Geartronic 5-spd S40 thuds into Drive

[baldmosher]

Going from N into D it sometimes takes 1-4 seconds, variably, before it thuds into gear.

Revving before it's dropped into gear makes that thud quite sudden. Going into R it's perfectly smooth. Sometimes it's also smooth into D, but it's definitely not consistent. When I'm sat at lights this can be a bit of a hairy experience, as you might imagine.

Any clues what this might be a symptom of? Could it just be old transmission fluid?

I'm booking it in with a gearbox specialist asap to get it checked, in case it's something hefty going wrong like the clutch plates.

No other symptoms, no slipping etc.

Car has a Momentum warranty (£1000 per claim limit), I'm just now coming up to the 30 days rejection window with the seller, but I've already had the timing belt done so I might as well keep it now and argue the toss with Section 75 through the credit card company. I've already disputed the transaction (£3.5k), on the basis of various problems the seller didn't sort as agreed, so I'm currently seeing this a potentially expensive bit of fun.

[baldmosher]

Just in case anyone is looking for these symptoms and finds my thread...

It's started slipping a bit as well as "clunking" and VIDA is showing error codes for the clutch slipping, but it's predictable as to when it's doing it, so I can "drive around" the problem fairly easily.

I've found a local auto transmission expert and they think from my description of symptoms that it's probably a "valve body" and an £800 repair, but they'll have to take it apart to check first, so it's £2000 for a full clutch refurb if it's not that

So I just have to weigh up whether I'm prepared to spend £2000 on a car worth £1900 in order to take the chance.... at the moment it's intermittent and annoying rather than problematic, and I'm not doing many miles, so I can live with it and not have to spend £800 either.

[eric19371]

Originally Posted by baldmosher

I've found a local auto transmission expert and they think from my description of symptoms that it's probably a "valve body" and an £800 repair, but they'll have to take it apart to check first, so it's £2000 for a full clutch refurb if it's not that

Did you have to take it to them or just phone them up? I need to speak to somebody knowledgeable about my V50 (5-speed Geartronic) to get more information about its 'slipping lock-up' issue.

[baldmosher]

I sent them an email with my symptoms, and they diagnosed "most likely culprit" with a realistic expectation that if it's been like that for a while, the clutch may have been damaged and would need replacing, but either way it's more than I am currently willing to spend on this car.