Fall of 2022, I'm at 140,000 miles. Remember how I said I keep taking my GTI off road? Apparently I still did even though I now have a truck. And apparently my MSS springs have settled quite a bit, so the vehicle is lower than I intended. I repeatedly smashed my oil pan on rocks. Nothing catastrophic ever happen, but it got to a point where I was replacing my oil sensors almost every oil change because I'd crack it.
Well one time, I smashed my oil pan, and it did not sound good. Tick tick tick tick tick..... For all I knew, the engine was totaled. Not again. But then the noise went away a few minutes later, and every thing seemed fine? I still need to know why it made that ticking noise.
I took it to a shop, one that is well regarded in Atlanta but I've personally never patronized, to have them drop the oil pan and inspect. And you know what, let's pull those nasty superpro control arms and place some OE RS3 control arms (I should probably make sure my engine is fine before sinking more money into it, right?) They were DIRT cheap. Much cheaper than the OE arms for the GTI, like 80% cheaper. Also cheaper the BFI control arms. $90 per side! No brainer. I picked it up from the dealer.
When I dropped the GTI off for repairs, I noticed a brand new UNOBTAINIUM Touareg headlight on their shelf. I needed it. I had a brand new headlight for the other side, here was an opportunity to refresh both sides. They said a customer left it there years ago and I asked if I could have it. I didn't want to tip my hand, I knew that headlight is worth at least $700, I cheapishly tried to get it for free. They said they'd get back to me with a price.
My instructions were clear, pull the oil pan and do a deep analysis of everything you see. They pulled the oil pan and said they see nothing wrong. They resealed everything, put a new (my 4th?) oil sensor in, and started her up.
I received a phone call from the service advisor in panic. He's like "hey man, I don't know what's wrong but I think you need a new engine, it's making that ticking noise really loud now". In the background of the phone call I hear my engine wacking away like a hooptie. Sounded absolutely fucked. The mechanical engineer in me was not impressed with their reporting. I asked "well, how did the oil sensor that came out of the car look?". He picks it up "Oh, it looks like the top of it is sheared off". I'm like "OK, sounds like my crankshaft is wacking away at my oil level sensor. So pull it and inspect."
They pulled the oil level sensor and lo and behold, it was making love with my crankshaft. My iAbed oil pan was deeply indented in the oil sensor location from the impact, pushing it up. I told them, shave off the top and reinstall it. No more ticking/wacking noise.
They were so embarrassed, I had to play mechanic through the phone for a job I was paying them for, they ate the cost on the lost oil, and I received an offer on the headlight they had on their shelf. "Our tech wants those superpro control arms he pulled, we can do a trade".
Fuck yeah we can do a trade, absolutely take my trash in exchange for VW Parts Gold. I got the headlight for FREE. It was one of the greatest business deals of my VW career. My trash control arms ended up on the tech's trashed S3, and I made off like a bandit. Sorry, I'm tired of respecting all builds. I never looked back at that shop again.
No issues since, and no leaks from my deformed oil pan, it's a strong one. If I ever have to replace the oil level sensor again, need to remember to shave the top of the new one off.
So how do the OE RS3 control arms feel? Incredible. Not much different to the sensation of when I had the BFI control arms brand new, but I suspect being OE these have a higher quality construction and hopefully the rubber will last longer. I have over two years with them and I'm still pleased.
I also did other stuff, like install a Vibrant straight spacer on my o2 sensor. The J spacer was to restrictive. The straight spacers are great. I have several. It is hard to get your hands on them nowadays due to EPA. My GTI passes emissions tests with flying colors. Boring stuff like replacing hatch and hood struts.
And then BOOM, another engine issue. I got some kind of camshaft timing related code after wailing her over the Skyway at wide open throttle for 30 minutes straight. I thought to myself, oh no, I didn't just score my head again, did I? Diagnosing this issue was above my pay grade, I suspected it was the phaser magnets, but I wanted an experienced tech to test and verify timing and everything. To make a long story short, my experience with this shop (I'm considering outing them, they're one of top VW/Porsche shops on the east coast, the branch manager is a former APR employee) was miserable and they overcomplicated the diagnosis and forced me to replace the upper timing cover because it was leaking otherwise they wouldn't perform ANY repairs. Really, it was confirmed that I needed new magnets. No big deal, cheap and easy to replace. But this endeavor cost me a grand for no reason except the shop manipulating me into other work that wasn't absolutely necessary.
I mean seriously, what EA888 doesn't leak from the upper timing cover?
Spring of 2023 I roll past 145,000 miles. I finally get around to replacing the driver door window switch assembly due to the infamous buzzing - I hate interior rattles.
For several years I have been battling this high frequency vibration through the steering wheel and chassis when going around right handers at high Gs. Not all the time, the first right hander it would be fine, but as the vehicle would heat up (generally) over the course of a run, the vibration would get progressively worse and onset earlier into the cornering. Only on right handers. For years nothing was obviously wrong, any golf owner knows the infamous clicks our stock and brand new axles do when they first move after sitting overnight, but it was all getting worse.
Finally, the issue revealed itself as I suspected, I had a bad axle. Funny enough, it was opposite of the side I suspected. It was the passenger side axle, and when I would lean to the opposite side of the vehicle during an aggressive right hander, I suspect this relieved a lot of pressure on the axle and caused the high frequency vibration.
The shop said hey, your rear main seal is leak, and your E-Diff box might be leaking too. Time to spend money. For transparency, this is the same shop I described above that I was displeased with, but given their expertise, I gave them another shot, especially since I knew the tech working on the vehicle.
- Ordered a set of Raxles. These things are beefy and Marty is a peach to deal with. I swear you can feel the beefiness of these axles through the wheel, they're so solid, almost feels like I could put power down better. Also the click noise my axles made since the vehicle was new was gone. Great mod, strongly recommend Raxles. They even print your name on the box, it's personalized.
- My dealer had a BRAND NEW E-Diff for $650. By this point I am playing in the world of Touareg parts where a front diff costs $6,000 and an intake manifold costs $4,000 from the dealer. $650? It's basically free! Not to mention I drive hard and the interior clutches are not serviceable. Yes my Diff pump filter was beautifully clean. But was I really going to go through the hassle if figuring out whether or not my E-Diff box is leaking when I can get a BRAND NEW one for $650, and I'm going to have my DSG and axles off anyway? No brainer, I picked up a new E-Diff.
- At this point I labored over whether I should preventatively replace my DSG clutch pack and DMF while we're in there, due to my previous experience, I'm of the belief its a wear item like any. I eventually hesitantly settled on not touching it
- I also labored over whether to give iAbed RMS another chance (I did have it leak free for 30k miles at one point) or go back to the stock RMS (which originally leaked on me)? Everyone insisted just do stock, my stubbornness drove me back to iAbed. Issam was to send me a brand new unit, housing and seal, free of charge.
- The Infamous DSG Fluid Flush - story after the break.
As I'm pulling out of the shop's lot after these repairs, I immediately began to experience the failing dsg clutch symptoms I described above, with the revs hanging on upshift. My heart tanked. Did I just miss my opportunity to replace the clutch pack? Did my cheapness just fuck me over? Over the next few days I did a lot of mountain driving and inner city driving. The DSG was shifting horrifically. Slamming of the gears at wide open throttle. Laziness in the revs as I shifted up or down. I was so upset. How could I not see it coming? The DSG was functioning flawlessly prior to the repair, if I had even an inkling it was on its way out I would have gone ahead with the clutch pack change.
I took a peak at the service record, just out of curiosity:
That's interesting, what's 8100? Some kind of internal stock code for their dsg fluid? Something inside me compelled me to google "dsg 8100".
My heart tanked.
Liqui Moly fluid????? They put Liqui Moly DSG fluid in my DQ250???? Gosh,
there are reports on these forums and others going back 10 years plus advising against the use of LM DSG fluid in our DQ250s. I thought this is household knowledge in the scene? In fact, all the shops in my experience with Liqui Moly accounts for their oil barrels, will still use OE DSG fluid. I thought this was standard operating procedure. In fact, I've never had to specify "I want OE fluid". Shops just know, or so I thought. This is why I am a control freak over parts sourcing, but I thought I didn't need to helicopter over DSG fluid. Why the hell does this shop think they can use LM 8100 in the DQ250? I was genuinely bewildered, and picked up the phone.
The guy running this shop is a well known ass hole to anyone but his circle. He bickered with me endlessly, justifying that it should have been assumed he would use LM DSG fluid (????) - I'll try to leave the drama out of this post but I was nothing but an attentive and kind customer. I decided to play along with him, I said "OK, I'll bring you the vehicle so you can make sure the fluid level and all looks correct". He took his sweet time making sure the DSG fluid temperature was correct, and checked the level. He shrugged his shoulders as if to say "sorry, but sounds like your DSG crapped coincidentally with our service"
I go on my way.
I visit one of my long time trusty VW/Audi shops. Why you ask I don't use them more? I've identified the strengths of different techs around town and like to spread the love around. While they were doing an oil change I asked them, if a customer comes in requesting a DSG fluid flush, what fluid would you use? They looked at me funny and said "the factory fluid" as if it were a bizarre question. Aka. "no shit we're gonna use the factory fluid". I asked "you got some on the shelf? Let's throw it in my car".
The fastest DSG fluid flush in my life (it was done in like 30 minutes, no filter this time around).
As soon as I pull out of that shop's parking lot... holy shit. She's back. She's shifting BRAND NEW. Good as NEW. All is NORMAL. She was alive, crisp smooth shifts throughout the rev range. Oh, it was amazing. It was time to stick one to the original shop.
My message to you fine folks:
DO NOT. I repeat DO NOT use Liqui Moly 8100 in your DQ250 DSG!!!!!!! It is NOT COMPATIBLE with the DQ250.
Candidly, I don't care what Liqui Moly says, they can say whatever they want, but OBVIOUSLY this fluid does not meet specifications . I say this as a user of LM's engine oils and additives. Maybe the 8100 works in other DSG's, but not the DQ250. If you feel otherwise, I am sorry to report but you have forgotten how the DQ250 is supposed to shift. Maybe the lubricative properties of the fluid is great, but it clearly does not play well with the mechatronics unit.
The experience I described goes to show there were no placebo impressions or biases, I had no idea LM fluid was used until after I experienced failing DSG symptoms.
The end of the story, is my beautifully crafted email to the shop just happened by luck to be intercepted by the owner of the organization. He called and apologized profusely and issued a refund for their botched DSG service. I hope the branch manager got a good dose of embarrassment and is thankful his boss didn't have interest in firing him. Maybe one day I'll post up that email.