- Anyone successful?
Following the recent demise of the Dual Mass Flywheel on my 2002 120K miles Golf Gt Tdi: see this thread
www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?p=9185#...5
I'm about to embark on the adventure of trying to get some money out of VW to cover the cost of replacing a part I think should not have failed, no matter how old the car is !
Anyone any experiece of trying to get recompense for components beyond warranty, specifically with VW ?
Cheers
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120K miles? Best of luck, I don't think any manufacturer would honour a claim with that amount of mileage.
:o)
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I don't mind shelling out for a new clutch & fitting etc, thats normal wear & tear in my opinion, but to include an integral part of the engine / transmission is a little lame. The fight is on ;-)
Sounds like another ill-conceived piece of automotive advancement designed to lighten your wallet !
I can imangine the product design / accountants meeting at the time :
" I know lets, swap that large disc of solid metal, that we rarely seem to be able to sell replacements for, in exchange for a multiple piece unit which has a limited useful life, claim it smooths out power delivery, fails eventually, and means the customer goes bankrupt when the clutch goes"
What next, wheels that turn square shaped after 10 years !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.........................."Sorry sir, everlasting round wheels went out in the last millenium, that'll be £1,000,000 for a new set"
Cheers
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Just had a tussle with VW over my 3yr 3mth Golf, main dealer serviced, 47K miles.The valve and map(?) sensor failed. VW service is v poor locally; got towed to an alternative VW main dealer who diagnosed above.
But...no parts in the UK, 10 day wait......then this became 2 weeks....then 4 weeks. Dealer said no help from VW, so phoned them myself. Took a very calm and considered approach, which did help. Their MK team were polite and well groomed in dealing with such situations.
After several phone calls, agreed £225 of a £400 bill to be picked up by VW. Parts showed up in the 3rd week in the end, but a 3 and a bit year old car should not be off the road like this.
Wouldn't have another VW - not as reliable; the dealer support think their the dogs....but in fact I've found them more like what dogs leave behind.
Good luck - worth a try. Keep your cool and turn on the charm to VW - from my experience the dealer won't help.
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Cheers Alltorque................................one for the consumer eh ? Good on you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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A DMF makes a car more civilised to drive, its constantly working, from standstill, gear changes and on / off throttle. It removes drive train shunt and transforms the way a car drives, I'd wager every modern diesel has one. You could have fitted a VR6 / G60 flywheel / clutch combination, but I would'nt think you'd like the harshness or the noise the car would make.
Modern diesels have huge torque to transmit to the road, it all goes through the clutch / flywheel and they wear out.
:o)
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Agreed, from my research and your information,every modern diesel seems to have one.
How many owners / potential owners are made aware of this new consumable that needs to be added to the upkeep costs of their cars? Not many I reckon.
I was shocked, by research on the good old WWW as to how common the failure of these item are. Flywheels, a consumable item.................never !
A quick skim at your local machine shop for a very high mileage one yeah, but self destructing ones.......................only if you're foolish enough to lighten it beyond its centrifugal integrity limits.
As for noise & harshness, try doing a few laps in a lotus 7 roadster with a solid mounted bike engine spinning at 12,500 rpm, at a trackday meet.................................makes any road car sfeel like a Bentley ;-)
Cheers
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Can confirm the two weeks wait for VW parts - just had the ignition lock go on my mk 5 Golf - no replacements in Spain.
Incidently, is there a simple procedure for getting an automatic gearbox out of "park" when the ignition is inoperative? The recovery people had to poke around in one of the fuseboxes to short-circuit the interlock - this wasn't helped by the English version of the car manual showing a different layout to that of the fuses in the car. Not helpful for reversing a car off a gravel drive when the skids can't be used.
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Ichris21
As I said in another thread, 120k from a DMF is entirely reasonable. Some will last longer, others less - depends how the car is used. A DMF is a 'service' part and yours has not 'failed', it has just 'worn out'. I don't mean any offence, but I have to say that pursuing a claim against VAG will be a waste of time.
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Theres an illuminating thread here: www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=66242&page=6 especially the sachs diagram of their DMF, and their comment on replacement due to service conditions. Not saying anything re the OP use, but its not unreasonable to expect some wear over that interval...
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On a more positive note I know that many factors now stock DMF's at half or less the dealer price.
I've also been told that on the Pugs, for example, some factors sell a kit to convert the DMF to a solid flywheel with sprung centreplate.
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Worn out, I would be happy with as I would expect some sort of loss of drive, clutch related slippage, transmission problems, unusual noises etc etc
Failure, as what has happened in my case as indicated by sudden catastrophic disintigration of the assembly. A slight difference.
For example,
Every manufacturer undertakes a brake disc inspection as part of a service. They are specified as consumable items, subject to normal wear & tear. Even drums have inspection access to check service limts. Thats why by law, the minimum thickness / max drum diameter has to be cast into the component. Safety critical.
If i choose to ignore service limits I suffer the consequences.
If a DMF is a service item, then a limit needs to be specified and inspection / maintenance undertaken as part of the service schedule ?
I cannot imagine a dealer removing a gearbox during regular servicing to check a "serviceable" item such as a DMF. When did you have a clutch plate checked at your last service ? Cable adjusted, fluid top up perhaps, but no friction material thickness measurement, surely ?
Before long we'll have complete vehicle dissassembly to minutely inspect every component if we go down that road. The whole vehicle will be treated as a service item.
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It is worn out, the parts that hold the centre and the outside of the flywheel have worn and collapsed.
"Catastrophic disintigration", did the flywheel come through the gearbox and and bonnet? No, it was noisy.
Cars are held together with nuts and bolts so that worn components can be repaired or renewed
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Bonnet was ok,
Bell housing looks a little second hand though ;-)
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No chance of a claim, 120K is within tolerance for a DMF.
So what we need is a simple diesel engine with no CR, no DMF, no turbo and no intercooler. Peugeot were doing that over 20 years ago and called it 205. Progress?
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