UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

I inspected the pedal box closely and determined that it was cracked both on the clutch mount and also the throttle sender mount which is a bit odd.

Anyway, I got a new box 26 + vat, then I realised that I would need to remove the steering column to do the job. This meant chiseling two bloody shearbolts out.

I found the best way was to grind the sheerbolts flat, then drill 3mm holes through the bolts, then drill a 10mm drill until the head comes off then I removed the column.

Then removed the clutch pedal, then disconnect the break pedal.
Then with some swearing and wiggling, the pedal box comes out.

When I went to the VW parts counter, they had a GTi recall note and I read it and it said the brake pedal needs replacing, which costs 17 quid. So I followed the list of bits that they replace and I did it.
I didn't replace the sheer bolts though, I put in M8 hex head bolts.
Now the clutch is nice and light and creak free.

I couldn't work out initially how the bracket breaking affects clutch operation but eventually I figured out that the clutch cable sheath works against the bracket, so the bracket gets pulled towards you with the same force as the clutch.

I seems that the initial cause is that the clutch driven plate splines get gummed up, so the clutch release becames progressively heavy. This then causes the clutch bracket on the pedal box to break, which then prevents the clutch release working, which then causes your gear change to start buggering your syncromesh and if you are unlucky, you end up with gearbox failure. I can see now why people have had gearbox after gearbox. Because the fault is elsewhere.

I will produce a PDF of the steps involved.

So there you go, it can be done with one weekend and DIY.

Very interesting, and good DIY work!

I'd be interested in the PDF when you get round to making it.

Don't mean to sound rude, but you know its free to have this done at vw? I got mine done a few months ago when it snapped, it was in for a day and all sorted free of charge.

Its only free for owners of GTi models that had the recall letter IIRC.

Plus I have approximately 0% faith in any of my local VW dealerships to do a job competently.

I had no letter, just rang up and booked it in! All gti's were recalled, so if it hasnt been done its free. But I do agree with redline

EDIT - just noticed your car isnt a gti, sorry!

Not a gti, no, and no they wouldn't pay for it, they wanted 400 quid. So I told them to swivel on this middle digit.

On top of which, my car always seems to come back from VW with more faults than it went in with.

The only part I screwed up was that I turned the ignition on without the airbag properly connected, which left my airbag light on. But I fixed it now, required VAG com.

That said, all models are affected by the fault, and I intend to take it up with VW, because it is a safety fault. If the bracket breaks completely at a roundabout for example, it would jump forward into traffic.

When it was under warranty, I complained about the creaking clutch, and I now know that they knew full bloody well what the problem was.

man how do you know how to do all this stuff? I'm jealous

mine was replaced by my dealer and im not a gti owner, and it was all free, it was a recall over the entire range of 6n2 due to it being a safety recall i believe.

Mine got done free, over the course of one day and i aint got no gti or a letter!

polo power wrote:mine was replaced by my dealer and im not a gti owner, and it was all free, it was a recall over the entire range of 6n2 due to it being a safety recall i believe.

Nope, only the GTi. But if it was broken under warranty they would have to replace it. As it was, they welded the affected ones, in place. Which is why they have consequently failed again and again.

But since 2004 they redesigned the pedal box, and made it out of thicker gauge, which is what I fitted. The part number reivision ends in D. On top of which, I found another crack on the throttle mounting, which is very strange.

The Recall is here http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recall ... 9F00500877

I estimate my pedal box has been broken since 22,000 miles.

Apart from the chiselling out of the pigging shear bolts, its quite an interesting job. I certainly know all there is to know about the pedal box, the steering system, and all the cabling, after this effort.

Its worth noting, because in a few years, its likely that when this problem surfaces in someones car they will decide its not worth fixing. I would disagree.

For information, I got two quotes. VW wanted 400 quid, and an indepedant spcialist wanted 200+ VAT. A further general garage, would not do it. Which is cash I need for an extra big LCD TV.

In any case its still far better than doing housework.

well mine is a 51 reg and it got done last year for free.