First of all, because perhaps the most expensive part of it did not give rest – a DSG robot gearbox with “dry” clutches.
After 100 thousand km, she began to rudely shift between first and second gear, there were some noises such as rustling and sometimes ticking. At 130 thousand, “kicks” and twitching when starting became quite evident.
Volkswagen Golf II
How was the diagnosis made
The experience of people on the Internet indicated clutch wear – for the DQ200 box our mileage is considered “veteran”. Using the ELM327 adapter and one of the popular Android apps, we tried to estimate the wear accurately.
The couplings in the DQ200 are normally open. They are compressed by hydraulic actuators, by which you can judge how worn the clutch disc is. The difference between the extreme position of the rod (the maximum possible compression of the clutch) and the position at which 100% of the torque starts to be transmitted is evaluated. With a new coupling, this is 7–10 mm. The critically small value is 1 mm.
It is believed that if the difference has reached 2 mm, then it’s time to think about replacing the couplings. On our Golf on coupling No. 1 this value was 1.22 mm, on coupling No. 2 – 2.08 mm.
Everything seems to fit – but just to be sure, they also carried out a diagnosis with a specialist service, which showed wear of only 30%!
Well, it’s unlikely, we decided.
Meanwhile, the cost of the original clutches cheerfully raised the bar to 150 thousand rubles, and the Golf received a “direction” to fix the box.
They took a BIV flywheel as a replacement – according to the military, it is not too bad in terms of price-quality ratio.
How was it repaired
Replacing clutches in “dry” DSGs yourself is not that difficult. But you need to have at hand sets of adjusting rings, and for the first time – also sharpen or buy mandrels.
Time is running out. In Moscow, many companies are involved in the repair of gearboxes in general and DSG in particular. We chose the one with the best value for money and positive reviews on the internet.
Disassembly of the transmission showed it to be in good condition. According to the military, with careful operation of the clutch, another 50 thousand kilometers would have served without intervention – that is, none of the “smart” diagnostics showed the real condition of the discs. The truth lay ‘somewhere in the middle’.
And the vibration when driving off came from the dual mass flywheel. There are no friction surfaces on it – it is connected to the clutch block by some kind of teeth. With wear, when the springs in the flywheel begin to compress, jerks appear. There was no clutch slip.
The Luk clutch kit includes almost everything you need to replace, including thrust bearings and forks, adjuster rings and more.
Of course, with the flywheel decided to change the clutch. The choice of spare parts for DSG is very wide: remanufactured parts, new non-original and original ones. We chose the middle option: a new Luk clutch kit and a BIV flywheel.
How much did you pay
In March 2022, all together cost 92 thousand rubles: 83 thousand rubles for spare parts and 9 thousand for work. To date, the cost of work has remained the same, but the price of parts has fallen. Now the same parts would cost 60 thousand rubles. Strange right?
But this only applies to the “non-original”. If we had gone to an official dealer today, we wouldn’t have had any pants at all. We would have been ripped off 21,600 rubles for work and … 301,340 rubles for parts! It seems that the officials are not thinking about lowering prices.
By the way, the restored flywheel for our Golf costs from 15 to 18 thousand rubles, it comes with a six-month warranty. A restored clutch – 25 thousand rubles with a one-year warranty.
The air conditioner started to cool down slightly. At first they just refueled – but after a year I still had to replace the radiator. The Luzar radiator cost 8 thousand rubles, plus 10 thousand for replacement and refueling.
What are the conclusions?
I would like to say that the DQ200 box and its repair were not as scary as the horror stories about it. But the problem is that clutch failure can immobilize the car. And it is quite natural to “blow into the water”, afraid of shocks and jerks in the operation of the tank – so as not to look for a tow truck somewhere in the middle of nowhere and at night. Difficulties with accurate clutch diagnosis also confused: none of this adds confidence to the DSG.
And although the Golf now drives like new, we started to take care of it, we rarely drive it – which inevitably led to, say, changing the battery. The cost of a kilometer has increased to almost 4.5 rubles at once – despite the fact that we service Volkswagen ourselves and get tires from him for free, after our tire tests.
Long downtime ended the battery – they took Totachi for a replacement for 7250 rubles.
But how cool does the Golf go when everything is fine! Fast, accurate, knocked down, confident. Pure-bred! I would like to keep this memory of a carefree life embodied in metal for longer.
Volkswagen Golf VII, 1.4T (140 hp), Р7
- Manufacturer —Volkswagen AG, Germany
- Year of issue – 2013
- In operation “Behind the wheel”» — since December 2013
- Mileage at the time of the report – 132,000km
Operating and maintenance costs (0-132,000 km)*
- Maintenance costs: 0–110,000 km 378 499₽
- Of which for petrol (AI-95, average consumption 7.1 l/100 km) 345 353₽
- Maintenance costs: 110,000–132,000 km 208 020 ₽
- 2021: filters, oil, refill air conditioner 6516 ₽
- 2022: filters, oil 4754 ₽
- replacement of clutches and flywheel 92 000 ₽
- air conditioning radiator replaced 18 000 ₽
- battery 7250 ₽
- hood gas stop 1400 ₽
- Of which for petrol (AI-95, average consumption 7.1 l/100 km) 78 100₽
- General expenses 586 519₽
- Costs 1 km run $4.44
* Excluding transport tax, as well as the costs of CMTPL and Casco policies.
You can ask a question about the operation of an editorial car in our section “Park ZR”.
- How drivers break the gearbox in an instant is described here.
- “Drive” can be read in Odnoklassniki
When the price of spare parts lost all shame in the spring of 2022, the Volkswagen Golf VII from the park “Behind the wheel” threatened to become real estate.
9 years with the Golf: DSG repair and calamities