# Flashing PRNDS



## walkdontrunn (Jul 23, 2015)

2004 3.2 TT w/ DSG transmission
160,000 miles

Last week on the way home from work I noticed what felt like the car briefly kicking into neutral midway through passing another car on the interstate. That was right before my exit and the car ran fine for the remaining 2-3 miles of low speed city driving.

The next morning on the way to work after about 10 minutes of city driving and 10 minutes of highway driving the car again felt like it wasn't sending power to the wheels and this time the PRNDS began flashing. I pulled over onto the side of the road, (don't remember if I just stopped, put it in neutral, park, or turned the ignition off), and then the PRNDS stopped flashing so I gave it another go. I made it about a mile down the road and then the PRNDS began flashing again so once again I pulled over, turned the car off and back on, and began driving down the road. This time I made it less than a mile before the PRNDS began flashing and was holding me in 3rd gear. From there I limped the remaining mile or two until I was off of the Interstate. Stopped once more, and then drove the car just fine through the city into work with no PRNDS light flashing.

After work, I decided to drive it around within the city and it seemed to drive fine for 20 min or so until getting above about 40mph at which point I could feel the transmission not want to deliver power to the wheels and the PRNDS began flashing again.

The transmission isn't making any strange noises, and nothing really feels off until it starts acting up. At lower speeds it seems to be just fine.

A coworker has one of those Automatic OBD2 plug-ins and no codes were showing up for the transmission, however oddly enough there were several misfire codes and the car ran like crap until it warmed up. It seems to do that on occasion, but had been running just fine the previous weeks. Perhaps that's just a coincidence.

Are these typical symptons for a failing mechatronic unit?

Besides the cost of the mechatronic ($1250-1350 on ECS Tuning), how many hours of labor is involved in swapping it out? Should I assume the cost of a full DSG fluid service is required when removing the mechatronic? Are there any other parts or labor costs involved?

I've seen a company in England called ECU Testing that will repair these for as low as a several hundred dollars. Is there a company stateside that offers a similar service?

Could it be something simple like the DSG fluid has gotten low or hot? I had it changed 20,000 miles ago.


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## Vegas-RoadsTTer (Mar 17, 2013)

*Yeah it's a failing unit*

Only the tranny will cause the PRNDS. When mine was going out, it would not downshift. A restart cleared it for a while. I don't have any answers for you other questions.


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## walkdontrunn (Jul 23, 2015)

Does anyone have good videos or photos of DSG removal and repairs to this specific model? Most of the one's that I'm finding are about later model DSG's with the dry clutches.

I've found some, but more would be appreciated.

https://youtu.be/AD2Mg5j5oT8

This guy has several videos that look good. Haven't watched them all yet.

https://youtu.be/mY5XlNOZSmI

Are all DQ250 02E model DSG's the same? I'm not too familar with any possible differences. I've seen it referenced online in FWD VW's that use different 4 cyl gas and diesel engines and also the 3.2 VR6 AWD Audi. Is it all the same transmission or is it specific to the 3.2 VR6 MK1 TT? I'm not aware of that same drivetrain being in any other model.


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## walkdontrunn (Jul 23, 2015)

Also, after watching the first video in my post above, I guess I don't really understand what could be wrong with my transmission besides something in the mechatronic.

It would seem like any other mechanical failure would cause a lot of metallic grinding sounds at all times and so far my transmission hasn't made any noise. I've put about 5 miles putting around the neighborhood since the problem started.

I was thinking about maybe it being a good time to replace the clutch packs, but that's not looking to be one of those 'while you're in there' type of things. The mechatronic looks like a lot less work.

That said, do the clutch packs wear out in this model DSG since they're wet clutches?


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## jettadsg2012 (Jul 27, 2021)

Hi guys

I was hoping someone could help.
My vw jetta dsg is going great but for the last 2k miles I get the D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 Light flashing with the spanner after exactly 10 minutes. at first I thought it was 5 or 6 miles but it happens exactly after 10 mins driving has been done. if I stop before the 10 mins a new 10 minutes starts then it flashes again. If I stop the engine with the key it resets perfectly for another 10 mins. 

No yellow or red transmission light flashing at any stage either. I've looked everywhere on line and brought it to my local ex vw mechanic. loads of errors showed up including hydraulic pressure. 

the only performance problem I've found is motorway driving in d6 boot to the floor doing very high speed when the rpm seem to creep slightly higher like a true automatic would. slip maybe.

I hope you guys may have experience of this fault. I'm hoping for an easy fix naturally. 90k miles on clock and the car was always driven normally. would it be a transmission oil filter replacement warning considering it was just before 90k miles was hit?

I rang vw dealer and they said they never heard of that fault before. surprise surprise.

Any help would be greatly appreciated


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## jens52 (Nov 23, 2021)

walkdontrunn said:


> 2004 3.2 TT w/ DSG transmission
> 160,000 miles
> 
> Last week on the way home from work I noticed what felt like the car briefly kicking into neutral midway through passing another car on the interstate. That was right before my exit and the car ran fine for the remaining 2-3 miles of low speed city driving.
> ...





walkdontrunn said:


> 2004 3.2 TT w/ DSG transmission
> 160,000 miles
> 
> Last week on the way home from work I noticed what felt like the car briefly kicking into neutral midway through passing another car on the interstate. That was right before my exit and the car ran fine for the remaining 2-3 miles of low speed city driving.
> ...





jettadsg2012 said:


> Hi guys
> 
> I was hoping someone could help.
> My vw jetta dsg is going great but for the last 2k miles I get the D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 Light flashing with the spanner after exactly 10 minutes. at first I thought it was 5 or 6 miles but it happens exactly after 10 mins driving has been done. if I stop before the 10 mins a new 10 minutes starts then it flashes again. If I stop the engine with the key it resets perfectly for another 10 mins.
> ...


i have the exact same symptoms, have you finished your problem? Can you share me what parts is damaged and how much is it, thanks appreciate it!


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## walkdontrunn (Jul 23, 2015)

jens52 said:


> i have the exact same symptoms, have you finished your problem? Can you share me what parts is damaged and how much is it, thanks appreciate it!


I replaced the mechatronic and the car seemed to run better for a few drives before the same problems began happening again. I was able to drive the car for a while by putting it in manual mode and staying out of 4th and 6th gear. The PRNDS lights would begin flashing whenever I would hit 55mph but as long as I stayed in 5th gear it would continue driving fine.

I ended up putting the car in storage and buying a Toyota 4Runner for a reliable daily driver.

After some research, I believe the issue is the smaller clutch that controls the 2-4-6 gears being worn out. Possibly the dual mass flywheel needs replacing as well, but I don't believe that's the cause of the problem. The mechatronic didn't seem to have electronic problems when I tested it with VCDS, so I think the shop that recommended the mech unit replacement probably didn't understand the problem.


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## jens52 (Nov 23, 2021)

walkdontrunn said:


> I replaced the mechatronic and the car seemed to run better for a few drives before the same problems began happening again. I was able to drive the car for a while by putting it in manual mode and staying out of 4th and 6th gear. The PRNDS lights would begin flashing whenever I would hit 55mph but as long as I stayed in 5th gear it would continue driving fine.
> 
> I ended up putting the car in storage and buying a Toyota 4Runner for a reliable daily driver.
> 
> After some research, I believe the issue is the smaller clutch that controls the 2-4-6 gears being worn out. Possibly the dual mass flywheel needs replacing as well, but I don't believe that's the cause of the problem. The mechatronic didn't seem to have electronic problems when I tested it with VCDS, so I think the shop that recommended the mech unit replacement probably didn't understand the problem.


I havent found the problem yet, but the car drive perfectly fine, do you think i should change the flywheel to solve the problem?


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## walkdontrunn (Jul 23, 2015)

jens52 said:


> I havent found the problem yet, but the car drive perfectly fine, do you think i should change the flywheel to solve the problem?


I would probably go ahead and replace the dual mass flywheel while you're in there, but I doubt that's what is actually causing the problem.

I think repairing these transmissions is a crapshoot and unfortunately the labor time involved in replacing only one part makes it worth replacing everything that could be wrong with it while you're in there.

Which error codes does a VCDS scan show?


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