Clutch issues

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astroboy
Glow Plug
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Jan 04, 2010 6:57 pm
Location: Sunnyvale, CA

Clutch issues

Post by astroboy »

Engine: 1900cc NA diesel four speed tranny.
A couple of months ago, one night I noticed it was hard to put it into first gear. That seemed to gradually get worse off and on, so I replaced both the master and slave cylinders thinking that one was getting bad. It took some time to finally get all the bubbles out of the hydrallic line (actually, I would prefer that there still be some bubbles I missed because that would be an easy fix). When my wife pushes down on the clutch all the way, the slave cylinder "pusher" rod on the bottom moves downward what looks to me like about an inch (did not measure it) when viewed from the side. And the small lever with ball on top the rod pushes on rotates downward as it should. All looks correct to me.

However, when I try to drive it, I can't get it into any gear without stopping, turning off the engine, push the clutch in, putting it into any gear, then starting it. It really does not want to go into any gear when running at rest. If I take off in first, I can shift to 2nd, then third etc., but can't down shift to 2nd for example. In rush hour traffic people will not really want to wait while I turn off the engine etc. When I do take off in first after the engine is turned off then press in the clutch and coast with the clutch pressed in, it feels like the clutch is rubbing as if it is not totally disengaged. I can shift into 2nd and it still feels like it is slightly engaged with the pedal pushed in. Maybe there is some air still in the line.

So, I am not sure what to do. :( The clutch was not slipping at all since I had it replaced when I had the 1.9L engine installed, and it has about 52,000 miles on it, and everything seems OK except for the problem mentioned. I really don't want to install a new clutch right now.

Ideas? Thanks for any help - John
John

VW Vanagon bought new in 1982
Had 1.6L NA Diesel ~90k miles
Now has 1.9L NA Diesel ~50K miles
the man 53
Turbo Charger
Posts: 231
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2008 11:44 am
Location: Holmes County OHIO

Re: Clutch issues

Post by the man 53 »

I had the diaphram spring brake on my Jetta and it did the same thing as you describe. If you have the clutch pushed in an rev it to redline will it start to slip? Mine would. I didn't know what the problem was until I tore into it. Another thing it could be is the spring in the clutch disc could have came out and is binding. I think that the bottom line is the clutch isn't disengauging totally and it isn't the slave cylinders fault.I hope that you find out it isn't as bad as what mine was, good luck.
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