DSG problem...?

[Tim-D]

Hi all - my boy has a 2013 dsg equipped leon - it's not used much, is serviced inline with recommendations and at 11 years old it's on 33k - winter seems to have started finishing off the end of life battery in that the stop start only begins to work after half an hour or so of driving.
I drove it yesterday and before the engine is fully warmed up it's developed hesitancy on changing to 6th & 7th , seems to take a few attempts to go into gear- when warmed up its fine... no error codes are showing
It's headed towards dsg oil & filter change mandated for 40K but before I book it in to have this done I'm wondering whether the low voltage in the battery may be the root cause...... any views gratefully received!

[phumy]

If youve got 11 years out of the battery, it will be coming towards the end of its life and theyre not too expensive, even for a decent make. Personally i would change the battery anyway, irrespective of if the gearbox is due a service anyway.

[TimmyMallett]

Low voltages on cars can cause all sorts of weird stuff. I'd just swap it to exclude it if it needs doing.

It may not have hit 40k but 11 year old dsg oil would be my second red flag - 3k miles a year I'd warrant is a lot of town short journeys.

Edited by TimmyMallett on Friday 9th February 11:58

[Dr G]

Battery, gearbox service, gearbox adaptations, and go from there.

May be all it needs.

[cuprabob]

Would the 7sp in a 2013 Leon not be the dry clutch variant? Wasn't it later on that the 7sp wet clutch variants were fitted to the higher power / torque cars?

In my experience of DSG, albeit from 18 years ago, when it's cold and not up to operating temperature you do get the odd hesitation, indecision and jerkiness. Possibly things have moved on since then.

Edited by cuprabob on Friday 9th February 13:21

Edited by cuprabob on Friday 9th February 13:23

[Glosphil]

That's the dry clutch gearbox & doesn't need the 40k service.

My 2018 Leon FR 1.4TSi DSG has done 34.5k miles & had a new battery fitted 2 days ago. It was throwing up a multitude of errors concerning almost everything that used the electrics.

Exide battery was close to £170.

Make sure the car is coded to accept the new battery or its life will be shortened due to incorrect charging & any error codes won't be cleared.

Edited by Glosphil on Friday 9th February 16:44

[Tim-D]

thanks very much all - new battery on order - we'll see!

[catso]

TimmyMallett said:

Low voltages on cars can cause all sorts of weird stuff. I'd just swap it to exclude it if it needs doing.

I had a 3.2 A3 with the 6-speed dry clutch DSG box and it had a weak battery at one point. Quite frequently after starting the engine with a low battery it would 'cycle' all errors in the display; ABS, coolant, brake fluid etc. and sometimes it would cause gearchange issues where the box would be sluggish, gradually disabling gears until eventually it would stop with no drive.

After restarting (by now the battery had some power) it would be fine and a new battery completely cured it.

[cuprabob]

catso said:

TimmyMallett said:

Low voltages on cars can cause all sorts of weird stuff. I'd just swap it to exclude it if it needs doing.

I had a 3.2 A3 with the 6-speed dry clutch DSG box...

Pretty sure it would have been a 6-speed wet clutch DSG on that car.

[catso]

cuprabob said:

catso said:

TimmyMallett said:

Low voltages on cars can cause all sorts of weird stuff. I'd just swap it to exclude it if it needs doing.

I had a 3.2 A3 with the 6-speed dry clutch DSG box...

Pretty sure it would have been a 6-speed wet clutch DSG on that car.

You are of course correct, my mistake.

To add, I traded it in at around 90k miles and (other than the battery incident) the gearbox had been perfect. I did change the oil/filter as per service schedule.

I replaced it with another wet clutch DSG (S4) which, at 41k miles is still going good.

[TimmyMallett]

I had an annoying issue where mine beeped and wouldn't go out of Park. I then realised it was because the door was open.

[Tim-D]

Just to round this one out....popped in a new battery and car went into a form of limp mode with an alarming number of issues flagging up....drove for a gentle mile or two with car refusing to shift up beyond d5.... Turned it off and restarted and all is well ....everything working absolutely fine....

[catso]

Tim-D said:

Just to round this one out....popped in a new battery and car went into a form of limp mode with an alarming number of issues flagging up....drove for a gentle mile or two with car refusing to shift up beyond d5.... Turned it off and restarted and all is well ....everything working absolutely fine....

Now would be a good time to 'autoscan' with VCDS or similar and clear all the faults that will have accumulated due to the low voltage, allowing you to check that the fault is indeed cured in the future, but it sounds like you have solved it.

Also, not sure if the new battery should be 'coded' to the car?

[Glosphil]

Tim-D said:

Just to round this one out....popped in a new battery and car went into a form of limp mode with an alarming number of issues flagging up....drove for a gentle mile or two with car refusing to shift up beyond d5.... Turned it off and restarted and all is well ....everything working absolutely fine....

You must have the car's system re-coded to the new battery or it could be overcharged which will shorten its life.

I've discovered that many 'battery specialists' don't do this or even mention the need to the customer. In my case the local independant VAG garage did it for me, & cleared all the error codes, free of charge (pun not intended).