The dealers higher labour rate, and the fact that VAG charges their dealers crazy prices for parts is why. I know some of the Audi flywheels are over £1000, you can buy the same part locally for £250.
Jetta GLI - sudden clutch failure.
- Thread starter pezzy84
- Start date
ls1mike
$50 Site Donor 2024
Well, it depends. Maybe on this car, but if you are making any power or racing it 90,000 is pretty decent. You don't break stuff if you don't
make any power.
IMO, but recommending another dual mass flywheel? That’s rather odd since it’s the major cause of clutch failures.
If the car is a keeper, OP will be in the same boat anywhere from 50-90k miles down the road.
Personally I would go with a regular flywheel on this one. Shift quality will suffer a bit, but the major failure point will be eliminated.
If the car is a keeper, OP will be in the same boat anywhere from 50-90k miles down the road.
Personally I would go with a regular flywheel on this one. Shift quality will suffer a bit, but the major failure point will be eliminated.
I would never use a SMF on a daily-driven car.
Never bothered me, but I’ve driven many crude machines in my life, so my standards are pretty low.
Yeah I mean right now I'm daily-ing my '89 Trooper so comfort is pretty far down on my list of priorities.Never bothered me, but I’ve driven many crude machines in my life, so my standards are pretty low.
Synchronizer damage has happened with a SMF on these cars, and you get plenty of chatter at idle.
What is that 6 hours book time ? So 3X overcharge on already expensive labour? Thieves !
I recall doing a clutch on a 70's German Ford Fiesta in my friend's driveway in a couple hours one afternoon.
Cars had a bit less wiring, required basic tools and had a bit more wiggle room to work back then
My wife managed 240k on her 2005 Subaru Legacy GT wagon with 5mt and next owner was impressed with clutch in decent shape. The engine was a 250HP turbo flat 4 and car could do 0-60 under 7seconds.
Her previous 99 Civic si she got 200k before sold and no clutch issues.
Bad clutch design or driver along the way ?
Well I think the mystery of the sudden clutch failure has come to light. Indy called today and the clutch "exploded" and it does need a new flywheel as well - well this seems to point to a money shift. Other half 'yeah i think that may have happened but it all happened so quick I didn't know what was going on' 
- thinks he may have gone from 6th to 3rd instead of 5th but even at legal freeway speeds I'm thinking that should still be somewhere south of redline.
I'm not asking anymore questions about the situation right now because the car is getting fixed and indy did not think any engine damage as no CEL and engine running normally - should be good to go with new clutch and flywheel (hopefully). This really has scared the hell out of the other half so I think it has been a valuable lesson. I really cannot judge as I did something similar in my '99 Neon ~20 years ago (5th to 2nd vs 4th) and it taught me the importance of being 100% certain what gear you are selecting. In my case it just destroyed the accessory belts and my car had enough 12v power to make it ~6 miles to the Dodge dealer who slapped two new belts on in under an hour for IIRC ~$80-90 and I was on my way.
Not sure if I even want a box of a broken apart clutch disc back. Might get it anyways and leave some pieces laying decoratively around the house as a reminder to always confirm your shift before you let the dang clutch out. I'm not that evil though so will probably just grab a picture for memories and toss it in the rubbish.
- thinks he may have gone from 6th to 3rd instead of 5th but even at legal freeway speeds I'm thinking that should still be somewhere south of redline. I'm not asking anymore questions about the situation right now because the car is getting fixed and indy did not think any engine damage as no CEL and engine running normally - should be good to go with new clutch and flywheel (hopefully). This really has scared the hell out of the other half so I think it has been a valuable lesson. I really cannot judge as I did something similar in my '99 Neon ~20 years ago (5th to 2nd vs 4th) and it taught me the importance of being 100% certain what gear you are selecting. In my case it just destroyed the accessory belts and my car had enough 12v power to make it ~6 miles to the Dodge dealer who slapped two new belts on in under an hour for IIRC ~$80-90 and I was on my way.
Not sure if I even want a box of a broken apart clutch disc back. Might get it anyways and leave some pieces laying decoratively around the house as a reminder to always confirm your shift before you let the dang clutch out. I'm not that evil though so will probably just grab a picture for memories and toss it in the rubbish.
If it was an overspeed it will be logged.Well I think the mystery of the sudden clutch failure has come to light. Indy called today and the clutch "exploded" and it does need a new flywheel as well - well this seems to point to a money shift. Other half 'yeah i think that may have happened but it all happened so quick I didn't know what was going on'
I'm not asking anymore questions about the situation right now because the car is getting fixed and indy did not think any engine damage as no CEL and engine running normally - should be good to go with new clutch and flywheel (hopefully). This really has scared the hell out of the other half so I think it has been a valuable lesson. I really cannot judge as I did something similar in my '99 Neon ~20 years ago (5th to 2nd vs 4th) and it taught me the importance of being 100% certain what gear you are selecting. In my case it just destroyed the accessory belts and my car had enough 12v power to make it ~6 miles to the Dodge dealer who slapped two new belts on in under an hour for IIRC ~$80-90 and I was on my way.
Not sure if I even want a box of a broken apart clutch disc back. Might get it anyways and leave some pieces laying decoratively around the house as a reminder to always confirm your shift before you let the dang clutch out. I'm not that evil though so will probably just grab a picture for memories and toss it in the rubbish.
If you care to know.
Well I think the mystery of the sudden clutch failure has come to light. Indy called today and the clutch "exploded" and it does need a new flywheel as well - well this seems to point to a money shift. Other half 'yeah i think that may have happened but it all happened so quick I didn't know what was going on'
I'm not asking anymore questions about the situation right now because the car is getting fixed and indy did not think any engine damage as no CEL and engine running normally - should be good to go with new clutch and flywheel (hopefully). This really has scared the hell out of the other half so I think it has been a valuable lesson. I really cannot judge as I did something similar in my '99 Neon ~20 years ago (5th to 2nd vs 4th) and it taught me the importance of being 100% certain what gear you are selecting. In my case it just destroyed the accessory belts and my car had enough 12v power to make it ~6 miles to the Dodge dealer who slapped two new belts on in under an hour for IIRC ~$80-90 and I was on my way.
Not sure if I even want a box of a broken apart clutch disc back. Might get it anyways and leave some pieces laying decoratively around the house as a reminder to always confirm your shift before you let the dang clutch out. I'm not that evil though so will probably just grab a picture for memories and toss it in the rubbish.
Is this the same person that starts the car cold and revs it to red line so the heat comes out quicker?
If it was an overspeed it will be logged.
If you care to know.
Yeah - regret having it towed to the dealer now as I'm sure it has a big "abused" scarlet letter imprinted on its permanent record. It is what it is at this point - no un-ringing that bell.
Sure is.
I try to be patient and educate but I equate it to showing someone who doesn't know how to boil water the way to cook a gourmet multi course meal, it just ain't happening. I just make sure it gets taken in for routine maintenance when the reminder starts popping up and walk through over the phone what oil to buy when the yellow genie lamp pops up (quart every 9200 miles or so). Basically I have just said 'if its a red warning light stop ASAP and call me, if its yellow its usually ok to keep going but still call me'.
Edit: I have already come to terms that car will never be taken care of as well as I would take care of it. So I just let it keep motoring on and make sure it gets the basic minimum required maintenance.
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That's all you can do...I've learned it's just best to keep my mouth shut and inject some carefully worded suggestions when I can.
Yup - thats about what I have been doing. Just try to guide in the best direction and hope for the best.
LOL this gave me a much needed laugh.Technically, they aren't wrong.
Priorities. In my mind forget the car, it isn't going to cuddle up with me in bed at night.
Eh, there are other issues associated with going to a SMF. I have never seen good results with it on some cars, like on the VQ37s. Lots of extra NVH and potential damage to the trans.
This article goes into a bit more detail:
So Solid Crew? DMFs and SMFs - autotechnician - servicing the independent workshop
When a DMF has spun its last, should you always replace like-for-like, or should you offer customers the […]
autotechnician.co.uk
Sorry about the early failure, but I agree with the indy opinion: the clutch didn't fail due to the slave cylinder. A failed slave will absolutely cause rough shifts, difficulty engaging a gear from a stop, and grinding during shifts but not slippage.
Losing a clutch at 90k is a combination of poor user skill combined with the OEM using thinner friction material on the clutch disc. A couple years ago I had to replace the clutch in my father's '14 Accent at just shy of 100k, and he's driven manuals for 30 years. Upon removal, I found no evidence of overheating on either the pressure plate or flywheel. The clutch disc, however, was worn to the rivets.
Also, as others have said: do NOT have the flywheel resurfaced OR attempt to reuse it. Just replace it, along with new hardware.
Losing a clutch at 90k is a combination of poor user skill combined with the OEM using thinner friction material on the clutch disc. A couple years ago I had to replace the clutch in my father's '14 Accent at just shy of 100k, and he's driven manuals for 30 years. Upon removal, I found no evidence of overheating on either the pressure plate or flywheel. The clutch disc, however, was worn to the rivets.
Also, as others have said: do NOT have the flywheel resurfaced OR attempt to reuse it. Just replace it, along with new hardware.
Well car is back and operational. 2nd gear synchro apparently took a beating so 2nd shift is apparently very difficult and requires rev matching. Also side note I was off by 10k on the mileage - it has ~76k on the clock.
Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure. Maybe an expert can tell me if the overheating was a result of the broken clutch or possibly the cause of the broken clutch.
Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure. Maybe an expert can tell me if the overheating was a result of the broken clutch or possibly the cause of the broken clutch.
