Some DSG Clutch Recall Info (long)...
 

Saw the TSB at my dealer yesterday - 55 pages of instructions! The VINs impacted start in the low 7000s (007024 if my memory is any good) and go through something like 014072. Lucky me is in the 8000's (10/12/03 delivery). The recall letter I received said an inspection would be performed to see if the clutches need to be replaced. The TSB states that no inspection is to be performed - strictly a replacement. The labor time set aside for the replacement is 9.5 hours, so plan on being without your car for a few days. Special tools have to be sent to the dealers along with the clutches to do the replacement, so it may be a little while before the fixes can begin. The surprise to me is that, up until now, Audi hasn't been having their techs (at least at the dealership I frequent) perform any service at all on the more sophisticated transmissions. Instead they have replaced the entire unit and shipped the failed one back to Audi. The one cost data point I've heard on this is $12,000 to replace a Multitronic (CVT) on an A6 - good thing for the owner it was still under warranty. Maybe this is a good trend for us DSG owners - our transmissions can be serviced instead of replaced in the event of a failure.

Audi had told me that my 3.2 TTR wasn't affected but...
 

My VIN is in the 9000s, so we'll see if I get the letter.

BTW, the NHTSA site states that only 145 3.2s are affected. That seems like a lot fewer than the 1000s that were implied. Not sure what's correct, but here's the bulletin:

Search Results
Report Date : May 7, 2004 at 01:42 AM
TYPE : VEHICLE
YEAR : 2004
MAKE : AUDI
MODEL : TT 3.2

Results : 1 | All records displayed
Make : AUDI Model : TT 3.2 Year : 2004
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number : 04V007000 Recall Date : DEC 19, 2003
Component: POWER TRAIN:CLUTCH ASSEMBLY
Potential Number Of Units Affected : 145

Summary:
ON CERTAIN PASSENGER VEHICLES WITH DIRECT SHIFT GEARBOX, DURING THE PRODUCTION OF THE GEARBOX, A SEAM AT THE CLUTCH WAS NOT WELDED TO SPECIFICATIONS. THIS COULD LEAD TO DEGRADED PERFORMANCE OF THE CLUTCH INSIDE THE GEARBOX.

Consequence:
THE CLUTCH COULD LOSE ITS ABILITY TO PROVIDE INPUT TORQUE TO THE TRANSMISSION WITHOUT PRIOR WARNING, WHICH COULD ALLOW THE VEHICLE TO ROLL, INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.

Remedy:
DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE CLUTCH. THE MANUFACTURER HAS NOT YET PROVIDED NHTSA WITH AN OWNER NOTIFICATION SCHEDULE. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT AUDI AT 1-800-822-2834.

Notes:
CUSTOMERS CAN ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION’S AUTO SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236).


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AoA just confirmed mine is also not affected...
 

My VIN is in the 9400 range.

Maybe these were the first ones- released before port and factory holds?
 

Maybe these were the first ones that were delivered before the port and factory holds of last fall/winter?

I was waiting to see when this was going to show up on the TT forum...
 

what did your dealer/AOA tell you was happening in the port when your car was held there ?

They said that it was being "retrofitted" at the port by a team from Audi Hungary.

And did you take "retrofitted" to mean replacing the DSG ???
 

cause that's what they did. One dealer had the balls to tell me they had to remove "launch control" at the port.
Does that bull**** sound familiar ?

My understanding, correct or otherwise...
 

Is that there was a problem with the DSG tranny unrelated to launch control. Some early-build 3.2s have encountered a situation where the tranny won't go into any gear and the lights simply flash on the gear selector. Turning the car off and restarting solves the problem, temporarily.

Apparently, there was a flaw which made the DSG "brain" believe that the RPMs were too high to engage a gear, so in order to protect the transmission, it would not engage. So affected transmissions were replaced at the port.

I believe that a few 3.2s made it to the dealerships before Audi placed the global hold on the 3.2, and I am aware of zero U.S. 3.2s that have launch control, so I doubt that "launch control removal" story. Also, UK 3.2s *do* have launch control and their TTs were also retrofitted, so that would strongly imply that the hold was not LC related.

Re: My understanding, correct or otherwise...
 

The "launch control" removal lie came from the mouth of a socal dealer. Not sure why he said it but i'm fairly certain he knew the real story and chose not to tell it. I did not buy my 3.2 from him or the dealership he works for. Haven't heard about this "brain" issue but i was told (by a very good source) that for a time a laser welding rig was putting out bad clutch packs and many of them made it to the US in shiny new 3.2s.

I'm clear per AoA. My VIN was within the range mentioned, too.