Catastrophic Clutch Failure at 16000km !!!!!

[3jcorolla]

As GLGDI states unless the failure is very obvious and has not been rectified by the dealer before inspection it is our word against theirs.

Tigger you are correct that ridding your foot on the clutch may result in slipping, however he has driven manuals his whole life without such premature failure.

Most of the travel in this car has either between between Bendigo and Melbourne, or visting me when I lived in Adelaide ( at least 3 trips to adelaide in this car).

I have collected all clutch pieces (flywheel, clutch plate, and pressure plate) from the dealer(preston motors epping), but mystriuosly the thrust bearing has gone missing despite my strict instruction that I wont all parts. I was going to get these indepently inspected, but without the thrust bearing it seems almost usless. Left with little choice but to bend over and suck it up.
You are correct that it is easy towear brake pads out if you rest your foot on the brake. The point here is generally that pads wear out before your brake discs snap into three pieces. You may however warp the disc which indicates time to change.

I have to check whether the gearbox is still out so I can get an opinon on the input shaft. Blueing of the clutch plate tangs is evident, however without the thrust bearing or inspection of the input shaft it still lies between user V manfacturing defect.

[MarksVRS]

Firstly I will say that I feel for you and best of luck.

I drive a manual diesel and I have to say that I have been known to do some quick shifts from time to time, although never would i be found to ride the clutch. My car is coming up to 3 years next month and has 29000km on the clock. If my clutch were to fail like that, there would be hell to pay!!

Now with all due respect (and please don't be offended), that pressure plate shows a lot of overheating! I respect what you have said although I have seen plenty of people that "claim" they don't ride or slip the clutch, yet watch them at an up-hill sloped intersection or trying to park and I cringe with the abuse on the clutch. The older generation have a better chance of riding the clutch because they come from a generation of cars that had useless handbrakes!! I am just saying that maybe they were not aware of when they were slipping the clutch??

Driving with the foot on the clutch is another classic, especially given the clutch is so light in these cars. Some people may not realise they are doing it.

[K1W1]

I'm still curious as to how two people who have driven manual cars for years were apparently unaware of the massive slipping that must have occurred prior to the clutch failure. That clutch did not fail in a short drive to the local shops.
Just out of interest is there anything that the cars computer would have picked up as a fault code in this situation?

[3jcorolla]

MarkVRS, k1w1,

I agree with both your statements, but without inspecting all of the parts independently it is just conjecture.

Yes the clutch has been slipping probably very subtlety for a long time resulting in thermal cycling and thermal fatigue. The easiest answer is user error.

Another answer could be mechanical failure but all parts would be needed, particularly the thrust bearing to make a qualified judgement of the failure cause. Mysteriously it no longer exists.

[3jcorolla]

Does anyone know any way to get the codes off? Do you need an obd2?

[Umai Naa!!]

Yes, you need an OBD2-compatible scanner.

But in all honesty, what are you expecting to find?

[BlackSuperb]

Missing evidence (thrust bearing) could work in your favour. It implies the workshop, for whatever reason, didn't want you to see/inspect it because it was faulty.

[woofy]

Its a tricky one. Could be something else and if it is, it will show up soon enough again if not picked up now. But then again, if one or either of your parents are doing something, it will also possibly happen again. I know they have been driving all their lives with a manual, but they are at the age where people start doing strange things as they get older. My in laws are much the same age and to say they drive like they did even 10 yrs ago would be an outright lie, we can see that they may need some encouragement to stop driving sooner rather than later.

The SKoda clutch is very very light, not like the heavy ones of old, so it may be possible that one (does one drive it more than the other?) is resting their foot on it without realising, or thinking its the foot rest next to it. You would want to rule out that, otherwise it's going to repeat all over again. The fact it had been going on a while before happening and them not noticing is what makes me wonder. I had to reverse up a very steep driveway with a handbrake start about 6mths after getting ours and the smell of the clutch was noticable within seconds.

[BluChris]

Both causes are possible and as others have said the answer may never be known. Across the board manufacturers generally don't warrant clutches. They are seen as wear and tear items.

However, given the very large sum of money involved it would have been nice to see Skoda do the right thing and contribute to the cost, on the understanding that if it happened again with no cause established they would not do it twice. A small sum to maintain goodwill versus a very unhappy customer who may well sell the car and warn others off the brand? A no brainer I think.

[Mysticality]

As far as riding the clutch is concerned, I've found that I rest my foot on it between shifts 1->2->3.
I only realised one day when I floored it, boost built and the revs hit 4k without really moving anywhere.
From now I move my foot to the foot rest, even between very close-together shifts.