aspect of having more and more gears to play with is the Green Agenda. So much of the new technolgy in new cars is to do with lower emisiions and claimed fule economy which are not achieved in the real world.

When politicians tell porkies, investigative journalists take great pleasure in exposing them. When car companies do the same, no one seems to bother.

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Sat 24 Dec 2011 05:40
vw caddy - 7 speed dsg faults - wai

My issues are similar to agmaster's.

I have a MY11 Caddy Maxi Life TDI250 purchased in July 2011.

If I go up a steep incline forward and come to a stop, when I move off again, the DSG is extremely reluctant to change up, even if the road is now level. I have to change manually.

The worst one is that when reversing up an incline it is positively dangerous.

I have to activate Hill Hold by putting the DSG in reverse and then pumping the pedal. This brings it up hard. Now trying to drive backwards, the brake holds and prevents the car from moving. I have to increase accelerator position as if I don't, when the Hill Hold disengages, I will roll forward. If I give too much accelerator, then when the Hill Hold releases, I am launched rearwards. The only option to activating hill hold is to use the hand brake, however if I need to stop during the manoeuvre hill hold gets activated.

This is particularly bad in car parks where the parking bay happens to be on an incline. I have to remember to reverse down otherwise it is a toss of the coin as to whether I will injure someone or damage a vehicle.

I have no issues with the DSG otherwise. "Crawling" in traffic is not an issue and neither is parking with the incline up.

Someone has suggested it is a dodgy mechatronics unit, and I will be getting things checked out when I get back to Sydney after the holiday break.

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Tue 21 May 2013 17:40
vw caddy - 7 speed dsg faults - dieseldogg

Any update on 7 speed DSG issues.

I am about to go down the legal action route (again)

Having written directly to Alasdair Stuart?

MD of Skoda Uk.

Or should I perhaps contact HJ direct for inclusion in his column.

Regards

Marcus

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