Stranded VR6

[DavoVR6]

I've just left my VR6 on the side of the road due to clutch problems. I had noticed that for the last half hour of driving it, the clutch pedal biting point was getting closer and closer to the floor. Then the gear box started making ticking noises. Then it was getting increasingly difficult to get it into gear, all the while the clutch pedal was getting more and more lifeless. Suddenly the pedal sat on the floor and I could not get it into any gear. I was stuck in traffic and had to push it to the side of the road.
Re-starting the car and idling in neutral the gearbox ticks; the pedal will somewhat come back to life but quickly fade again with depressing it a couple of times. During which time the clicks get louder or much louder. Having a look around the engine bay and under the car, I cannot find any leaks anywhere.

Has anyone experienced this problem before? Is it an issue with the slave master cylinder (wherever that may be) or is the problem in the gearbox itself such as the pressure plate?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

[Stephy]

Ohhh nasty - the same thing happened to mine.
The ticking sounded like something was bouncing around inside the grearbox. It ended up having the pressure plate, throw out bearing and clutch replaced (correct me if any of that is wrong - i'm not mechanically minded at all). I had to have it towed to my mechanic... Cost a fair bit, but it's fine now. Same thing - mine would idle fine with some ticking, but as soon as i'd try moving it it would tick louder and the clutch pedal would depress and not come back out
I hope that helps a bit. Good luck with it buddy...

[Mrk_Mickey]

Yeah it sounds like the bearing or pressure plate has broken.

Easy fix, if you feel like taking the box out yourself lol...I'd do it again, but I'd leave a whole weekend to do it. Buy the clutch kit off GAP (ahem...or local if you don't care about prices) which includes clutch, plate and bearing, and just replace those three (and probably get your flywheel balanced) once the gearbox is out and you'll be fine.

[DavoVR6]

I had a clutch kit fitted by VW about a year and a half ago and I've done 35,000kms in that time; would it be likely to fail again in that time? I'm not overly abusive to my car either.

[Mrk_Mickey]

I had a clutch kit fitted by VW about a year and a half ago and I've done 35,000kms in that time; would it be likely to fail again in that time? I'm not overly abusive to my car either.

Nope! Take it on back

as VW, they should have replaced the bearing and pressure plate with the clutch as it's all in the OEM kit, afaik.....so if it's failed already then whoever did the work will be liable?

[h100vw]

Something else I would consider is the state of the lever that holds the bearing. The one on my A3 failed and let me with no clutch.

Just looking for pictures now.

Was less than $50 from VW.

Gavin

[MattyT]

Runamuk sheared his level almost in two (!!) about a year ago. Worth checking out I spose.

[Stephy]

Ohhh - they replaced that thing on mine too...