UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Right, so the clutch has started to slip, for definate, if i tighten it up any more then i shall only be able to get into gear when stationary if the engine's off, and will be at danger of smoke if sitting stopped in 1st too long - as well as having to double declutch every last gearchange. Didn't think it would decay quite so quickly once I noticed it - was only very slight a couple days ago, but now if I floor it at torque revs in 3rd or 4th (30-35 and 50-55, thereabouts) it definately takes a hike up the rev range before settling back 5mph or so later. And yesterday did a quick change accidentally from 1st to 4th at full acceleration (hit a pothole, stick slipped sideways) and didn't notice it was wrong for a good 5 seconds, when it finally bit and halved the rpms.

So I guess my question is...
First of all can it be held off usefully any longer - any way to temporarily increase the travel of the mechanism?
Secondly, how much is this likely to cost me.. Between the stealership quoting £350 (which is enough to make me consider flogging the car to some poor unfortunate ignoramus and getting another - it was only £700 bought) and seeing ads in the paper for £50 replacements (likely cowboys?), what's the possible middle ground here?

I'll be calling garages for quotes, but not having had to do this before, don't want to be ripped off - or fobbed off.

Cheers.... -MP

<Gandalf>

VOTE, YOU FOOLS!

</Gandalf>


Hehehe...

Come on... seriously now... please? Just a little pointer. Even just a click and a vote, or typing in three or four little digits and pressing send. This thing has two, three weeks in it maybe (now ive tightened it close to that obligate crash-gearbox point) and my finances are again a bit slim Help a brother out.

Dude, I'm clueless. I'm not even in the same country. (Can't think of any other excuses really)

have a word with vag parts or if your desperate gsf and a new presure plate will prolly set you back about 70 sheets then about 3 hours fitting for a reasonablely competant garage

At what... £20 an hour if i'm lucky.... :-/ ok then... time to start ringing round and seeing what people offer. Thanks....

(suppose that means the gearbox swap is probably off)

its the perfect time to do the swap cos it comes out any way

I did my Golf clutch a few times in one day. I can do one in about 2.5 hours now They cost about £56 for an 8v clutch , but not a clue how much for polo ones. try the dealers, they tend to be prety good for clutches. If you say your a cgti member most dealers knock 10% off too!
I'd say its probably a piece of p*** on a polo since theyre smaller, although I could be wrong. Let me know how much you pay for the kit, as My G40 one is beginnning to act a little oddly

Right - verdict is.... clutch comes to either £185 or £195, unless you're a stealer, then it's £300 or so... I rang five garages and they all quoted within a tenner of each other, very spooky.

One of them said they'd do the box swap for nothing, as indeed the whole lot has to come out, but I didn't mention to them that it was going from a four to a five. Another two said £40 (on top of 185) and £30 (on top of 195 so the same all in) for the slight extra labour and checking-over (in case the new box was f***d), and one reminded me that i'd need the linkage etc... uh oh

But now seeing a post about clutch cables I'm wondering if it's just badly adjusted and am seeking guidance.. is the cable adjustable for 'reach', if you'd call it that? (IE less push of the pedal for more effect, regardless of where the bite point is adjusted to - this is what I really need as it's too "loose")

you want about an inch of pedal traval before the pedal starts to get hard if its set right

Not sure about that mate - right now I'd be happy if i could even rest my foot on the clutch without it slipping (it'll hold ok for 97% of the time if i dont touch it at all)... yknow.. 1mm travel... while at the same time not having to actually move my foot up the pedal and push super hard (moving it further than would be possible than pressing the rubber pad) to have a crunch-free gearchange, or having to knock the engine off 1 out of 3 times i want reverse/1st!!

Like I say... the travel/play is just insane... wouldn't really care quite how firm it was, how far, where the bite was, so long as I could get those two probs sorted at least. Say, a half inch of full engagement up top, and similar of disengagement down bottom?

ive got this problem on my mk 4 as well just now. how many miles can it handle untill it dies? getting a new car soon

Cheers
Aaron

A thou, maybe 2 if youre lucky? Depends on what you use the car for (a town car may last 500 miles, a motorway cruiser 4000...), how hard you drive, etc. I didn't measure how long since i had the problem, i think it started playing up early march. It hit 70k in late jan or so, and i passed 72 a couple nights ago. It's well and truly shagged now, properly noticable - i've adjusted the cable far enough that when the pedal's released it's actually slightly slack against the release arm (IE not putting any force on it AT ALL) and getting 1st or reverse can involve shutting off the engine -- but still it slips, always at full throttle in top, often in 3rd, and occasionally in 2nd. Figure I really do have 2 weeks tops now before i'm left stranded with it revving free in 1st on a quarter throttle, so looking more serious.

Those figures said, it does get some welly and abuse... well... as much as a 55lbft engine vs a 900kg car (with 145 hi-prof tyres) can abuse a clutch anyway. What's the output (and weight!) like on yours? (cuz, like, if you have a TDi that throws out 110 foot-pounds, you'd be shagging it as easily at half throttle as i would with the pedal wedged!)

PS cheers for the votes guys. Reassuring to see most of them in the 150-200 quid range. I should just be able to afford it

my mk4 has repaired itself!! is not slipping now?!
anyway hope it stays that way!

mine did that..........
then it came back
went away again
etc

yours might be that somehow some oil got on the plate (?! leaks?) and made it slip a while, but was only on the surface (very lucky, tends to soak in) and now has all burnt off with friction. for my own the amount of slip that can happen, especially as it's adjusted as far as it will go, suggests to me that even if it drives "ok" for a week, there's something wrong with it and it needs sorted. after all 9 purple notes and one green one spread across 20 months is not much at all for a guarantee of workingness. (plus it's got no real 'bite' left to it at all in 1st)

for the record, going back in this thursday after i've eked another week's use out of it, new clutch (whatever bit of it he's actually going to renew, i don't know), "new" 5sp box hopefully with all the bits this time, get the manifold sorted... bonzer

i hope it doesnt come back.....