Gearbox issue

David-AKL

David-AKL

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Hi fellow S1 owners.

My gearbox has always been notchy going from 1st to 2nd gear. It's going in for it's annual service in a few weeks time. It's still under warranty so I'll ask them to have a look at it.

Has anyone else had a similar problem and if so, was it resolved and how?

David
 
Its kind a how they are.
However it doesn't hurt to have them have a quick look at it.

DTYME83
 
Hi David I have the same problem.Mine is betterwhen the gearbox oil is hot .I have concluded that VAG have a synchro hub manufacturing tolerance issue or just a skipped their QA checks on assembly 1st to 2nd gear assembly's.
Audi state nothing is wrong if they snatch though the gears it does not notice the grab.
I now have got used to either changing up at normal gear change points matching the revs . I am sure after 6K miles the synchro cones have worn out.
I am sure Audi do not want to acknowledge a design or manufacturing defect.
This is my sixth 6 speed manual box from VAG and to a greater or lesser degree this has been noticeable.
My Ford, Hyundai ,lotus PGI gearboxes perform perfectly so I sure it is not the way I change cgear , which the mechanic told me.

If any one has an answer I would like to hear a resolution to the issue.
PiltV40
 
I've had a similar problem with my S1. Quite frankly, it spoiled the driving experience. I'm inclined to think it was weak syncromesh on 2nd gear, although the clutch action (take-up) position was also erratic, in that there was not a positive disengage/engage point, making engagement erratic/jerky. The garage had the car for a total of 7 working days, but despite an "adjustment", which fractionally inproved the clutch action, was still far from satisfactory. This, combined with suspension adjustment failure (more days off the road), and trouble getting the exhaust trims replaced (6 months old!), due to corrosion from exhaust emissions ("They are all like that, Sir."), (Sales eventually agreed to pay for them, as warranty wouldn't - why don't the make them from S/S?), I have now sold it at 21 months old/11,500 miles.
My first and last Audi car, so very disappointed with the Audi hype that failed to deliver in practice.
 
Every S1 I've driven has the problem, and other 6 speed quattro boxes are the same unfortunately
 
I haven't noticed this on mine yet, does it display as a difficulty in engaging 2nd from 1st or just a rough feeling ?
 
From 1st to 2nd it clicks into gear as though the synchro cones are warn. You can hear it go through and it needs a firmer hand to get it into 2nd than the other gears. It's definitely better when it's hot.

Booked in for a service on Thursday so will see if they can fix it.
 
My S1 is back from the dealers and they said that the gearbox is fine and there's nothing wrong with it.

I think that DomH is right - they all do this.

Will just have to live with it and put it down as a "feature" of the car.

Overall, the S1 is still a fabulous car.
 
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Thanks for the update, David. I've had this on my last three Audi's, including the S1. An old mechanic friend of mine who's run Audi's for decades told me that they benefit from a conscious, two stage gear change between first and second - he told me not to ram the stick from first to second but to move the stick in two stages from first to neutral then neutral to second. Doesn't make for racing changes but, after years of this approach, it's now second nature and the pause between first and second is imperceptible .... and there's no crunch.
 
Just an idea, as I haven't personally checked - is the gear ratio jump from 1st-2nd Significantly greater than the jump between all other gears? (Usually is)

If so that could explain it, and would also explain why the slight pause as outlined above helps reduce the crunching which will only be due to the synchro not spinning up fast enough. Bigger jump = longer time to sync = crunch if gear shift time from driver is the same between all gear changes.

Makes sense to me, but as said, I haven't looked in to the ratio's or anything. Basically the synchromesh isn't as refined as it could be between 1st and 2nd
 
Last edited:
After Rockall's post above, I've been adding a pause between shifts into 2nd. For my gearbox, the best way is to pause once the shift into 2nd has just started to feel some resistance.

Also have to agree with willh92 - the synchro isn't as refined as it could be. Other manufacturers don't have this problem.
 
I don't own an S1 but I can tell you that both my Dads a4 2013 and my a5 2011 (both manual) is rough between gear 1 and 2 and sometimes 2-3 when accelerating.

If you drive it smoothly though and pause that roughness will go away though.. it feels like its something audi just has an issue with
 
Ifcrule1972 - if you can cleanly and quickly shift between 1st and 2nd then it sounds as though you don't have a problem.

I've had the problem since day 1.
 
Mine has always suffered the notchy/clunky change from 1-2 even after Audi replaced a perfectly good clutch and flywheel, as above though go slowly with the shift and it is smoother, but who wants slowly :tonguewink:
 
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