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3 Posts
Hi
I am acting as a sort of consultant for a friend who has just bought a 2016 1.6 litre petrol BMAX. and is worried about the auto. gearbox reliability.
Looking on the site it seems that the automatic has a history of gearbox problems which in many cases are not being fixed by the main agents.
I am well aware that these forums mainly reflect the views of people who have had problems and there are probably thousands more who have had no trouble at all.
My Daughter has a very hot VW golf with a similar gearbox (Getrag ?) which is used to drive into London every day and has had no trouble so far for 30000 miles so, though the VW automatic also has a reputation for jerky running after a while
As a professional Engineer I have read several accounts of the problem from a technical point of view and have come to the following opinions.
1. It is essential that the gear oil is changed at the correct intervals.
2. It is not good to sit stationary in traffic for lengthy periods in drive, because the "clutch" is slipping and heating the oil.
This could be a particular problem in hot weather and may explain why there are a disproportionate number of problems in say Australia and Malaysia. So go into neutral when possible.
3. It seems there were at least three separate problems with the gearbox which might explain why after a "fix" it soon failed again - due
to a different fault.
(a) One fault was due to the clutch material,
(b) a second due to a dry solder joint (or cracked track ) on a control printed circuit board, which would cause strange intermittent faults.
(c) and the third more common fault caused by a faulty oil seal allowing gearbox and other oil to mix.
I hope that I have my "facts" correct because I have not been directly involved with the problems but owners taking account of (1) and (2) above may help to reduce the likelihood of failures.
I am acting as a sort of consultant for a friend who has just bought a 2016 1.6 litre petrol BMAX. and is worried about the auto. gearbox reliability.
Looking on the site it seems that the automatic has a history of gearbox problems which in many cases are not being fixed by the main agents.
I am well aware that these forums mainly reflect the views of people who have had problems and there are probably thousands more who have had no trouble at all.
My Daughter has a very hot VW golf with a similar gearbox (Getrag ?) which is used to drive into London every day and has had no trouble so far for 30000 miles so, though the VW automatic also has a reputation for jerky running after a while
As a professional Engineer I have read several accounts of the problem from a technical point of view and have come to the following opinions.
1. It is essential that the gear oil is changed at the correct intervals.
2. It is not good to sit stationary in traffic for lengthy periods in drive, because the "clutch" is slipping and heating the oil.
This could be a particular problem in hot weather and may explain why there are a disproportionate number of problems in say Australia and Malaysia. So go into neutral when possible.
3. It seems there were at least three separate problems with the gearbox which might explain why after a "fix" it soon failed again - due
to a different fault.
(a) One fault was due to the clutch material,
(b) a second due to a dry solder joint (or cracked track ) on a control printed circuit board, which would cause strange intermittent faults.
(c) and the third more common fault caused by a faulty oil seal allowing gearbox and other oil to mix.
I hope that I have my "facts" correct because I have not been directly involved with the problems but owners taking account of (1) and (2) above may help to reduce the likelihood of failures.