Audi A3 smokes under heavy acceleration, MPG drop & sluggish DSG

[Lillymoe]

Hi

I am having problems with my petrol 20T S-Line DSG, under heavy acceleration (mostly over taking) I always leave the car behind in a pool of smoke, its like a dusty looking smoke, not oil or condensation smoke. Since this has been happening the MPG has dropped massively, im getting 100 miles less out of a tank of fuel.
Also when the car drops back in to first ready for pull away it either jerks and is really sluggish or it wheel spins off, there is no happy medium no matter how hard I try and control it.
It is going back to the garage next week, luckily it came with a year used car warranty. On the last visit they said it was a fuel valve and a gasket but this has not helped with the smoking, they said that the Gears was just a normal DSG thing ???

Can anyone help on this one ?

Lillymoe

[UK_TIVO]

Hi,
My wife's car is an 2.0T FSI with DSG box also. We have also noticed these very things over the last few weeks. MPG has dropped from 32 ish to 23 ish.. What are you getting?
Also, my wife has complained about excess smoke coming from the exhaust.
She has also said that it does feel sluggish.

I took it back to the dealer this week. They ran tests and as always, found nothing.. BUT since we have had it back, the smoke is less, its quick and the MPG is back up to 30 ish.. although they said they did nothing..

Strange...
Roy

[Lillymoe]

Ah yes that old chestnut, that what the original garage said to me, what they did was reset the computer and clear any faults, this did work with mine for a few weeks, but its all back again. At the moment I am getting between 200 / 250 miles to a tank, and Im using V-Power (shell) to see if that makes any difference, but no. I was previously getting 350 / 400 miles out of a tank of fuel, sure wish it was still doing it, its costing me a packet !! My brother is a licenced Tech at VW and they are having problems with the DSG gearboxes at the moment, they are reseting the basic settings and this has been ok on some, but some have had to change the mechatronics (main valve chest, does all the gear changes) and software upgrades for the engine, VW have also got a recall out for the fuel pumps, high pressure ones, but for some reason Audi are not doing this but it is the same engines !!! My car is going back into the garage this Thurs (26th) if I get a better update from them I will let you know.

[ed'sA3-1.8THK]

press audi uk customer service for "hpfp tri-lobe cam wear" evaluation by your main audi agent

ALL rubber cam belt petrol fsi engines are possible candidates - although problem only modest numbers

ALL chain cam drive petrol tfsi/fsi engines are NOT involved in hpfh quad-lobe cam wear issue

as you know borg warner is dsg designer/component manufacturer - although several makes including vag are now manufacturing their own versions

clutchpack friction material specs have moved all over spreadsheet as result - necessitating "revisions" in hydraulic pressure circuits, dsgcontrol module mapping and small numbers of clutchpack replacement

sudden increase in rate of fuel consumption may be (1) bad coilpacks (2) bad maf (3)worn hpfp cam lobes (4) dsg "selected gear ratio" being inappropriate for driving conditions

vw already dealing with customer cars, audi must be pressed in nice way to evaluate SAME engine/trans issues

do not drive car until it drops - press for evaluation of problems

[UK_TIVO]

I asked Audi for help and here is the reply i got.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr Fox,

Thank you for your email highlighting the concerns that you have with your Audi.

In the nature of your correspondence, we appoint a network of Audi Centres throughout the United Kingdom who are best equipped to answer and resolve any queries of this nature that customers may have. Naturally, all of these centres have access to dedicated Technical Department who can offer them additional support if necessary.

I would, therefore recommend that you contact xxxxxxxx, Aftersales Manager at Stoke Audi, who will be best placed to resolve this situation to your satisfaction. Their telephone number is 01782590400.

In closing, thank you for taking time to bring this matter to our attention, giving us the opportunity to reply.

Kind Regards




Audi Customer Services


===========================================
So basically back to the place that told me nothing was wrong..
It really isn't good enough..

[UK_TIVO]

My reply.


================================================== ===
Dear Mr xxxxxx,
I have to admit I'm disappointed with your stock reply.
In case my notes were not passed onto you, it was Stoke Audi that looked at the car about 10 days ago and advised that they could not find a fault, even after the test engineer confirmed on a test drive before the car was reset that the fuel consumption was 23MPG. As you can see from this thread running an a forum, there are now other, un-connected A3 owners, all with 2.0TFSI with DSG auto boxes all experiencing the same issues and to be perfectly honest, all being told there isn't an issue.
It seems VW have in deed recognized that there may be a limited number of vehicles with this DSG box, that may encounter a drop in MPG along with other issues I've highlighted. Why hasn't Audi also recognized these issues? It seems the issues could be related to:

sudden increase in rate of fuel consumption may be (1) bad coilpacks (2) bad maf (3)worn hpfp cam lobes (4) dsg "selected gear ratio" being inappropriate for driving conditions
vw already dealing with customer cars, audi must be pressed in nice way to evaluate SAME engine/trans issues
do not drive car until it drops - press for evaluation of problems

As a matter of customer satisfaction, I would at minimum expect you to contact Mr xxxx at Stoke Audi and inform him fully of my case details so far and ask him to call me to arrange the car to be analyzed correctly. Has this been done?

I await your comments.
Mr Fox

[ed'sA3-1.8THK]

tivo

I post this in proactive supportive spirit - you must let same dealer service centre examine your audi again - and if no resolution, when you are there, firmly request national level technical manager to make appointment to view/evaluate your audi

this is step by step process, however as it involves issues of drivability and personal safety, you are encouraged to firmly request rapid evaluation of "believed" to be dsg related operational problem

audi dealer service may insist on changing dsg hydraulic fluid - at your expense - prior to phoning national level tech support office - insist that phone call be made while you are present, immediately after changing dsg fluid (dealer should save specimen for metals analysis by national office)

this is frustrating and time wasting, but it is procedure for warranty claims justification - if dsg bad - insist on refund of oil change cost UNLESS you have already passed mileage threshold for mandatory dsg fluid change

be persistent and be civil but firm

[UK_TIVO]

Thanks again for the information.
I always use my manners when talking to dealers. The car has 27K miles on the clock so I assume the DSG fluid should be fine but I will ask the question.
I did get a phone call yesterday from the service manager at th edelaer. He said that Audi log all faults reported and if this was an issue, they would have created a TPI (i think he said), he also said reading forums is not good as "a little knowlege is dangerous".

Why these dealers don't just listen to customers comments I've no idea. I've had all sorts of cars over the last few years, Audi A6, RS4, BMW M5, 330 Coupe, X5... to name a few and ALL the dealers have all been the same.. Its too easy to tell you there is nothing wrong...

The service manager said he will investigate my claims with Audi to see if there is anything logged elsewhere and come back to me.....

Roy

[Lillymoe]

AHHHH I now have more issues with the car, when the car is in N,P on the DSG there is no noise when switching between them, as soon as you put it into drive it crunches........ sounds like that is going to be expensive ! and for some reason there is a whine in first and second when moving slowly in traffic, its quite loud, also when sitting in N the engine hunts every now and again. I have had a computer plugged in but no faults showing, so there is no issue with anything electrical, but I have been advised that there is a ECU fault on VW's with the AXX engine, same as mine but it does not show on the computer. The smoking has since got worse and its now doing it on pull away, but this time its white smoke.....
I have also been on to Audi head office as I was assured on purchasing the car that it was given the recommended service (36571) and I have just looked in the book and it should have had a 40k which is spark plugs, DSG oil & Brake fluid...... guess what..... no it was not done !
Hopefully Audi will find something wrong with it, but I will never go back to the Audi dealership that I purchased it from as they have not been helpful at all !

[UK_TIVO]

Not had any of those issues I have to say.. Ive been extremly impressed with the DSG box so far.. its quite smooth and very fast at gear change.

We have had the white smoke issue.. I have to be honest and say my wife seems to notice it more than myself.

The dealer network are all the same.. doesn't matter what brand you purchase. I've yet to find one that excels at anything other than selling... Customer service seems to end once the keys are handed over. Oh well. I think the current downturn will make these guys sit up and take notice.

Keep us informed please...

Ps.. Still no news from the service manager at the local dealer.. I will leave it until Tuesday next week, then call and have a chat.