The clutch burned out in my '06 Beetle, 18k miles, 11 months old. I've owned many standards and never had a clutch or trans problem, incl '96 Hon Civic that I bought new, kept 8 years, 160k + miles, never a clutch - or any - problem. When the Beetle was brand new the shifting was tricky - went into gear very high up on the pedal, sometimes needed an extra little shot of gas when changing gears to keep it from stalling out. When the new clutch was put in it had very different action - a tighter feel, goes into gear way lower on the pedal. (It used to go into gear in the last third of the pedal, now it goes in in the first third, if you know what I mean.) The VW dealership says it's the exact same parts as the original clutch parts. Is there a defect in a clutch that would cause it it go into gear higher up on the pedal? Is there a defect that may cause the clutch to burn out? I did tow with this small vehicle - a uhaul sport trailer with luggage in it that I could pull myself. Did I burn out my clutch after 20 yrs of driving standard transmissions? Or was there something wrong with it originally? I would be so happy to know the truth of this situation, whether I am at fault or not. Thanks so much for your forum. And thanks in advance for any info you can give me. (That gray cat is beautiful)

Your history would say it's not you. IMO a clutch wear out is driver's fault unless it isn't adjusted properly. Improper adjustment can make the car "ride" the clutch which of course causes premature wear out. You will notice on almost all clutch pedals that there is a spot up top that is freeplay and must be there. If you just touch the pedal in that freeplay area while accellerating you should notice that freeplay decreases and if not enough it's slipping and you don't know it right away but it's riding its clutch by itself. Riding a clutch is one of the first things you teach a driver NOT to do along with don't use the clutch to hold you on an incline like at a traffic stop or in traffic going up a hill.

The adjustment for clutch freeplay could be preset. Don't know this set up but it should be an hydraulic linkage, cable linkage and last likely a mechanical linkage. Hydraulic linkage counts on the master and slave cylinder to be working properly and bled free of air like a brake line would be. If there was a fault with either from new it may not push fluid at the right spot when it should and you are back to possibly riding the clutch again without doing it yourself.

In replacing a clutch the input shaft must line up nicly with the pilot bushing and there is a tool for that. What can happen is when trans is sparated from engine while lining it up and tightening it up is the shaft now thru the clutch disc itself bends and warps it if allowed to. That's mechanic error. The clutch will have a new spot when it grabs and if that has happened will frequently shake/chatter by name but not necessarily noise in that spot.

You should feel for that freeplay that is there to do NOTHING as far as engaging or disengaging the clutch as I said it's needed for the motion of the engine/trans under the various loads.

I would bet this is a problem from new but I'm not there and don't witness your driving habits,

T
Tom Greenleaf - MetroWest Boston - USA
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http://www.autoacsystems.com/tomgreenleaf/

You rock, Tom, thanks so much for your expertise and very helpful information. I'm going to find out what kind of linkage this clutch uses. I now know what to look into and why thanks to you. Also the technical explanation of how improper adjustment can wear a clutch is very useful. The VW dealership that repaired my car says that the repair should be my financial responsibilty, and I strongly disagree. But I was at a disadvantage because of my lack of very specific technical knowledge. Thanks to you I have a number of very strong additional points to make with them. (And now I know for sure they went right to driver error and me paying for this in spite of quite a few alternative explanations.) You are the greatest - thanks so very much again!

Thanks for the kind words. While I'm up on this pedestal let's see if I can't fall off now!

Know That: Clutch adjustment is for "freeplay" and not how well it grabs. So many folks have come to me with a clutch that slips and ask for it to be adjusted which I can do but that won't make it grab a bit better. The only force that makes the friction grabbing is the pressure plate, aptly named as the only thing you are doing with the pedal is releasing that pressure. There is a lever that when you push on the pedal in turn torques on that lever to the "throw-out" bearing which then does realease the pre-set spring tension of the pressure place and in essence has disconnected the engine from the transmission.

It will be VERY hard to tell once the clutch is worn out why it did it. Once the new one is in place a mechanic should be VERY wary that the free-play is there or that car could come back real quick. If it's non adjustable then the parts need to be replaced right then. Just look at the friction material on a new clutch and see how little (I'll call is asbestos) is there. It's nothing like a brake part that uses friction material that is expected to have more time with dynamic friction than a clutch does in "normal" use. There are folks who don't behave with a clutch and they go thru them regularly. When a customer has worn out a clutch too soon in my opinion I go for a ride with them and see how they drive and find a hill start and observe what they do. If needed and wanted by customers I would show them how to have a clutch last till rust was the issue and not wear.

The hydraulic linkage has gained popularity especially in cars that are going to be made for right or left hand drive as yours no doubt is and it's simple to run a silly brake line hydraulically like brake lines you could make up yourself to get from the master cylinder to the slave cylinder. The quote "American" cars and trucks don't or didn't opt as much as they were too arrogant to make cars for the right hand drive market and that has really hurt sales. Hey there are folks in Austrailia, Japan and countries all over the world who would love to buy some of the great American cars but it's just too annoying to drive from the wrong side for the place the car will be used. Imagine all the drive up coffee, burgers, bank machines, tolls and tons more where you'd have to climb over to access then the passenger's window.

I think you will see the master cylinder for this car which should be marked to use DOT 3 brake fluid. That is for the clutch's master and if that master does per chance push on the push rod that is to the clutch pedal lever in the car and can't realease properly. It if too close at that spot could have free-play when car is cold and lose some when car is warmed up with engine heat expanding the fluid in the lines and if it can't just return to the reservoir the cluch slips. In brakes you notice that real quick when that fault is there as the brakes stay applied and you aren't touching the brake pedal! It's happened to me with a replacement one that was fine cold and customer calls me with brakes so firmly applied she couldn't move the car. I said not to drive it and when I got there it was cold and behaved so all I could do it ask to drive this car myself for a while and sure enough it happened. That was a recalled part that wasn't caught before I bought it for that car. Lady must have thought I have three heads but that was the problem after a lot of aggrevation for both of us and no cost to her as I did that job.

If you try to get this covered as a defect problem know this stuff and know the names of the parts. In order from your foot..... Pedal, lever, push rod to master clutch cylinder, metal line to a flex line to allow engine/trans motion vs the relative static motion of the body of the car, to the clutch's slave cylinder and push rod to the lever the will push on throw-out bearing to release pressure from pressure plate on the clutch disc itelf which stops the contact with the flywheel which is always at engine speed. You may have noticed that shops will almost always want to replace........clutch, pressure plate, throw-out bearing and may suggest machining the flywheel for better life and smoothness.

Good luck with getting some help. Car is new enough that VW should take some responsibility in this hard to prove situation,

T
Tom Greenleaf - MetroWest Boston - USA
_________________________________________

http://www.autoacsystems.com/tomgreenleaf/

Thanks very much again, Tom. I appreciate the help and extra info.

- Rachel