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Transmission

DQ250 common faults.

6-speed DSG, wet clutch

DSG

type

6 speed

gears

400 Nm

torque limit

2 fault write-ups. 1 important.

Before you buy

Known faults

1 important faults

expensive1

DQ250 (6 speed wet DSG): mechatronics and clutch pack

expensive

The solenoids of the mechatronics unit wear out: slow or harsh shifting, then limp mode. A characteristic sign is the partial or complete loss of reverse. Wear of the clutch pack or the wrong spring force causes jerking and slipping. Because of the wet design it fails less often and at higher mileage than the dry DQ200, but when it does fail, it is expensive.

above 150,000 km

What to check

  • Pull away slowly from standstill and watch how smooth the 1 to 2 and 2 to 3 shifts are
  • Select reverse several times, cold and warm: is it delayed, does it engage at all
  • Under load (on a slope) watch whether the clutch slips
2 more steps in the write-up

cheap repair1

DSG selector lever: failure of the P position switch

cheap repair

The dash shows "Error: Workshop! Only leave vehicle in position P" with an audible warning. The message appears in whatever language the car is set to, for example "Fehler: Werkstatt! Fahrzeug nur in Stellung P verlassen" in German.

Show the rest

The message points at the gearbox, but the fault is not there. A tiny switch sits in the module under the selector lever and signals that the lever is in park (P). Its contact wears and can also burn. That makes the signal unreliable, and the car warns you. The fault codes appear as 617752, P173400 or B116229.

At first it is intermittent. Sometimes the message comes up, sometimes not, so a short test drive easily misses it. Later it becomes permanent, and the gearbox can drop into limp mode.

This fault looks more expensive than it is. The maker released a separate retrofit switch kit for it (5Q0713128A for the black module, 3Q0713128 for the white one), which can be fitted in half an hour. The kit costs 70 to 100 pounds. At a franchised dealer, however, the whole selector lever module sometimes gets replaced, which costs 626 to 1,000 pounds there. So the difference between the two routes is roughly tenfold.

The affected group is post 2013 MQB platform Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Skoda cars with a DSG gearbox. The switch is in these gearboxes, because that is what these cars have in common. The part itself is not part of the gearbox but of the module under the lever.

What to check

  • Watch the dash after starting: the message is intermittent and can be missed on a short loop
  • Move the lever from P to D and back several times, then get out and lock the car
  • Ask whether the selector lever switch has been replaced already, and ask for the invoice
2 more steps in the write-up

Transmission data

What this transmission does

Factory data

Type
DSG
Gears
6 speed
Torque limit
400 Nm
Clutch
wet
Maker
Volkswagen
Part number prefixes
02E0D9

Generations

Which models it is fitted to

58 generations.

Information, not an expert opinion

We write the descriptions, and we put the source next to them. A person reviews them before they go out. They are still information, not a technical expert opinion.

  • A fault on the list does not mean the car you are looking at has it.
  • A fault missing from the list does not mean the model is fault-free. Write-ups are made model by model. Not all of them are done.
  • You decide whether to buy. This is no substitute for an inspection. That needs a workshop and a history check.
Details in the terms