Transmission trouble at 3K miles???

[keisuke_z]

I posted earlier in the "Annoying things about your Golf R" thread that my R seemed to have a strange fluttering/shuddering vibration when in neutral, and the clutch pedal is released. The sound went away when I pressed the clutch pedal in. After reading some of the gear changing issues/experiences here, I think I may have experienced this myself as well, but again, being a new stick driver - I didn't know any better....

Brought it into the dealership this morning and they initially thought it was just new gearbox, gear chatter and wanted to do some more research before doing deeper diagnosis but after a call to the western canada QA person and comparison against a Golf R they had on the lot.... I should be getting a proper diagnosis done at the end of next week. Definitely not a "normal" sound coming from the car... I've only got 1600 kms on it! Will keep you guys posted on whether my issue is anything similar to what you guys are experiencing...

Update! Techs drained the fluid and it was full of metal particles.. and have will be replacing the entire transmission. The car is down until the parts arrive... but apparently it must have happened during assembly...

[BlazedR]

Update! Techs drained the fluid and it was full of metal particles.. and have will be replacing the entire transmission. The car is down until the parts arrive... but apparently it must have happened during assembly...

This is concerning

[keisuke_z]

This is concerning

Indeed it is... I wonder if anyone else in Canada has experienced anything similar?

[iThread]

When they pull the transmission make sure they take the pressure plate off the flywheel and inspect the clutch to make sure it's not cracked as well.

[Siliconrane]

Indeed.

[keisuke_z]

When they pull the transmission make sure they take the pressure plate off the flywheel and inspect the clutch to make sure it's not cracked as well.

According to their database, I'm one of two customers so far in North America to have this specific issue. So it's looking different from the cracked clutch issue, but they'll definitely take a look at that as well. I should get another update on Monday...

[keisuke_z]

Update - confirmed they will be replacing the clutch as well... a brand new transmission is on its way by air from NYC. Fingers crossed for an uneventful installation over the next week!

[BigmountainVMD]

Holy crap. I'm trying to figure out how to to a preemptive check for these maladies without the car showing any symptoms... Oh and a complete lack of tools and mechanical knowledge.

[iThread]

Update - confirmed they will be replacing the clutch as well... a brand new transmission is on its way by air from NYC. Fingers crossed for an uneventful installation over the next week!

So, clutch was cracked?

[keisuke_z]

So, clutch was cracked?

Not sure - they have not taken out my current transmission, or pressure plate & clutch yet, but as a precaution it will all be replaced. They expect that likely, if there was transmission problem as serious as this, then there would potentially be unnecessary wear/tear on the clutch as well. I also wonder if this might have affected my mileage... I was only getting about 380km to the tank..

[GTINeon]

Indeed it is... I wonder if anyone else in Canada has experienced anything similar?

As I mentioned in another thread I have been experiencing excessive vibration and roughness in the clutch on mine. I'm at 2,000 KM and it feels like my old Neon already. Time to book the service, me thinks.

Where are you located keisuke?

[iThread]

Not sure - they have not taken out my current transmission, or pressure plate & clutch yet, but as a precaution it will all be replaced. They expect that likely, if there was transmission problem as serious as this, then there would potentially be unnecessary wear/tear on the clutch as well. I also wonder if this might have affected my mileage... I was only getting about 380km to the tank..

Keep us posted.

[JosephHatfield]

Any bets on how soon VW will decide to issue a recall for faulty clutch/transmission parts?

[pierovw]

Any bets on how soon VW will decide to issue a recall for faulty clutch/transmission parts?

Now that would be awesome

[sh{}e]

I've been reading up on Siliconrane's old thread along with this one. It sounds like the issue is not the clutch exactly. A clutch does not affect your gearbox unless it isn't disengaging completely. This would explain why it became harder to shift as the RPMS climbed. Same would hold true when shifting at idle(lower RPM), which would still be kind of notchy. It seems like you guys pushed hard enough to where it forced a gear selection without a grind(did you get grinds?). There is a strong possibility the synchronizers have some damage.

Initially, issues in the gearbox that relate to hard shifting are:

1. Cable linkage
2. Fluid
3. Debris (small particles can create serious issues)
4. Transmission not fully disengaging from engine. <-- I'm thinking this is the culprit.

I really cannot explain why the flywheel and clutch would have significant damage. There has to be a lot of play between the flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate that created a lot of on and off type of stress. Even then you would have to have felt something while driving to create that kind of impact. Thinking about a little more, I think that after releasing the clutch pedal, the pressure plate literally over-exerts too much force that is transferred back to the flywheel. The pictures that Siliconrane provided show the stress on the pressure plate. A stress crack like that is created either by heat and weak material or an unusual spike in force(engagement after shift). This correlates back to the disengagement and re-engagement issues.

It sucks you guys had to go through this, and it bothers me that a new car is experiencing this. I hope everything works out in the long-term.

[MissUnderstood]

I would absolutely refuse a stock clutch being put back in there! Get yourself a good Kevlar disc setup and be done with clutch problems for yrs. Unfortunately all it takes is 1 good slip on the disc to over heat it and cause fractures in the material. Its not made for high heat like other disc materials. My 2 cents

[keisuke_z]

As I mentioned in another thread I have been experiencing excessive vibration and roughness in the clutch on mine. I'm at 2,000 KM and it feels like my old Neon already. Time to book the service, me thinks.

Where are you located keisuke?

I'm in Vancouver - because it's my first manual car, I wouldn't be able to tell you whether the vibration and roughness I felt in the clutch is normal or not. However when my bro drove my car, he did comment on the vibration coming from the clutch and wasn't sure if it was normal either... I just attributed it to uh.... "engine feel"...

It sucks when you don't know what you don't know....

[keisuke_z]

As I mentioned in another thread I have been experiencing excessive vibration and roughness in the clutch on mine. I'm at 2,000 KM and it feels like my old Neon already. Time to book the service, me thinks.

Where are you located keisuke?

Update! The new transmission arrived last night, and they finished the installation and got my R back today.... I can confirm the following:

• There was indeed clutch vibration/roughness - because it's now GONE
• There was vibration in the shifter, which is now GONE
• The fluttering/vibration sound is now GONE

So... oddly enough - because this is my first manual car, and I basically learned how to drive stick on it, I actually became very accustomed to the vibration feedback in the clutch pedal... so now without it, it's like I'm driving a totally different car. I can confirm that the initial standing start in 1st gear is a bit smoother, and everything about the transmission feels... well, smoother. I would almost venture to say it feels "detached"... but that's only because I was used to its prior state (which would have ended badly, I suppose).

While unfortunate that a brand new car would require a new transmission right off the line, I definitely commend the folks at VW for the speediness of getting my R back up and running... drafting up my complaint letter to VW corporate though, as it seems that there are just too many North American R's with transmission problems...

[emulous]

Congratulations, I'm glad you got it fixed. Send a thank you note to your dealer, they handled it well. Mine won't touch my car with a ten foot pole, they keep telling me to drive it until it gets worse, guess I have to drive the six hours to the dealer I bought it from to get it fixed.

[webcrawlr]

Update! The new transmission arrived last night, and they finished the installation and got my R back today.... I can confirm the following:

• There was indeed clutch vibration/roughness - because it's now GONE
• There was vibration in the shifter, which is now GONE
• The fluttering/vibration sound is now GONE

So... oddly enough - because this is my first manual car, and I basically learned how to drive stick on it, I actually became very accustomed to the vibration feedback in the clutch pedal... so now without it, it's like I'm driving a totally different car. I can confirm that the initial standing start in 1st gear is a bit smoother, and everything about the transmission feels... well, smoother. I would almost venture to say it feels "detached"... but that's only because I was used to its prior state (which would have ended badly, I suppose).

While unfortunate that a brand new car would require a new transmission right off the line, I definitely commend the folks at VW for the speediness of getting my R back up and running... drafting up my complaint letter to VW corporate though, as it seems that there are just too many North American R's with transmission problems...

Did they end up doing any clutch work? Glad to hear you got all sorted out!

[keisuke_z]

Did they end up doing any clutch work? Glad to hear you got all sorted out!

They inspected the clutch and said it was fine - no cracks or damage... so didn't end up getting a new clutch.

[jayhova1]

I've been watching this thread due to some strange vibration/buzzing noises I am hearing while clutching, feathering and in lower rpms. Well I think I figured out my problem and wanted to share in case anyone here has similar symptoms.

Driveshaft rubbing heat shield.

[GTINeon]

I'm glad to hear you have some resolution!

Beginning today I have started to experience hard shifts and grinds under load. Today while doing some spirited driving I had the transmission refuse to slot into the gate a few times. The first few I ground 2nd and 3rd on upshift. After that I was much more deliberate with making sure the pedal was to the floor between shifts and only ground it going into 2nd once after that but it required a LOT of force to get the gearshift to get in to the damn gate.

With less than full load it seems to work fine but there is a bit of 'clunk' upon engagement both in feel and sound and a fair bit of vibration / chatter at the friction point.

The car is completely stock and I've never owned an automatic trans car; I've got over a half million km of driving a stick and like to think I know when something doesn't feel right. Dealer time. Sigh.

[emulous]

I have a bit of an update, don't know what the problem is yet, but I believe a found a dealership that is as concerned about this as I am, and so far they are taking great steps to make me feel comfortable that they will find and fix the problem.

All thanks to folks on vortex, too. Charles Maund VW got a new General Manager last week who already reached out to the local VW enthusiast community as he was involved with it several years back. I gave him a call yesterday and he immediately set off doing research and finding the right tech at his dealership for me to work with. I got a call from the service manager this morning stating that they want my car in there as soon as it's convient for me and will provide a loaner/rental at their expenese so they can take the proper time to diagnose and repair.

This is definetely a step in the right direction and hopefully we can determine what the actual problems are and get them corrected. Much better than the other VW dealership in the area that wants everything to get worse until they look at it.

Hopefully I will have something to report back shortly.

[emulous]

Dropped off my car this morning, they put me in a rental (which is being charged to the dealership), just got a call and said the master tech agrees there is definetely a problem, and wants to take the transmission apart to see what's going on, whatever parts that will be needed, will definetely need to be ordered, so they want to find me a loaner and get me out of the rental (obviously they realize this will take some time).

They promised to call me as soon as the can get the car up on a lift and I requested they take pictures.

I'll report back as soon as I hear what they found.

I'm so happy that this is finally getting proper attention.

[iThread]

Make sure that they also inspect the clutch, pressure plate, and flywheel.

[tamz273]

Interesting to come across this thread, as I just posted something similar over at GolfMK6; not quite the same though.

I started getting a weird "clicking" feeling when downshifting fast without rev-matching. When I let go of the clutch immediatly instead of feathering off.. Then yesterday I was engaging the clutch while having the steering wheel turned, and it felt like I had sand or gravel stuck somewhere in the clutch assembly.. I tried to reproduce the issue again but cant seem to figure out how to make it happen..

Did you (OP) or anyone else on this thread experience something like this while you started to have issues with the clutch/tranny??

[emulous]

I got a call from my dealer saying that after a very short drive they knew something was wrong, they took everything apart to get to the clutch and sure enough it was cracked. They ordered a new clutch and was sent the wrong one. I went to the dealership because they wanted me to get out of the Jetta rental from enterprise and into a CC loaner, and offered to show me the clutch and pressure plate.

The clutch was cracked in three different places, which was only on one side of the clutch (not all the way through to the opposite side). The pressure plate looked brand new, no stress marks, no dimples, denting, warping or discoloration.

I asked about the flywheel and synchros, and was told they look fine. I said I expected a full transmission fluid flush and refill and was told, yes sir. The reordered part is expected in on Tuesday, and I should have my car back on Wednesday.

Let's hope that fixes everything. Since I got my car in early February and the other guy on here with a cracked clutch (three times also) got his in January, ours were obviously early production cars for the US. One could think just a limited bad batch of clutches. If it was wider spread I'm sure most folks on here would already have the problem, as my stock R started showing trouble at 2k miles, and his stage 1 R did too around the same mileage.

They are treating me right so far and a nice plus that the gave me a CC loaner and not the base golf loaner they had.

[iThread]

When you got the car isn't necessarily indicative of when it was built. If the community wants to narrow down a window it should be done based off of production week. For example, the first wave of west coast cars were built in mid-November but, didn't get into owners hands until late Jan early Feb. Meanwhile east coast/midwest cars were built in december/january and deliveries happened in early Jan/feb.

I'm stage 1+ right now with 2600 miles and so far no signs of trouble. I'll be stage 2+ next week and at the end of June I'll have the car on Laguna Seca for 2 days. If trouble is going to rear it's head it'll likely be there.

I don't think any of the west coasters have run into this yet so it might be limited to cars produced in December.

My build week was 11/14/2011. AFAK that was the first production week for US Spec R's. That's based on the track your R thread, no one in that thread had a build week earlier than that and several people on the west coast had that same build week.

[JosephHatfield]

Glad to hear your car will soon be fixed!

And I hope you're right about the failing clutch likely being a problem only for early North American builds. I'm only at 1500 miles, but at my current mileage I'll reach 2000 miles by June 14; I still fully expect my clutch to shatter into three pieces on that day as I'm driving to work.

p.s. So...are you going to get a tune the day after you get your car back?

[bje22201]

Anyone else have any issues with their clutch/transmission?

I'm not sure if mine was being weird today or not. I'm pretty sure I was getting a clunk going into 2nd a few times today. Also, it felt like I was in gear. . . let out the clutch, and then it popped further into gear (so obviously it wasn't all the way in).

It's never done any of this before today. . . and I'm not sure if the excessive heat had anything to do with it.

I'm not 100% certain if it's changed or not. . . but it feels like the tension on the clutch has gotten looser during the last few inches of travel when letting it out.

Just hope I just need some sort of adjustment and not a bigger issue as I only have around 1000k. . . and haven't driven it hard at all.

[emulous]

Glad to hear your car will soon be fixed!

p.s. So...are you going to get a tune the day after you get your car back?

Thanks, no tune until I'm out of warranty and it's no longer my daily driver.

[emulous]

Picked up the car last night and she drives like a new car again. I'm going to follow new clutch break in procedures, so I will know for sure probably by the end of the weekend, as I have to go to my niece's graduation outside of Houston this weekend. I can definetely tell they did something as it's so much easier to shift in normal driving.

Props to Maund VW, they really treated me and my vehicle well and tried to make this as a little hastle as possible to me. I even think they waxed my car, needless to say it was spotless when I picked it up.

According to the ticket, new clutch, pressure plate and transmission fluid.

Hopefully this is the last of my clutch problems.