Transmission Snatch

[JDL]

Hi There,

I have been a Vauxhall Astra owner for the last 15 years, 1.7TD Isuzu & 2.0 DTI 16v. Both were good reliable motors and I got 100k out of each with little or no bother. I’ve been following this forum for while as I have been really keen to get my own Vectra and recently bought a 2005 CDTI 120 – 31k on the clock. My pride and joyL. Looks great but is driving poor at the moment. Help!

I’ve had the car for two months and it been back to the main dealers half dozen times for the following:
EGR valve, Gear Cables, Clutch + DMF and steering issues. All covered under Network Q warranty. For this post I want to concentrate on the clutch and gearbox and would like to know if anyone has experienced the problem I’m having or is it a characteristic of the car? Here we go!

Took the car into dealers because the clutch seemed high and when changing gears a slight thud could be felt in the transmission on releasing clutch and powering on. Also, when cruising along in 5th / 6th gear (completely off the power) then back on moderately to heavy and slight thud again. To me the thud is significant enough to hamper my driving making me conscious of how I power on. Doesn’t seem to happen in 1st to 3rd gear and I don’t think it anything to do with engine mounts. I appreciate that these engines have a lot of torque but this can’t be right? I fear that the constant snatching will ruin the transmission and DMF over time.

Mechanical or maybe tuning?

Dealer is telling me that this is normal, but I’m not convinced. The thud can be masked depending on how you drive, easy on the gas and ridding the clutch on gear changes.

What do you guy’s think???

[mparks8590]

have you had DMF changed?

what does car soundlike on start up?

what has it had done at dealers specifically??

[JDL]

Dealer advised that they had replaced DMF and clutch. So all should be good there.

The car sounds find on start up.

There is also a little bit of movement (slight tug) on the gear stick 4th & 6th, again when the power come on after gear change. Is this normal?

[mparks8590]

i think i'd be checking they'd tightened everything up properly.

they have to drop the subframe to do clutch and dmf

a few loose nuts is all it takes to make some very odd noises indeed

[JDL]

I will check the car over when the weather improves. However, the thud was there before the work was carried out, so it's not something that they have caused. They have just not managed to fix it and believe it's acceptable?

I think I need a second opinion. Was hoping someone had experienced a similar issue to point me in the right direction.

[JDL]

I’ve taken the car in for a second opinion with another dealer. They have acknowledged that there is a “dunk” (their words) sound, sensation when accelerating in 4th, 5th and 6th gear. A Vauxhall master technician is to take a look at it next week.

It’s up to him whether it’s a fault or characteristic of the vehicle. If it’s a coin toss I wonder which side it will land.

Does your 120 Cdti do this? Has anyone come across this problem before?
I need ammo to fire at them!!!