Clutch pedal slammed to floor!

[MattRocco]

Hi guys,

So sitting at a set of lights and press clutch down to select gear and pull away. Bang pedal slammed straight to the floor. Managed to get car home from a nice person towing me.

Had a quick look, neither end of cable snapped and if he pull/pushes cable it moves other end. The arm/fork the cable goes into seems very loose to move (I'm assuming this should have quite a bit of resistance when trying to move by hand?)

So assuming the worst here that my box has gone but is there a fix or just new box time?

Regards
Matt

[james butler]

nah mate u probably need a new clutch. if you have a look at the clutch setup for a scirocco 1.6-1.8 that lever on the outside of the gearbox pushes a long rod inside the gearbox that presses on the clutch.
on the pressure plate is a disk of metal the long rod pushes against that sounds like it has punched straight through this disk.
it does happen from time to time but you wont know till you take the gearbox out and have a look.
another thing to look for is the trust bearing at the end of the gearbox is intact. if this has collapsed or the arm inside has come away from the bearing this may also be your problem.

[james butler]

also meant to say the bearing is located at the furthest point away from the engine behind a green circular tin cover that can be pried out with the gearbox in situ.
if you do remove it though you will need a new one which can be bought quite cheaply.
most clutch kits have the option of having the thrust bearing and cover being added when buying online, places like vw heritage should have all the bits you need.
and most people on here can guide you how to change the clutch or locals lend you a hand.

[MattRocco]

It had a clutch a few months back with new cable but I don't think it had a bearing. I'll have to get it to work and get the box out and look out for all of the above. Thank you for the advice!!

[james butler]

Oh yeah also check the outer cable part of the clutch cable hasn't pulled through the bulkhead!
This is very common thing to happen!

[Doug T]

I hope you sort it out.

I have seen the outer sleeve squish up on some lower quality cable assemblies that I bought from a VW dealer. Is your tension adjusted correctly to accommodate cable stretch?

This post may help you:
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=17775

[Blueshark]

Behind the green lid where the bearing sits for the pushrod there is also a "finger" which serves the bearing. No;20 in the drawing.

These will also sometimes snap into 2 pieces and give you the same affect as a broken clutch.




Pull of the green lid behind the left front wheel and check, her is the bearing located as well, so 2 checks in one effort.

Joost

[james butler]

Behind the green lid where the bearing sits for the pushrod there is also a "finger" which serves the bearing. No;20 in the drawing.

These will also sometimes snap into 2 pieces and give you the same affect as a broken clutch.




Pull of the green lid behind the left front wheel and check, her is the bearing located as well, so 2 checks in one effort.

Joost

excellent diagram blueshark,
where do you find these diagrams? would like to use them in the future.
they would have been really useful when i was rebuilding my gearbox.

[MattRocco]

Thanks for all the help guys, found the problem. Where it goes through the bulkhead it had popped through a fraction but had rubbed through the cable leaving it holding together with about 2 strands (which is probably why it could still move by hand) never seen one wear through how it did but at least problem is found and it's in the bin! Got one on order a euro car parts to hopefully collect tomorrow

[scrumpyone]

Behind the green lid where the bearing sits for the pushrod there is also a "finger" which serves the bearing. No;20 in the drawing.

These will also sometimes snap into 2 pieces and give you the same affect as a broken clutch.




Pull of the green lid behind the left front wheel and check, her is the bearing located as well, so 2 checks in one effort.

Joost

excellent diagram blueshark,
where do you find these diagrams? would like to use them in the future.
they would have been really useful when i was rebuilding my gearbox.

Here you are Jimbo:

http://www.partsbase.org/vw/eu/

[PeteGLi]

Thanks for all the help guys, found the problem. Where it goes through the bulkhead it had popped through a fraction but had rubbed through the cable leaving it holding together with about 2 strands (which is probably why it could still move by hand) never seen one wear through how it did but at least problem is found and it's in the bin! Got one on order a euro car parts to hopefully collect tomorrow

Pulling through the bulkhead is a common problem on the right hand drive cars, as VW did not strengthen the bulkhead sufficiently. You will now need to strengthen the bulkhead or it will happen again ..... and again .....

[MattRocco]

How would I go about strengthening it? Doesn't look like there much to get on

[marcus]

You can buy a reinforcement plate from GSF, it's not expensive. Can't remember the part number.

Think it's actually intended for Mk1 Golfs but can be made to fit, with a bit of trimming and re-shaping.

Ideally it should be welded, but comes backed with a sticky foam glue patch from which you peel off a protective strip.

The 'making to fit' tends to ruin this though, so what I did was clean it of and then use 'Liquid Metal' which is an adhesive that comes in a sealant gun tube, worked fine for me. Welding is tricky because the access is poor.

[james butler]

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=8298&start=15
Here's a similar situation your in now and what happens if it gets really bad

[MattRocco]

Thanks guys I'll have a look into it