DSG Auto DMF Failing or Failures Thread

I just had mine replaced @ 55K under warranty. '06 with DSG

Having mine replaced as I write this .. 160,000 km ..

AUD $1580 for DMF. plus labour.

I just got my car back, the difference is from night to day .. Its sooo much quieter when cranking the engine (almost cant hear it), it starts almost immediately now and the rough idle is much less noticeable.

Overall I am pleased with the result, but not with the total cost of installation )

b1llyb0y said:

Having mine replaced as I write this .. 160,000 km ..

AUD $1580 for DMF. plus labour.

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Mine is starting to make noise. May have to take it in soon.

Don't wait too long.

I would also look for a local 'trusted tdi mechanic', see link in my sig, or find a local guru.

I did mine last winter. PITA, but doable in a weekend.

Tony

Does anyone have a list of the TTY bolts that are required when replacing the DMF? I got the little bolts that hold the flywheel to the engine, but i'm having trouble figuring out the rest of them. Thanks.

ALL the motor mount bolts on the transmission side need to be replaced.

IIRC, the motor to transmission bolts are reusable.

Tony

Just for the record, both of the DSG Dual Mass Flywheels were replaced in my 2006.5 and 2006 TDIs. All covered under VW warranty.

Dsg Dmf

I have an 06 TDI. I just had the drivers side axle rebuilt, it was loose, but I have had the rattling noise from the transmission for probably 50k or more. I have vibration and the noise, and have problems with the 2nd to 3rd gear up and down and slipping. I don't really get the vibration until about 60MPH +. Has anyone done a HOW-TO on this replacement, or are any vendors offering a "kit" as they do for the timing belt, cam, and all the other items that seem to fail early in these TDI's. I do thank the gentleman that posted the correct part numbers for the new replacement.

I guess I should look through the bottoms of my glasses. After examining the proceedure, it doesn't look too awful bad, but I think I'm going with the dealer on this one. I need the car for my commute and can't deal with the car down as long as it usually takes me to do repairs. Takes me a little longer than most an they can have it done in a day.

Thanks.

I just bought my wife an 06 Jetta TDI with a DSG at an auction and it sounds like it needs a new DMF. Does anyone know if the current replacement from VW is any better than the original part? And is their an aftermarket replacement out yet that is better?

DMF replacement

Hey guys, I just replaced my DMF last week. Did it in my garage about 10 hrs total time. Got the flywheel from Bora parts for 678.00 plus overnite Fed EX. This was a BIG JOB. But the pics and info on this thread was priceless!! Mine started vibrating, its been rattling for 2 yrs. though.. Anyway all is well.. It had 335,000 miles on it thanks Allen

SO far, I have not had any issues with mine...but it's only got 8800 miles since replacement.

I have not heard of replacements having the same issue.

Tony

DMF replacement

I was going to take my car to BAR tuning in Houston to get the DMF changed. I noticed that he was not on the trusted mechanic link anymore. Does anyone know why? You can pm me if you don't want to post the reason. Maybe it was just an oversight!?!?

There are several listed.

IIRC, user anut is local to houston. But, double check.

Tony

It looks as if I might be in for one as well. I have owned the car for 5 months. I have had the privilege of fixing the AC ($900), replacing the cam, ($1,700), tires, brakes & rotors, and a few more little things. I love the car, but really, isn't a TDI suppose to SAVE you money. Fortunately, I got it at a pretty good price. So I am not too bad.

Anyhow, the car now has a pretty rough deceleration and a very noticeable vibration that pulsates through the car.

Any other thoughts?

TonyJetta said:

There are several listed.

IIRC, user anut is local to houston. But, double check.

Tony

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anut (Anuthee) is in colorado. Runonbeer is in Austin. He and I worked together on replacing my DMF.

We were a bit worried when we got the old one off and it had just as much play as the new one. But the noise is gone and the car drives so much better. It drives how it was meant to be I think.

****! how many miles does the power train warranty last.. I have this same problem, and I think I waited so long that now it won't be covered, this should be a recall dammit..

IIRC, powertrain is 50k or 60k miles.

For the most part, I don't want any dealers touching my car.

I would try to find a local guru to do the work. See the link in my signature for 'trusted tdi mechanics'

Tony

keyfarms said:

Hey guys, I just replaced my DMF last week. Did it in my garage about 10 hrs total time. Got the flywheel from Bora parts for 678.00 plus overnite Fed EX. This was a BIG JOB. But the pics and info on this thread was priceless!! Mine started vibrating, its been rattling for 2 yrs. though.. Anyway all is well.. It had 335,000 miles on it thanks Allen

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I did the same thing. Bought the parts from BB and started late Saturday morning. Quit that night when I got the transmission put back in, buttoned it up Sunday AM and drove 500 miles that same day. Huge difference. Have beat the hell out of it since and it's been great. About 20k miles on the new one now. (mine was also the *new* part number)

The hardest part is getting all the right tools ahead of time. You've got to have the triple square bits, and I can't remember who suggested it but the ratcheting adapters for box wrenches are brilliant. I had never seen them before, but I found a set at Northern Tool for a very reasonable price!

abakos said:

The hardest part is getting all the right tools ahead of time. You've got to have the triple square bits, and I can't remember who suggested it but the ratcheting adapters for box wrenches are brilliant. I had never seen them before, but I found a set at Northern Tool for a very reasonable price!

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I'm getting ready to replace the DMF im my 06 Jetta and I'm wondering how important the ratcheting wrench adapters are? Also, does the Bentley manual provide any useful info other than torque specs? I found that a lot of the info in my A4 Bentley manual is vague and generic (eg. how to replace the alternator) It basically says remove the belt, electrical connections and mounting bolts and remove the alternator. They forgot to mention that the tensioner is in the way and so is the rad hose.

Sometimes the manual is vague and sometimes it gives good detail.

I would rather have more information than not.

Tony

2006 Jetta Flywheel Cracked at 69k miles

Hi - I joined the forum after finding some threads on the DMF issues. My flywheel is cracked and luckily I got it in before it ruined the entire drivetrain. However, because I'm at 69k miles (69k babied, vw serviced on time, one owner miles) VWoA refuses to pay for it.

From my understanding, VW knew that this part was faulty and decided against recalling even though it was known to fail at a high(er) rate than normal (from my understanding a flywheel should last the life of the car - aka 100k-200k miles at least).

So, I've lodged a complaint with VW, and they don't care, and now with NHTSA (who probably won't care) and I'm calling a lawyer cousin to see if I can't use his legal stationary )).

Any suggestions (I tried searching but this seemed to be the best thread) of what else I might do to get them to pay? I guess I'm one of the lucky ones who got away with only $2k worth of damage but I'm still paying on the car and this makes me really unhappy.

Debaser42 said:

Hi - I joined the forum after finding some threads on the DMF issues. My flywheel is cracked and luckily I got it in before it ruined the entire drivetrain. However, because I'm at 69k miles (69k babied, vw serviced on time, one owner miles) VWoA refuses to pay for it.

From my understanding, VW knew that this part was faulty and decided against recalling even though it was known to fail at a high(er) rate than normal (from my understanding a flywheel should last the life of the car - aka 100k-200k miles at least).

So, I've lodged a complaint with VW, and they don't care, and now with NHTSA (who probably won't care) and I'm calling a lawyer cousin to see if I can't use his legal stationary )).

Any suggestions (I tried searching but this seemed to be the best thread) of what else I might do to get them to pay? I guess I'm one of the lucky ones who got away with only $2k worth of damage but I'm still paying on the car and this makes me really unhappy.

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You're probably stuck with the tab on this one, regardless of letterheads.

Yes there's a problem, and if you're out of warranty you have a snowball's chance...

$2k? Did you have the dealer do the repair or something? I did mine for between $7-800, but I did it myself.

to dotcom- The ratcheting adapters would be considered necessary in my book. There's one bolt in particular that is in a tight spot. A regular ratchet head is too large to fit in there, and a few inches straight out from the bolt head there is an obstruction so you can't use an extension. This is the bolt where you have to use the metalnerd 12pt adapter, and a ratcheting box wrench with one of these adapters is the ticket.

I use wobbles or double wobble joints. Plus the bolts are sized for triple square internal or external hexhead.

In just had the failure, My wife and I packed up the 2006 Jetta 66,800 miles. last night. 8am this morning started south on the Kansas Turnpike headed to warm weather in Texas. About 25 miles from Topeka running 70 mph, it suddenly down shifted to 5th gear and the rpm of course went up. I caught it before to high of rpm. It started a grinding sound, I took a chance and turned back on the turnpike through one of those Highway Patrol turn arounds and babied it back toward home. At each long grade, it down shifted to 4th and a lot of grinding noise and loss of power. I feathered the throttle and ease it to the top of the grade and as we went down it shifted up the 6th again. Each timel, my wife and I praying to keep going, I would have pulled over and got a tow truck, but it was minus two degree's outside and we were a distance from any town when it happened.
For the record it is a 2006 Jetta66,800 ,miles, I purchased as the second owner. When it was delivered I noticed a little noise under the hood, it sounded like two pieces of metal shrouding knocking together, never suspected a tranny problem. I am 68 and I have never heard a transmission make noise like that. It's Saturday so I will not know anything until Monday... I wish there was a Guru close by or ABAKOS seems to know what he is doing. I can't believe VW would put a vehicle on the road with that kind of problem. I have had 5 Buick Park Ave with the 3800 engine, drove all of them to 150,000 and all were excellent dependable vehicles... I guess I really screwed up giving up a dependable brand to go to the Jetta.. Shame on me..
I did bring the car in right after I purchased it for the transmission fluid change at 57 or 58 thousand miles... I told the SERVICE MANAGER to check the metal rattling under the hood and see if he could determine what or where it came from. When I picked up the unit after the filter and fluid change he told me he couldn't determine where the noise was coming from. Sounds like a coverup perhaps... I am going to have to pull the orginal work order with that noise indicated on the work sheet before I call VW America.
Anyone else have any suggestions??????? Thanks You John

YODAUSA said:

In just had the failure, My wife and I packed up the 2006 Jetta 66,800 miles. last night. 8am this morning started south on the Kansas Turnpike headed to warm weather in Texas. About 25 miles from Topeka running 70 mph, it suddenly down shifted to 5th gear and the rpm of course went up. I caught it before to high of rpm. It started a grinding sound, I took a chance and turned back on the turnpike through one of those Highway Patrol turn arounds and babied it back toward home. At each long grade, it down shifted to 4th and a lot of grinding noise and loss of power. I feathered the throttle and ease it to the top of the grade and as we went down it shifted up the 6th again. Each timel, my wife and I praying to keep going, I would have pulled over and got a tow truck, but it was minus two degree's outside and we were a distance from any town when it happened.
For the record it is a 2006 Jetta66,800 ,miles, I purchased as the second owner. When it was delivered I noticed a little noise under the hood, it sounded like two pieces of metal shrouding knocking together, never suspected a tranny problem. I am 68 and I have never heard a transmission make noise like that. It's Saturday so I will not know anything until Monday... I wish there was a Guru close by or ABAKOS seems to know what he is doing. I can't believe VW would put a vehicle on the road with that kind of problem. I have had 5 Buick Park Ave with the 3800 engine, drove all of them to 150,000 and all were excellent dependable vehicles... I guess I really screwed up giving up a dependable brand to go to the Jetta.. Shame on me..
I did bring the car in right after I purchased it for the transmission fluid change at 57 or 58 thousand miles... I told the SERVICE MANAGER to check the metal rattling under the hood and see if he could determine what or where it came from. When I picked up the unit after the filter and fluid change he told me he couldn't determine where the noise was coming from. Sounds like a coverup perhaps... I am going to have to pull the orginal work order with that noise indicated on the work sheet before I call VW America.
Anyone else have any suggestions??????? Thanks You John

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I don't pretend to be an expert, but I have done the job and read every thread I could find on it.

The failures just seem to be unpredictable. Some people seem to drive them forever with noise and don't worry about it, other people never even get the chance to hear the subtle noise and go straight to the loud noise.

Regarding the questions about the ratchet adapters above, I took some pics during the job. Didn't even think about using external hex since this fit so nicely:

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z159/abakos/VW/DSC07619.jpg

edit - pay no attention to the trans fluid puddled up in that area. I took loose the cooler hoping that it would be easier, but I found out that it doesn't drain itself. Better to lose a bit of coolant.

67000 miles and my car is exhibiting some of the tell-tale-signs for the DMF:
1. When idling, a scratchy sound originating from below the engine
2. Intermittent belt-like-squeak when accelerating from a stop
3. Down-shifting rough from 2nd to 1st

Should have gotten the extended warranty............

You guys are fast: a dealership quoted me that it would take 13 hours to do the job.

Cubes

Did mine the other day, tried to get the dealership to replace the clutch pack, because the reverse shudders badly, no go.. Oh well got the good DMF..

Yes, you have to lower the driver side lower control arm, which messes up the alignment, Guess what VW says you can get it close, so they dont pay for an alignment.

Still have a reverse shudder and an out of alignment front end AND SOMETIMES A FALSE NEUTRAL..

I will fix it..

Mach1 said:

Did mine the other day, tried to get the dealership to replace the clutch pack, because the reverse shudders badly, no go.. Oh well got the good DMF..

Yes, you have to lower the driver side lower control arm, which messes up the alignment, Guess what VW says you can get it close, so they dont pay for an alignment.

Still have a reverse shudder and an out of alignment front end AND SOMETIMES A FALSE NEUTRAL..

I will fix it..

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Actually my alignment was good after the job, but you should still check it. Sears checked it for me and determined that it was fine, so no charge

Thanks for the heads up, mine is out the wheel is off center..