Hi All,
Sorry for long time no update. I’ve actually had some challenges that mean the car isn’t ready yet, but I’m nearing another attempt at making it work again.
Some updates:
The clutch i received from Deka turned out to have the wrong size gear on the back end and would not fit the one in the gearbox… I’ve communicated with Deka and they advised i can simply put their clutch packs in my basket, as long as i measure 2 parts. Having done so, i listened, and I should not have…
There is much more to a clutch than just those 2 measurements they provided. Additionally, seals on the basket should have been replaced which i was not aware of and Deka didn’t tell me about. I drove gently for 40km absolutely fine and then clutch started slipping very bad till it stopped engaging all together.
Turns out that the distances between the clutches were not exact as they should in the old basket and the seals were burned, so when oil got hot and the pressures were way too high due to the distances, they started leaking oil making the clutches disengage.
Albeit I stopped driving ASAP and had the car towed to mechanic to not break anything… when we removed gearbox the clutch was completely burned, and the mechatronics unit needs restoration as well…
I contacted Deka regarding this, he advised me to ship him my old and the new clutch back and he would make me a new clutch with the right size gear so it fits. It took about a week to ship back, 2-3 days for him to make a new one and ship to me.
I had to pay for the installation + removal of the gearbox and clutch, new oil, shipping it back to him. He paid for new clutch and for shipping it again to me.
As part of this experience I also looked at the JHM singlemass flywheel which I installed a few months back and only drove about 400-500kms on it without any launches, gently due to car being at mechanics still. Unfortunately found that the teeth on the inner part have been bent and in some cases completely broken off! This was surprising but clearly pointed to the fact that the single mass is either too weak for a supercharged car, or that i was unlucky and got a bad part (maybe poor metal quality)… Meanwhile, my S7 flex/drive plate seems to be holding up fine, without issues.
I didn’t want to experiment more, knowing some people who have the dual mass with the supercharger and don’t have any issues, as long as they upgraded the flex/drive plate, i ordered a new dual mass from audi. Meanwhile, I’m trying to use my warranty with JHM to get my money back … although I’ll lose money there too with install/uninstall, not to mention import taxes and VAT… I’ve been in communication with JHM for a month now, they have asked some questions about how i installed it but after that are quiet and so far not providing a resolution yet in terms of a refund… That said, when i was purchasing the Single Mass i was very upfront with them that i had a supercharged car and they said it will not be a problem.
I now have the new clutch, which we looked at and high level looks good from Deka, we have new OEM dual mass, the s7 drive/flex plate and mechatronics is being regenerated this week - having all valves and seals replaced on it and having it tested.
On top of this I ordered the transmission cooler from Michel - he says his car used to run at up to 120C trans oil temp stock, I installed a cheap custom small cooler and mine runs up to 110C, but speaking with mechanic, this is at the limit of what the oil can survive and keep it’s stickiness, as well as already bordering too hot for the mechatronics unit to last… Michel says that with the cooler he notices the temps much lower, 70-80C, that’s a huge upgrade, i’ll test on my car and update here.
Last bit we’re waiting on is the cooler, should be here this week i hope, so by end of week or start of next car should be put together and we’ll be doing testing while monitoring temperatures as well as clutch pressures with VCDS to ensure all is good and if something is off, catch it before anything goes wrong.
Will update you in a week or two