Technical 500 Twin Air & Judder issue

[pan127]

So I have. a 500 Twin Air S , late 2014 , purchased at 30k miles, now approx 83k miles. I might add a brilliant, loved and somewhat underrated car.

At about 75k miles it started to develop an odd but very noticeable judder , only under load , most obvious uphill, sometimes in 3rd but more often 4th gear , usually between 3-4500 rpm. And not always consistent.

I changed the engine mounts, which made it a little better but it was still there.
I changed the coil packs...no difference
I changed the driveshafts , which made it a tiny bit better still... but it is still there.

So what next?

Dual mass flywheel/clutch replacement? I have heard these can be troublesome. But by all accounts I have received or seen so far, my symptoms are not in keeping with those when they usually go wrong . Clutch operation and engagement is still perfect.

Twin Air hydraulic variable valve timing issue? Anything's possible , but again it doesn't obviously match the symptoms you might expect from that.

Does anyone have experience of this or know of a solution?

I might add finding garage expertise and experience of Twin Air technology is not common. I would also be curious to know if these engines are considered good for over 100k miles without major rebuild. Goes without saying this one has had every oil change of the right oil even before the recommended intervals.

Thank you.

 

[jrkitching]

Dual mass flywheel/clutch replacement?

That was my first thought. The parts aren't ridiculously expensive if you're doing the work yourself and you might also consider replacing the gearbox input shaft bearing while it's in bits, as it's a known weak point.

Twin Air hydraulic variable valve timing issue

This seems to manifest itself more with problems idling, misfiring, poor low speed running and starting from cold.

I would also be curious to know if these engines are considered good for over 100k miles without major rebuild

Reports here are variable; some have run trouble free for 100k+, others have needed repairs costing £1000+ after less than half that.

Goes without saying this one has had every oil change of the right oil even before the recommended intervals

This definitely should put you on the right side of the odds.