Golf 103 TDI DSG Wagon with body vibration at 1200-1400 RPM

[gds]

I am driving a new Golf 103 TDI DSG Wagon (Oct 2010 delivery), and right from the start I observed a strong vibration/resonance in the 1200-1400 RPM range (independent of what gear it is in).
This is really annoying because in normal Drive mode, the gear selection ends up in that rev range under light throttle.
Is this normal for this car?

[REGS12]

If it was me I would drive another car with the same motor and transmission. If yours is noticeably worse, insist on it being fixed. You must not let the dealer tell you that "some of them do that". You must be strong and not give in.--------Good luck.

[Frankenstrat]

Have you tried it when the car is in Park? If you can still hear it, open the bonnet, get someone to hold the revs at 1200-1400 and try to setablish where the vibration is coming from. Caveat: I don't have a DSG so I don't know if this is recommended practice.

[gds]

I did some more tests this afternoon - results as follows:

- Car stopped, transmission in Park, doors & windows closed.
Car has travelled just over 2000km


1200 RPM: Minimal vibration
1300 RPM: Strong vibration
1400 RPM: Medium vibration
1500 RPM: Medium vibration
1600 RPM: Low/Medium vibration
1700 RPM: Minimal vibration
Repeated test with transmission in Neutral - same results.

Raised the bonnet - subjectively the vibration is reduced.

I have the car booked in with a dealer next week, so hope to have more info then (and will have a go at test driving another wagon).

Did a search on the net, somebody else has observed a similar problem - see: 2010 Golf Wagon TDI engine vibration - VW TDI forum and Audi TDI forum - myturbodiesel.com

[gldgti]

On a brand new car it never hurts to make sure the dealer looks into it - however - it seems to be an increasing misconception that all cars are created equal - and some components (if i was going to guess in this case it would be the flywheel) are always made to within acceptable tolerances. How acceptable that tolerance is, is entirely up to the manufacturer - but if VW are making flywheels to within a certain balancing tolerance, and 90% of them are far better than the limit tolerance, doesn't mean there aren't a few cars that are borderline - and probably fine too...

So, if the dealer says "some of them do that" - well its probably true, and most of the time OK, if you don't mind too much.

Vibration is one of the most subjective things you can come across in a car. Some people will overstate it a lot, and others will not even notice the same problem.

[interested_party]

I have the car booked in with a dealer next week, so hope to have more info then (and will have a go at test driving another wagon).

Did a search on the net, somebody else has observed a similar problem - see: 2010 Golf Wagon TDI engine vibration - VW TDI forum and Audi TDI forum - myturbodiesel.com

Hi gds, How did you go with the dealer? What was the outcome and what was the other car like? I ask because I'm expecting delivery of the same vehicle currently.

[gds]

Hi gds, How did you go with the dealer? What was the outcome and what was the other car like? I ask because I'm expecting delivery of the same vehicle currently.

I took the car to the Dealer 2 weeks ago, and took the car for a test drive
with the technician who agreed that there was a resonance. However when I
picked up the car the following day they reckoned that it was nothing out of
the ordinary.
BUT... They very rarely get TDI wagons, do they weren't really in a position to say
what is normal anyway. And for the same reason they didn't have another TDI wagon for road testing.

They are chasing up VW for any tech bulletins that relate to this issue.
Also, I will take the car back to the dealer next time a rep from VW head
office visits the dealership so as to raise the issue higher up.

[gldgti]

Oh, I also just thought - it might be something as simple as a tweaked engine mount (one thats just not quite seated correctly).

I swear if the VW dealers of today had any customer care at all they would go over the car and look for stuff like that without you having to do anything but ask.

I hope you have some success.

[interested_party]

I took the car to the Dealer 2 weeks ago, and took the car for a test drive
with the technician who agreed that there was a resonance. However when I
picked up the car the following day they reckoned that it was nothing out of
the ordinary.
BUT... They very rarely get TDI wagons, do they weren't really in a position to say
what is normal anyway. And for the same reason they didn't have another TDI wagon for road testing.

They are chasing up VW for any tech bulletins that relate to this issue.
Also, I will take the car back to the dealer next time a rep from VW head
office visits the dealership so as to raise the issue higher up.

Thanks for the reply. Sorry it hasn't been sorted out. Here's an interesting link, from the one you posted earlier:

http://www.myturbodiesel.com/forum/f19/2010-tdi-golf-wagon-low-rpm-resonance-1907/

Someone seems to think the CV joint heat shield is the cause on these diesel wagons. When I get mine next week (hopefully) I'll post if mine vibrates and if it has these heat shields.

[GolfWagon]

A different engine in our golf wagon, 77tdi so not sure this will help. But for reference, we've been driving it since August & no such issue. Feels pretty normal through the range of revs.
Been rapt in it so far.

[interested_party]

I received my 103 TDI wagon 2 days ago so I've only put 100 Km on. I notice that there is a little vibration/resonance around the 1500 RPM mark. I can see the image in the rear-vision mirror become a little blurry. But it's only a very small amount of vibration. Once the radio and A/C are on I don't notice it at all.

That said I'm just a car user, not a mechanic.

I'll have a look one day to see if the CV heat shields are on.

[gds]

Thanks for the reply. Sorry it hasn't been sorted out. Here's an interesting link, from the one you posted earlier:

http://www.myturbodiesel.com/forum/f19/2010-tdi-golf-wagon-low-rpm-resonance-1907/

Someone seems to think the CV joint heat shield is the cause on these diesel wagons. When I get mine next week (hopefully) I'll post if mine vibrates and if it has these heat shields.

Hi,

Did you get your Golf? If so did you see the same vibration?

[Ozsko]

My Skoda 125TDI has the same issue and I initially thought it was the exhaust resonating but we put it up on a hoist and there are no loose baffles etc in the mufflers and the exhaust heat shields are in good condition. I will put it up again and have a better look at it to see what is what by running it on the hoist and try and locate it that way. I first noticed it when driving slowly looking for a parking spot and it annoyed me and still does.

[TDI DSG]

Have any of the posters with problems had any success resolving this problem yet ?

Mine goes in to the dealer in the morning ......

[TDI DSG]

Update !!

Went in to see the dealer this morning about this issue plus a few other minor things.

Outcome was that is easy to produce the vibe sometimes but not others. It seems to be an exhaust type drone - like a V6 commodore with a big crap sounding exh.
General concensus it that it might be doing DPF regen when the vibe is at it worst. The car has only done about 3K, so we will monitor it and have a further look at the 15K service.