DSG Auto DMF Failing or Failures Thread

[ITDID]

My update...I have 93,000 on my second dmf, and the same number on the DSG (it got taken out when the 1st dmf grenaded). Things are running OK so far, but I keep a close ear to the engine compartment whenever I start these days for the now well (youtube) documented 'box of rocks' sound.

If there's anyone else out there with mega-miles since DMF changeout, please share.

Thanks

-ITDI'd in '09 (bought used w/55k miles)

 

[williamgd2]

I read a lot about these cars before I bought but I missed the dmf trouble. if I read that I probably wouldn't have bought my tdi. But for some strange reason I am glad I missed that info.

 

[Elfnmagik]

I believe there is only one reported DMF failure here on '09-current. The belief is that maybe VW remedied the problem from the '06 models. Time will tell though.

 

[williamgd2]

There are others

I believe there is only one reported DMF failure here on '09-current. The belief is that maybe VW remedied the problem from the '06 models. Time will tell though.

There's more than 1 reported but not a ton. I think vw made improvments but dmf in all of there cars are trouble. I was reading that the dmf has nylon planitary gears in them that fail along with the springs. There should be a good US or German company that starts manurfactering a well built upgraded one. I know they would sell a ton of them.

 

[Elfnmagik]

How about Luk?

 

[GTIDan]

I just had my dmf dsg replaced at 66000 miles 2010 Jetta. I got the same thing from the dealer saying there was nothing wrong with the transmission and they had the car for 3 days before calling me asking me to pick it up nothing wrong. They charged me $110.00 diagnostic fee. I then took the car to ammco I know I was hesitant. They honored my extended warrenty did the job and gave me 1yr coverage on the job. Car now drives better than when I bought it.

Wow, you are brave. Having AMMCO touch your trannie is the same as having Jiffy-Lube change your oil. NOT in my lifetime.

 

[williamgd2]

Luk = oem

How about Luk?

I thought luk made dmf for VW. I mean some company that doesn't use nylon planetary gears in there dmf. How about a company that does a new design dmf? One that works better and lasts. Wait I am still sleeping and working on my second mug of coffee.

 

[williamgd2]

It wasn't a rebuild

Wow, you are brave. Having AMMCO touch your trannie is the same as having Jiffy-Lube change your oil. NOT in my lifetime.

All ammco had to do is drop the trans and replace the dmf and throwout bearing and I know they can pull a transmission. I would never even think to have them rebuild my DSG. I know ammco has a shady reputation but the dealer pretended they didn't hear the dmf rap and said there was nothing wrong so how can you do worse than that? 600+ miles after the dmf replace no problems. YET

 

[TonyJetta]

All ammco had to do is drop the trans and replace the dmf and throwout bearing and I know they can pull a transmission.

Did they install new bolts into the flywheel? Those are one-time-use (TTY) bolts. Also, the transmission mount-to-chassis bolts must be replaced as well; TTY.

Tony

 

[Ludicrous Speed TDI CUP]

Depends on how you drive it too... knowing the design on the DMF and how it works will make you more aware of how to drive it to save the DMF>....

With the Malone tune the transmission is softer feeling and less jerky... I'm pretty sure it'll save mine... (But I have a extra here just in-case)
~Scott

 

[bannister]

I just had my dmf dsg replaced at 66000 miles 2010 Jetta. I got the same thing from the dealer saying there was nothing wrong with the transmission and they had the car for 3 days before calling me asking me to pick it up nothing wrong. They charged me $110.00 diagnostic fee. I then took the car to ammco I know I was hesitant. They honored my extended warrenty did the job and gave me 1yr coverage on the job. Car now drives better than when I bought it.

What noises/symptoms did you notice?

I've got a 2011 that makes a rattle/grinding noise on the 2-1 downshift as it comes to a stop. Dealer said it was normal, nothing to worry about earlier this year but it's clunking from 3-2 and the rattling noise from 2-1 while stopping is getting worse.

edit: It's completely smooth and quiet all other times. No noise upshifting, no clunks or rattles at idle, no vibration and no noises when I shut it off.

 

[williamgd2]

Ammco replaced all the bolts and even though the warranty would not cover it I had them replace the throw out bearing. The failing dmf rapped at idle loudly especially when cold. The car drove and shifted fine but reading here I knew its time was limited.

 

[D-Cell_Mekanick]

Ammco replaced all the bolts and even though the warranty would not cover it I had them replace the throw out bearing. The failing dmf rapped at idle loudly especially when cold. The car drove and shifted fine but reading here I knew its time was limited.

Good call. Don't worry about people calling you out on having a non guru fixing your car. The fact is, it's fixed, at least for now. Good luck! These cars take a bit more finess than the normal car does.

 

[TonyJetta]

Ammco replaced all the bolts...

Glad to hear that. Sounds like you may have found a good Aamco shop.

Tony

 

[williamgd2]

I would love to find a local Guru to do work or even help me work on my car. I have 35 years automotive repair experience but after 2 major surgeries it is tough for me to do major jobs on my car myself. If I didn't have the warranty I would have done the job myself but I know now it wouldn't be an easy job. I did do all the required maintanience myself and even some trouble shooting finding glowplug #2 went bad with a vcds code. But besides the old Bettles the TDi is something I am learning about.

 

[Vipervnm]

What exactly are you referring to as the throwout bearing? This transmission doesn't have a slave cylinder/clutch fork set up because there's no pressure plate on the flywheel. When I did mine the kit didn't include a bearing and there's no shaft location for a throwout bearing to float on. There's a pilot bearing for the input shaft to mount to the engine and keep centered. Is that it?

 

[williamgd2]

I think your getting too technical in what I am calling it

What exactly are you referring to as the throwout bearing? This transmission doesn't have a slave cylinder/clutch fork set up because there's no pressure plate on the flywheel. When I did mine the kit didn't include a bearing and there's no shaft location for a throwout bearing to float on. There's a pilot bearing for the input shaft to mount to the engine and keep centered. Is that it?

I didn't do the job and I didn't buy the parts but I have a knowledge of how things work. My 2010 tdi dsg when I hit the brake to stop the dsg goes into a neutral state.The way I believe this works and I don't know for sure again because I didn't do the job and the Vw tdi is new to me. Even though the dsg is a automatic it has a clutch to do as I described above put the dsg in a neutral state when stopped. So if what I said is even close to true there must be a bearing usually a rotating one usually called a throw out bearing. If its called something else and could be it functions like a throw out bearing. Now I am not here to bicker just to learn and maybe meet some other nice people interested in learning and teaching about these great cars. It was refered to by the ammco tech as a throw out bearing and the cost while they had the dsg pulled was $38.00 Now I am not a teacher here what did I comment that was wrong?

 

[Vipervnm]

Nope definitely not trying to bicker or make accusations. It's just that the only bearing I know of external to the DSG that the trans touches in some way is the pilot bearing. A throwout bearing slides to provide a stationary surface and a rotating surface to 'throw out' or disengage a clutch plate from a flywheel in a traditional manual. I'm not very familiar with all the inner workings of a DSG but I think it's a wet clutch pack which engages/disengages based on fluid pressure. This is completely internal and any bearings would, I imagine only be accessible if it were opened up. I was just hoping that you paid for something and got it as opposed to just getting a list item on a bill. Maybe someone else will chime in and enlighten us?

 

[oilhammer]

Some 02E DSGs have a pilot bearing, some don't. Not sure the reason why that is, but I have seen them both ways.

There is not a throwout bearing of course.

 

[SilverGhost]

How about I help out? The DSG transaxle uses two, nested, automatic transmission style wet clutches. Both are inside the cover visible when the transaxle is removed.

As far as throwout bearings or pilot bearings - the input shaft always turns to run the pump in the transaxle and is splined the to flywheel. It is never disengaged at the flywheel.

Jason

PS, I'll check when I get to work for pictures, I'm a better visual learner.

 

[williamgd2]

So I either got ripped off a few bucks on the job or the tech renamed some other bearing or part as a throw out bearing. You can't trust anyone.

 

[White10tdi]

I've read through this thread after I noticed an unusual noise at start up with my 2010 DSG. I'd appreciate any advice you all can give me.

Current milage 53,840

Symptoms: At start up (warm/cold) a faint "tink tink tink" can be heard. It slowly fades away after about 10-15 seconds and if driven it can be heard at parking lot speeds. Once above say 15mph the "tink tink tink" sound fades away. Also the sound is very faint...if the radio was turned on even at the lowest of volume you would not hear it.

Thanks for your insight in advance

 

[TonyJetta]

Unfortunately, you may have to wait for the noise to get worse before the dealer will even acknowledge the noise, much less say anything needs to be done about it.

The tell tale noise ranges from...
A scratching sound on cold start (mine)
up to..
A bunch of marbles in a tin can.

In my case, the car was ~20k miles out of warranty. Given that I had the time and skills, I did it myself, not trusting the dealer wrenches.

In your case, you may want to get it into the dealership to start documenting the issue, even if they claim they can't hear it.

Tony

 

[Ludicrous Speed TDI CUP]

The tell tale noise ranges from...
A scratching sound on cold start (mine)
up to..
A bunch of marbles in a tin can.

In my case, the car was ~20k miles out of warranty. Given that I had the time and skills, I did it myself, not trusting the dealer wrenches.

Yep... ours was like bowling balls in a dryer... but it ate all the splines out of the DMF and must have been so out of round that it pop'd the huge C clip out of the clutch pack inside the actual cover of the trans allowing the input shaft to just flop around.

I'd never taken one of these out but from starting of removal to transmission out on the ground I had less than 2hrs in it. Wasn't rushing either. It's one of the easiest FWD trans I've ever removed.
I found a DMF on ebay for 200ish I think...> I replaced the trans cover just in case the seal had been damaged. Put it back together and it's great!
I'd replace that DMF ASAP lol.
~Scott

 

[csnow]

Add me to the list of dmf failures. I just replaced mine yesterday. Took me and my buddy about 5 hours start to finish. I started the car and there was no more rattle. Haven't drove it yet, planning on that this morning then going to recalibrate the transmission and see if there is any improvement there as well. All in all it wasn't to bad of a job. Thanks to the forum for all the how to and previous people posting tips and tricks for this task.

 

[JSanta]

Add me to the list. My 06's DMF basically exploded. There were no warning signs other than a rough idle yesterday waiting to turn onto my street. I had scheduled my appointment for a new timing belt and water pump today but I was not planning on this!

 

[bgbearnavy]

Me too....

I have had to do several major repairs around 173,000 miles....

- Head and Cam Shaft
- DMF
- EGR Cooler
- Add a new AC compressor
- both radiator fans and motors


all for the lovely sum of $7500 bucks!!!!

 

[DRbillZ]

Add me. Mine went at 114,000 miles. I guess I'm......lucky? 2006 DSG.

While it's in great shape now, should I thing about selling?

 

[sathackr]

2009 Jetta TDI

Bought the car with 80k miles on it, had the telltale rattle at idle during the test drive. Dealer tried to say it was just a dust plate.

Dealer replaced DMF as a condition of the sale.

I also test drive another 2009 with about 80k on it with the same issue(different dealer), that dealer tried to say it was an exhaust rattle.

During my shopping I test drove three 2009 and one 2006. One of the 09 was a manual, it did not have DMF issues. The 2006 was a manual too, no DMF issues but did have a pulsation in the clutch pedal. Both 2009 DSGs I drove had a bad DMF.

On a positive note...checked the fuel filter on the 09 I just bought and no metal shavings

 

[TT71]

Replaced mine during the end of May. I got almost 140,000 out of mine.