2003 3.2 V6 TT for £500....worth a punt?

Daniel M · Jul 1, 2019

Evening all,

I’m venturing into this section of the forum (usually in the s3 8l & a4 B7 sections) as I have the chance to buy a black 2003 8n 3.2 V6 TT with DSG for £500.

The guy who currently has the car owns a breakers yard an says it’s been sat for 2 years just gathering dust as the previous owner got rid due to a gearbox fault.

He couldn’t explain the fault in much detail but said the car was drivable and sometimes cuts out when warm.

The interior and exterior are in very good condition as is the underside and the car starts an runs no problem although the battery is knackered and the brakes etc need changing, along with a good service.

My question is, is it worth a punt to get back on the road and potentially sell, break or keep. And does anyone have any ideas what the fault could be?

I’m going to go back an scan it with vcds later in the week. Will this show any/all faults with the DSG box or are there some that won’t show on a scan?

Any help is appreciated and sorry for the long winded post.

T-800 · Jul 1, 2019

Daniel M said:
Evening all,

I’m venturing into this section of the forum (usually in the s3 8l & a4 B7 sections) as I have the chance to buy a black 2003 8n 3.2 V6 TT with DSG for £500.

The guy who currently has the car owns a breakers yard an says it’s been sat for 2 years just gathering dust as the previous owner got rid due to a gearbox fault.

He couldn’t explain the fault in much detail but said the car was drivable and sometimes cuts out when warm.

The interior and exterior are in very good condition as is the underside and the car starts an runs no problem although the battery is knackered and the brakes etc need changing, along with a good service.

My question is, is it worth a punt to get back on the road and potentially sell, break or keep. And does anyone have any ideas what the fault could be?

I’m going to go back an scan it with vcds later in the week. Will this show any/all faults with the DSG box or are there some that won’t show on a scan?

Any help is appreciated and sorry for the long winded post.

Could be a mechatronic unit fault.

We had a 3.2 TT for a few years as a second car and in that time I replaced the Flywheel then the mech unit.

If you are checking it with VCDS go into measuring blocks 208 and 209 to check values for the chain......

Daniel M · Jul 1, 2019

Thanks for the reply.

Will the mech unit fault show in VCDS?

I understand they’re not cheap is this right?

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T-800 · Jul 2, 2019

Daniel M said:
Thanks for the reply.

Will the mech unit fault show in VCDS?

I understand they’re not cheap is this right?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The mech unit can manifest itself once the gearbox is warmed up
You’ll get a flashing in the DIS of the gears 123456

It may have faults already stored relating to solenoids on the mech board.

You can get them rebuilt by companies like BBA etc

http://www.bba-reman.com/gb/index.aspx

A new one will set you back £1200-1500

Daniel M · Jul 3, 2019

Went and had another look at the TT tonight and managed to get it moving until it warmed up.

It then jumped out of gear and the PRNDS was highlighted/flashing as per the below image and wouldn’t select a gear.

Once turned off and back on it would select a gear but then slip out and not work.

I’m fearful of this being the mechatronic unit but have read it could be an issue with the gear selector itself?

I am going to return to the car tomorrow or Friday and scan it. What codes am I looking for if it is the mech unit?

Also are they repairable by yourself or is it definitely a professional job?

Thanks again.

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T-800 · Jul 3, 2019

Daniel M said:
Went and had another look at the TT tonight and managed to get it moving until it warmed up.

It then jumped out of gear and the PRNDS was highlighted/flashing as per the below image and wouldn’t select a gear.

Once turned off and back on it would select a gear but then slip out and not work.

I’m fearful of this being the mechatronic unit but have read it could be an issue with the gear selector itself?

I am going to return to the car tomorrow or Friday and scan it. What codes am I looking for if it is the mech unit?

Also are they repairable by yourself or is it definitely a professional job?

Thanks again.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Mech unit if all the gears are flashing.

You’d be best off getting it out and sending to away to a pro.

Or just transport the car to a garage willing to carry out the works.

As regards to size of the task, depends on how handy you are with the spanner’s.
It’s do-able but you need to really understand the size of the job.

Daniel M · Jul 3, 2019

T-800 said:
Mech unit if all the gears are flashing.

You’d be best off getting it out and sending to away to a pro.

Or just transport the car to a garage willing to carry out the works.

As regards to size of the task, depends on how handy you are with the spanner’s.
It’s do-able but you need to really understand the size of the job.

I’m fairly comfortable working on cars but haven’t ever done things like timing belts & clutches ( I know not the same). I do have access to a pit at work for decent access.

Sorry for all the questions......Is it hard to carry out the repair once the unit is off? Also does the gearbox need to come off too?

EDIT - just seen you’ve edited the post

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Bluepower · Jul 3, 2019

Most likely the mech unit as said before, there are several video's on youtube how to remove it, then you can send it of for repairs(or exchange).
even with the faulty mech unit, 500 is not a lot of money for that kind of car..

Daniel M · Jul 3, 2019

Bluepower said:
Most likely the mech unit as said before, there are several video's on youtube how to remove it, then you can send it of for repairs(or exchange).
even with the faulty mech unit, 500 is not a lot of money for that kind of car..

Yeah it’s very cheap for what it is.

Does anyone have a rough cost for repairing the unit?

Thanks again

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T-800 · Jul 3, 2019

Daniel M said:
I’m fairly comfortable working on cars but haven’t ever done things like timing belts & clutches ( I know not the same). I do have access to a pit at work for decent access.

Sorry for all the questions......Is it hard to carry out the repair once the unit is off? Also does the gearbox need to come off too?

EDIT - just seen you’ve edited the post

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Re cost, I gave you a link above for BBA just ring them.

No gearbox doesn’t have to come off....

However you’ll need to empty coolant as the front cross member has to be unbolted and removed from the car, to do that the coolant hose on the gearbox side needs undoing.

DSG fluid dropped

You can then unbolt the mech unit black cover on the front of the gearbox to give access to it.

The trickiest part is removing the mech unit as space is tight, I had to push the engine / box backwards 2 inches or so.

The reason is the Mech unit has a speed sensor arm which is long, it also cannot be damaged as you withdraw, insert the unit.......

You’ll also need VCDS to assist with the procedure.

T-800 · Jul 4, 2019

So I take it from your other post you had actually bought this TT ?

Daniel M · Jul 4, 2019

Well....I’m picking it up tomorrow night, but kinda knew I was getting it the first time I saw it. I’ve just been working out what I’ll need to spend to put it on the road it’s probably not going to be worth fixing.

As it’s been stood for over 2 years it will need a lot of new parts, which is a shame as it could be a lovely motor.

My other post is generally to get a head start gathering interest in the engine as a lot of the S3 8L owners are doing this conversion.

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Daniel M · Jul 6, 2019

Picked the TT up last night an towed to my works yard for now until I can move it somewhere more permanent.

Had a slight mishap though as the battery that is on the car (relocated to the boot) is dead an when I left the car the windows were down.

I set about jumping it off using one the jump packs at work but when I connected it I had an odd buzzing sound coming from the battery/car an think I may have fried something as there is now no power to the dash at all, although the alarm sounds and the central locking works..

I’m hoping it is just fuse related an nothing too serious.

Does anyone have any ideas or know which fuse contols the dash/ignition etc? I can’t even scan it on VCDS either.

Picture of the car as it stands now.

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