Flappy Paddle Problem

[MadeInYorkshire]

I'm sadly starting to have a bit of a love hate relationship with my Leon ST FR 1.8.

I love driving the car and it's perfect for my needs, especially with its performance, however...

I bought the car just two months ago. It's a 64 reg with only 21k on the clock. After driving a 2009 Mondeo for 4 years problem free I was hoping to be buying reliability with such a young car with low miles. Fortunately the dealership put a very comprehensive 12 month warranty on the car.

The first problem was the development of a rear suspension knocking. That was found to be the shock absorbers and rear mounts. The car will be in the garage tomorrow to have those changed.

In the last week the other problem that has appeared is that the right hand flappy paddle is sticking and has become quite stiff to actuate. It should have a definite movement and with a precise clicking action when actuating the gear. change Mine appears to be stuck and doesn't now really move. By forcing it a little the gear actuation does still work but it is obviously not as it should be and I suspect it's one of those things that will probably get worse.

I was wondering if anyone else has had any similar flappy paddle issue? I've just phoned a local VAG independent specialist and he's never come across such a problem. of course he's happy to look at the car and stick it on the obligatory diagnostics and I'll be without my car for half a day at least.

Any thoughts or advice much appreciated.

 

[Upthere]

Why not just get the dealership to look at it when they do the shocks?

 

[cupra_ahhh]

Yup, exactly what Upthere said, just get SEAT to look at it, they'll sort it as it must be under warranty. Don't worry about it or bother trying to fix yourself, get the professionals to do it.

 

[MadeInYorkshire]

Thanks for the replies.
The car is now out of Seat Warranty but the dealership that sold it me put their own Diamond level version on the car.
The fault is intermittent however I think I've found an explanation courtesy of the ever useful Youtube.

Unfortunately I haven't made enough posts on here yet to add an URL but if you search for "How to Repair, Remove, or Change Stuck F1 Paddle Shifts Audi TT Mk2 S Tronik" you will find it.

6 minutes on explains and shows the problem.

I think what happens on mine is that the loose plastic bits move around in the housing as the steering wheel is rotated. They then get lodged causing the paddle to stick however as the wheel is rotated again they then move away and the paddle works fine again.

Hopefully the suspension will be fine after today's work and I'll then book it in again for the paddle problem.

 

[Deleted member 77314]

I had the same problem with mine, it was replaced under warranty.

 

[MadeInYorkshire]

After a few days of the flappy paddle working fine it has today well and truly stuck and the clicking action is no more.

In a way this is good as i can now take it to a garage or dealer and they will instantly see the problem.

Out of interest is it an easy repair and does anyone know what it involves to dismantle the steering wheel to access the flappy paddles. I don't intend to try it myself but I'd like to know what level of garage could do the work or whether it needs to be main dealer or Seat specialist?

 

[SRGTD]

As you’ve only had the car a couple of months, and you said ‘the dealer put a very comprehensive 12 month warranty on the car’, presumably a defective / malfunctioning steering wheel mounted gear selector paddle would be covered under the warranty. Worth checking the small print of your warranty document.

Assuming it is covered under the warranty, I’d take it back to the dealer you bought it from and get them to sort it. If they’re not a Seat dealer and the don’t have the knowledge of how to fix it, it’s for them to get it sorted via a Seat dealer or Seat specialist.

 

[MadeInYorkshire]

I've no doubts that the warranty will cover the defective paddle. It's deciding who can and will do the work.
I bought the car 250 miles away in Tunbridge Wells so going back there is not really an option and it doesn't need to be either as the warranty work can be done at any garage or dealer.
Just curious as to how involved a job it is to replace the paddle unit.

 

[slartibartfast]

I've no doubts that the warranty will cover the defective paddle. It's deciding who can and will do the work.
I bought the car 250 miles away in Tunbridge Wells so going back there is not really an option and it doesn't need to be either as the warranty work can be done at any garage or dealer.
Just curious as to how involved a job it is to replace the paddle unit.

From memory, once the airbag is removed, there are 2 small screws holding each paddle to the steering wheel to undo, and the wiring connector to the paddle to unclip, and that's it. I removed my paddles with the steering wheel off the car, but I think it may well be possible to remove the paddles with the steering wheel on the car, but I am not totally sure about that.

 

[MadeInYorkshire]

Thanks for that. I presume there's no recoding needed?
If it's that simple a task then I'll probably let the garage that did the shockers and top mounts do the work.

 

[slartibartfast]

Thanks for that. I presume there's no recoding needed?
If it's that simple a task then I'll probably let the garage that did the shockers and top mounts do the work.

I cannot confirm about recoding, as what I did was a steering wheel swap, from an SE wheel, to a nice chunky FR wheel. My SE is not DSG, but the cheapest nice FR wheel I could find had the flappy paddles that I did not need, so I just removed them from the FR wheel, and fitted the new wheel to my SE. (I swapped the FR steering wheel loom out, and swapped my SE loom into the FR wheel) and it all went smoothly.

 

[MadeInYorkshire]

Okay, thanks for that.

 

[MadeInYorkshire]

I went to my local Seat dealers regarding the flappy paddle and the technician had a quick look at the car while I was there. He said that he'd worked for various VAG dealers and had never seen a problem like mine before. Because there may be some coding needed with the repair I think I'll be using them for the work and not my local garage.

And now today.
Went out in the car and noticed that the compass letter (i.e N,E,W.S) wasn't being displayed. thought it might take a minute or so but it remained off. Tried to start the sat nav and that didn't work, saying something like 'loading navigation'. Again it didn't start working so I switched the head unit off and restarted it. After a while it worked and the compass symbol also appeared.

Then, driving in a queue of traffic the parking sensors suddenly started beeping as, either I got close to the car in front, or one got close behind me. The display also showed this and I tried exiting it using the touch display but the beeping continued. I also tried switching the parking sensors off using the main mechanical switch but even that wouldn't disable the system.

It therefore seems that the Seat dealer now has two things to looking at.

I'm sorry but there will come a point where I start looking on Autotrader again...