Some advice with a remap on a diesel

schnipps

schnipps

schnipps

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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5,381
Ok to cut a long story short

Got a Leon FR 150 TDi, (55 plate) which i have had 6 months and has 14k on it, bought with 9k on it. Now around 7 weeks ago i got it remapped with REVO which cost me £470, this took it from 150bhp and 230lbft of torque to 190bhp and 290lbft of torque.

Since getting it mapped i have noticed the clutch slip when you give it beans in 3rd and 4th, it probably slips in 2nd but its harder to notice because the turbo really does chuck you forwards and its hard to see the rev counter 'jump' if you will in any gear under 3rd.

I took this problem up with revo who say its my clutch NOT revo and that its on its way out, and that revo is simply showing up a future problem or weak clutch. I have no comeback with revo and they will not entertain a refund of any kind, beleive me i have tried.

Since the slipping i have turned off the remap (someting which you can do with revo) to see how the car pulls and feel under the standard ecu settings. The car is fine, no slip atall. To clarify this I have had in into seat for them to look at the clutch under warranty to see if it is defective, (of course with revo turned off, as the dealer can not see the remap) they can not find any problems with it atall, not a thing.

So this leaves me in a annoying situation, I either leave revo turned off permenantly basically flushing £470 down the bog and the car drives fine,

OR

Get it turned back on and drive it with clutch slip ( i can drive around it its not a massive deal) and then 1 year down the line when the clutch gets worse see if i can get it changed under warranty, as if it gets bad enough im sure it will slip when the map is turned off.

OR

Buy an uprated clutch which will set me back around £800, of which i just do not have, so that option is pretty much out of the window.

Any thoughts?
 
Can Revo not tone the engine map down a bit to reduce the stress on the clutch?

These big power increases are all well and good, but if the other mechanicals can't take it then a £500 remap soon starts to multiply in cost. Thats the reason I never chipped my 2.0 TDCi Mondeo - I had heard too many reports of clutches and dual mass flywheels giving up the ghost and costing over a grand to put right.

Once the clutch starts to slip, it will get progressively worse - personally I wouldn't want to put up with it as there is a risk it will give out and leave you stranded. If you want the extra power, I'd be inclined to get the clutch done.
 
Take it back to Revo and get them to reduce the power. Don't pay them extra to do it, there shouldn't have been any slippage when they did it.
 
Clarkey said:
not Revo's problem really is it.
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Well it is, they put a map on which wasn't suitable for the car. They should have tested for clutch slip and reduced the increase in power.

A decent remapper would alter the map accordingly.
 
nah, a decent mapper would produce a map which gets the best out of the engine. Not their problem if the clutch isn't up to the job.
 
You're not really in a position to get the best out of your engine if the drivetrain is knackered because its been run way beyond its design limits though are you?

A decent mapper would do what the customer asks - if they want the car remapped for a little more power on standard stuff they should provide a map to meet that requirement. If a customer is going for other mods as well then their map should utilise those.

The trouble with a lot of these companies is they trade on their headline figures with little consideration for driveability. I suspect the problem with clutch slip on the PD150 is the rapid torque rise which is a characteristic of these engines rather than the actual headline figures. A more progressive map could still produce similar headline figures without causing clutch problems and it would also help with traction too.
 
Clarkey said:
nah, a decent mapper would produce a map which gets the best out of the engine. Not their problem if the clutch isn't up to the job.
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What's the point of a remap which the car can't handle? Any muppet can set the parameters to maximum and load it on. The remap should be tailored to the car.

At the end of the day, a 55-reg Leon should not have a slipping clutch so it is likely the fault of the map. The fact that the clutch doesn't slip on the standard map provides further evidence for this.

He should take the car back and get them to sort it out or get a refund.
 
Clarkey said:
the clutch slips because it can't handle the extra torque, hardly the fault of the map. Needs a better clutch, that simple.
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But wheres it getting this extra torque from, oh yea the map ;) if they know that the car is stock and is going to be kept at stock then producing a map which causes problems on stock internals is not a good product and should be adjusted foc or a refund given
 
Clarkey said:
the clutch slips because it can't handle the extra torque, hardly the fault of the map. Needs a better clutch, that simple.
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where does this stop - the mapped car needs slick tyres and a racing wing?

for almost a monkey id expect them to get it right for MY car.
 
I agree with Clarkey, dont mod your cars if you're not willing to fit supporting mods to deal with them. Modding on the cheap is never a sensible thing. Its pretty obvious a standard spec clutch isnt always going to take a large increase in torque happily so an uprated clutch is going to be needed.

I am surprised that a new clutch would cost £800 though. I wouldnt have thought an aftermarket uprated clutch kit wouldnt cost more than £350. I bought a 450ftlb clutch kit, release bearing, Fidanza light weight flywheel and had it fitted for less than £800 although the car isnt a VAG car.

I wouldnt run the car as it is though, turn it off. If you cant afford to replace the clutch then driving around with the clutch slipping is just going to burn it out in no time at all possibly scoring the flywheel quite badly at the same time.
 
dilated said:
where does this stop - the mapped car needs slick tyres and a racing wing?

for almost a monkey id expect them to get it right for MY car.
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It stops when you fit all the stuff that is needed for the mods its that simple. Tuning cars is rarely just a matter of hiking up the power, people that do that usually end up with broken cars or find things wear out prematurely rather quicker than expected.

Theres more often than not, a weak link when tuning cars as manufacturers spec parts for a standard spec car, even then not all cars will take the same mod with or without problems. Thats why tuning cars can be very expensive but when done properly, the car can last and be driven daily like any other car.
 
You cant pull back the torque, its not a custom map its a generic map for that engine, REVO isnt customisable in stage 1 only stage 3 which is only available on petrol cars, they only do a stage 1 on diesel. Its either off or on, thats it. My gripe is, ok the clutch may be poor or not up to the torque but the only way of finding out is to get the map done as its fine in stock. That leaves you with either a bill for a better clutch or turning it off. Nowhere on revo's site does it say YOU MUST get an uprated clutch with this map. I would have thought the car would have taken it thats why the map is nearly £500.
 
Bear said:
I agree with Clarkey, dont mod your cars if you're not willing to fit supporting mods to deal with them. Modding on the cheap is never a sensible thing. Its pretty obvious a standard spec clutch isnt always going to take a large increase in torque happily so an uprated clutch is going to be needed.

I am surprised that a new clutch would cost £800 though. I wouldnt have thought an aftermarket uprated clutch kit wouldnt cost more than £350. I bought a 450ftlb clutch kit, release bearing, Fidanza light weight flywheel and had it fitted for less than £800 although the car isnt a VAG car.

I wouldnt run the car as it is though, turn it off. If you cant afford to replace the clutch then driving around with the clutch slipping is just going to burn it out in no time at all possibly scoring the flywheel quite badly at the same time.
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800 quid is a rough quoute as apparently a sachs clutch is recommended, i cant actually even find a garage that are willing to supply and fit one anyway which i find odd. I agree about not running it and slipping it, im not going to, means nearly £500 down the toilet though. If they are going to charge 500 for a remap then it shouldnt be so torquey that there are potential problems on any cars expecially one that has under 15k on it!

As i said revo dont want to know about a refund and the garage that did it dont either, im furious tbh. Not sure if its worth taking further or not, any advice on if i could take it further? Everyone just blames my car, but its fine in stock so its just a vicious circle..
 
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NickXX said:
Take it back to Revo and get them to reduce the power. Don't pay them extra to do it, there shouldn't have been any slippage when they did it.
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AFAIK Revo dont map the cars, they upload a switchable generic map. If the map does what its supposed to do without causing engine damage then all is fine. To get them to reduce the power would mean they would have to physically remap the car which would cost in the region of £300+ at a guess
 
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