Catastrophic Clutch Failure at 16000km !!!!!

[3jcorolla]

Ok I will put up the photos but I want to give a bit of a Back Story First.

I was taken back when my fathers Skoda Octavia had a clutch failure at 16,000km. The car has only ever been driven by himself a 67 year old man, and his wife 66 years old. Both have a history of driving manual cars since the day they got their licenses. In my 37 years of knowing them both I can only recall one clutch failure when I was 5 and my father was towing a caravan up a steep hill in an old Kingswood (and the car had done far in excess of 100,000 km).

VW Australia has claimed that the clutch failure will not be covered by warranty as the failure is caused by user error or abuse (this is what I have verbally been told). They are yet to confirm their position in writing as of the 24th of August 2012. In the mean time my father has no choice but to pay for the clutch as the car has already been 6 weeks at the dealers.



The Photo above shows the catastrophic failure that has occurred to the 16000km young Skoda running a VW/Audi 1.8 liter TSI engine and five speed gearbox with a dual mass flywheel. This car was bought at the end of 2009 as their "good car", the car hardly gets used hence the 16,000km in almost 3 years.

To repair this failure will cost $3500 which is over 10% of the cars original cost.

Before I looked at the parts the dealer stated "I have never seen a Skoda with a clutch failure at or before 16000km". I asked "have you ever seen a clutch failure at 16000km?" he stated "No" (meaning other types of cars).

The flywheel itself shows signs of failure i.e. excessive movement in the dual mass fly wheel. This may be caused due to heat, i.e. heating of the flywheel failing the internal components resulting in excessive play. All clutch systems produce some heat and design should be capable of addressing the environment that it is used in. VW Australia is claiming this is due to driver error or abuse. I find this very difficult to believe since the driver is 67 and has driven manuals his whole life without such failures.



There is plenty of life left in the clutch plate with the friction material well above the rivets



Imagine if disc brake rotors were designed to fail before the brake pads! Customers would not be happy having to constantly replace the rotors while the pads had not worn out.
2 years before he bought this car he bought a manual Nissan pulsar; this car has done in excess of 100,000km and is still on its first clutch. This is what you normally would expect out of a clutch. Keep in mind these are driven by the same people.

I am picking up the parts today to conduct further analysis and get a second opinion before I approach VW under the Trade Practices Act as advised by Victoria Consumer Affairs.
I not only see this as a Consumer Affairs problem, but as a Safety Concern. If pressure plates can come apart like that at virtually idle (when the failure occurred the driver was pulling away from traffic lights) the damage it could cause at 6000rpm would be devastating.
This is what can happen at hi revs, note this is from a skyline.



Anyhow that is my rant, I would like to hear from anyone else that has experienced premature clutch failure.

Roger

[3jcorolla]

Just updated the images so they work

[PassatB6]

Just updated the images so they work

Never heard of one failing like that before especially at low kms. Was the car purchased new?

[Bug_racer]

Make sure the input shaft gets checked . I currently have a car here that had a similar issue and the clutch was actually still engaged when it was driving burning the clutch plate out in less than 500kms .

[Umai Naa!!]

Never seen one fail like that before.

If I hadn't read the post, and just looked at the images, I would've assumed driver abuse too.

Your (parents') word against their's on this one, I'm afraid.

[K1W1]

Arrange an independent third party inspection and report by a licensed automotive engineer (not somebodies mate with a workshop). If your parents are in the RACV that would be one place to start.
If you do not do that you will not have a leg to stand on in any future argument.
This forum has allowed you to rant but ranting here will do nothing towards resolving the problem in a professional manner.

[gldgti]

Make sure the input shaft gets checked . I currently have a car here that had a similar issue and the clutch was actually still engaged when it was driving burning the clutch plate out in less than 500kms .

Yeah. It looks like there has been CRAZY amounts of slippage. To get blueing on the plate like that, we are talking about 400C temps. Its not surprising that it failed.

Im my opinion, it would not be a fault with the clutch but a fault with the gearbox input shaft (not allowing the friction disc to slide along the shaft) or with the release arm.

There is also the possibility that the driver was driving along with their foot resting heaviliy on the clutch pedal. (not an accusation, just saying, it could achieve the same result).

[gldgti]

Arrange an independent third party inspection and report by a licensed automotive engineer (not somebodies mate with a workshop). If your parents are in the RACV that would be one place to start.
If you do not do that you will not have a leg to stand on in any future argument.
This forum has allowed you to rant but ranting here will do nothing towards resolving the problem in a professional manner.

Fact is, unless the problem is VERY obvious nobody will be able to tell if the issue was a mechanical fault or driver problem - friction surfaces looking like that just indicate lots of slippage and nobody is going to prove one way or the other whose fault it is - just depends whose 'side' you are on.

[K1W1]

Fact is, unless the problem is VERY obvious nobody will be able to tell if the issue was a mechanical fault or driver problem

True but at this stage there is one "expert" (the dealership) saying one thing (driver fault) and the owner has nothing in response other than to say "I didn't do it". An independent inspection may well find something the dealership has overlooked or at least be able to demonstrate the the fault could also have been caused by mechanical failure rather than simply driver error. The OP has posted a massive bitch about how wronged they have been and how perfect the driving ability of their parents are but they have apparently not taken basic steps to ensure that their side of the argument can be proven and are instead relying entirely on the dealerships story without any sort on independent confirmation.

[Tigger]

Hi mate,

Hey I really feel for you guys...so sorry.

I dont mean to be rude, but is there any chance they may have been resting their left foot on the clutch pedal slightly while driving?
Please forgive me if that sounds bad, it is just that VW / Skoda will probably check that sort of thing.

I know of a guy who wore out brake pads early due to doing that with the brake pedal...