[Mr. Spool]

I'm telling you, this week is just going get better and better. Get this!!!!

This morning, I leave my house at 05:00 to go to work. I get about a mile and a half from my house when I turn right on to an open stretch of highway. I shift from first to second, second to third, i put the clutch in and tried to shift into fourth...........the gearshift didn't go into fourth.......I put the gearshift back to neutral.....took my foot off the clutch.....the clutch pedal stayed on the floor!!! I used my foot to pull the pedal off the floor thinking that the floormat was caught on the pedal. The floor mat was free and clear. The pedal then came up a little bit, but with little to no resistance from it. I pulled over to the side of the highway. With the clutch all the way in, it was still not enough to disengage the trans so it would not shift between gears without rev matching. Bottom line: Clutch broke, car no move!! While similtaneously banging my head against the steering wheel and calling Leo for a tow, I thought to myself.........has anyone had anything like this happen!! 4200 miles and stuff like this is going wrong!! So two and half hours later we finally get the fast to the dealership and all checked in. They said they would call me at about two or three this afternoon!! So I guess we'll see and I'll let all of you know what they say!!!

This is the first day in five months that I've been separated from my Fast! (sniff sniff) But I guess all Fast's have to go the doctor once in a while, huh?!?

 

[Thalo]

That's freaky. Let us know what it was that caused it.

 

[Mr. Spool]

Yeah I surely will. But there is a silver lining to this!! Maybe I should say an orange lining!! While I was at the dealership they have one of those new Fahrenheit GTI's!! Let me tell you....that thing is badass lookin!!! I took a bunch of pictures of it. I'll post them in a little bit.

 

[dgm]

man! A new clutch at 4200 miles! Thats crazy. I've got 22,000 miles on my fast and haven't replaced a darn thing other than lots of fuel!

 

[gti_lover]

how often are you supposed to change the clutch? i think mines wearing down a bit

 

[dgm]

If you don't abuse it and you know how to drive a stick, I would fully expect it to last 100,000 miles. ...I guess that would depend on the kind of driving you do most as well, hwy vs. city.

 

[Mr. Spool]

The problem is not with the clutch itself but with the linkage somewhere between the pedal and the pressure plate.

I recived a call from the dealership....the vertic is in!!

They DON'T KNOW what is wrong!!!!!

They have an idea though. I talked to the tech and he said that he examined the clutch cable clevis or something of the sort (I have know idea) and said that there was too much slack in the cable because it had pulled through a crimp from the factory. The problem with the crimp was repaired however the problem still exists!

The solution.......tomarrow they are going to pull the entire motor and trans to examine the clutch, flywheel, pressure plate assembly, and linkage.

This FREAKIN SUCKS!!!!

 

[m0oZ]

Well from what I've read, the dealership is correct in there assumption about the crimp. That would be the main culprit of the loose cable since the clutch cable was not broken I assume. Once the crimp problem is corrected, you should be able, or the dealer should be able to adjust the clutch.

 

[dgm]

The solution.......tomarrow they are going to pull the entire motor and trans to examine the clutch, flywheel, pressure plate assembly, and linkage.

Thats ridiculous imo. : Pull the motor and and the tranny??? Who knows, I'm not a VW mechanic, that just seems odd to me.

 

[Mr. Spool]

The dealership called me today and they found the problem. This is nuts!!!

They said that one of the prongs of the pressure plate broke off and became jammed between the surface of the clutch face and the flywheel, destroying the clutch, the flywheel, and not to mention the already broken pressure plate. It was attributed to a factory defect in the pressure plate. They are replacing everthing under a warranty claim....I should think so!! Not to mention the dealership gave me a freakin minivan for a rental. An honest-to-god soccer-mom minivan!!! The tech said he is going to save all the parts for me so when I pick the fast up so he can show me exactly what went wrong. Should have it back Friday!! ....or so they say!

 

[kryptonkid07]

That really sucks. When I had my GTI at the dealership they gave me a 2.5L Jetta. You gotta admit, i'll bet drving the minivan is fun.

 

[dgm]

crazy...let us know how it turns out.

 

[10bv01]

Just think of how good it's going to feel to go back to your GTI after having to put up with the mom mobile!

 

[Mr. Spool]

Yeah, but the screwed up part........it was either that or a 07 GMC Savanna Cargo Van!!! All of their cars were already rented.

 

[m0oZ]

From Fast to Frugal in 7.1

Glad to hear they found the issue with your Fast. I have my fingers crossed you will get it back on Friday.

 

[Ecoterragaia]

I am glad that they found the problem and it's covered under warranty. I didn't think that these clutches were controlled by cables anyway, since they're hydraulic. This is the third time that I have asked this forum this question (nobody ever answers me): Has anyone noticed a slight knocking sound coming from the tranny area (stick tranny) when he/she is either idling in neutral with the clutch OUT, or when he/she is starting off from a completely stopped position? It sounds like that hollow sound that a large chunk of aluminum makes when it hits another large chunk of aluminum. Please let me know. I wonder if this pressure plate problem (are you sure it wasn't a prong from the diaphragm spring?) carries to all of our Fasts.

 

[GTI MKV]

that sucks. my AC blew up 2 weeks ago and they had to replace the whole thing. all under warranty luckily but they did try to say my AWE downpipe heated it up causing it to break which is pretty stupid.

 

[Mr. Spool]

Ecoterragaia, you are right in saying that the clutch is hydraulic. But now that you mention it....the day prior to all of this happening there was a noise present like what you described. I didn't think much of it. The best way I can describe it is... hsve you ever driven a car with a clutch that is about to go bad? In the upper gears, at low RPM's every thing is fine. When you give a little throttle, the is not enough clutch to hold pressure against the flywheel and it 'breaks away' and spins freely. Or the clutch 'bounces' on the flywheel. I know this sounds confusing but I don't know how else to describe it. That bouncing/thumping sound is what I heard. As far as where the prong is from, it was explained that it was the pressure plate release levers that had failed. See the picture. Let me know if that is kinda like what you heard in your Fast.

 

[mistyz23]

DOCUMENT DOCUMENT DOCUMENT! If they have it out of commission collectively for 30+ days from different problems, or if the same problem happens 3 times, you've got a lemon. My husband's good documentation won us a lemon law claim against his Focus. He had his transmission mounts go out early on in the life of the car and it happened 2 other times. When something that unusual goes wrong, be on your toes!


Mmmmmm Fahrenheit. ;D

 

[Fat Chris]

That really worries me to hear about those sorts of major problems at such low mileage. I have just over 11K on my GTI and just yesterday my CEL came on, but after resetting it, the CEL has stayed off. Still nothing compared to a clutch issue though. I could only imagine the pain of seeing the GTI being hoisted up on a wrecker. That makes me sad. May your Fast get well soon.