# Slipping Clutch



## Bills_Scorcher (Feb 14, 2017)

My MK3 manual TFSI is just 2 years old and has 11500 on the clock, it's been driven fast in its time and had a few fast 0-100 times but its never been abused. Recently the clutch has started to slip whilst changing up and accelerating hard. A typical scenario will be 60ish in 4th, clutch in, change up to 5th, clutch out, and accelerate just as my left foot leaves the clutch pedal. The revs wind up with no increase in speed and I get the inevitable smell of burning friction material. If I don't lift off the situation just gets worse, I have to lift right off the accelerator, change down, clutch out and wait a second then gently accelerate at which point the clutch grips and everything is back to normal.

This doesn't happen every time and during steady driving it never happens. I've tried to pull away with the parking brake on and the car will stall before the clutch slips, I have dropped my speed right down close to stall point on a steep hill, without changing down, then accelerated away and no slipping, the car just grumbles and then picks up speed and recovers.

If I change up with a quick transfer between clutch up and accelerator down and put a lot of torque through the clutch and gearbox then sometimes it slips, almost as if the pressure plate is slow to reengage.

Has anyone encountered this or heard of this happening before?

I took it into my local Audi dealer today and they told me that they would have to pull the gearbox to get an idea of what was happening. Of course, I had to sign my life away in case they determine that it's 'fair wear and tear sir' in which case the warranty will not cover it and I'm looking at £400 just to have the gearbox out and £850 if they have to change the clutch [smiley=bigcry.gif] . I've driven a few cars hard in my time but a clutch at 11,500 miles is ridiculous, wish I'd ragged it harder now :? .


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## EvilTed (Feb 5, 2016)

Diagnosing the problem is above my pay grade but there's absolutely no way this can be considered "fair wear and tear". A clutch should be looking at 50k miles easily, probably more but even an early end would see 30k I'd say so you're very early.

Given that your choices are:
1) Accept it (not really feasible)
2) Push warranty (and then maybe have to pay for it)
3) Pay for it to be fixed (which will probably be Audi prices anyway given you're inside warranty)

I'd say you're going to have to take a deep breath and go for option 2 unless you can see a different way?


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## 90TJM (Sep 30, 2013)

Had similar years ago on a Vauxhall and it was caused by an oil leak,all done under warranty.Very low mileage for normal wear.I would also contact Audi Customer Services.


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## Matrix (Apr 11, 2016)

I am interested to know where is the clutch biting point is it midway on the clutch pedal or higher nearer the top?


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## Bills_Scorcher (Feb 14, 2017)

Thanks for your input guys. Matrix, the clutch biting point was more or less mid travel, so I thought that was normal.

As expected the local dealer claimed fair wear and tear, no loose springs, screws rivets, oil leaks or missing parts and specified amount of free play in the release mechanism etc. so not a manufacturing fault. They claim that it's the way that the car has been driven even though they've never seen me drive it, I wouldn't call my driving style aggressive in any way. I pointed out again that it has only done 11,500 miles and it's still on the original tyres, but they told me that tyre wear couldn't be considered as evidence that the car hadn't been badly driven??

They showed me the friction plate which had worn almost, but not quite, to the rivets and that the pressure plate and flywheel were blued due to excessive heat. I pointed out that that this could simply be due to the fact that the clutch has been slipping over a period of time, they did accept that this could be the case but without any signs of a manufacturing defect Audi wouldn't even consider a warranty claim.

Anyways, £1,795.99 for a new clutch assembly and flywheel, reduced to £1,400 on appeal, as a good will gesture, take it or leave it. I've paid up and I'm trying to be philosophical and accept that this is the price of driving an expensive German car that has gone wrong.

To be fair if I had been them looking at the clutch wear and not knowing me from Adam I might have thought, this guy's been kicking the do da's out of this car. But I can't get over stuffing a clutch in 11,500 miles, even driving like Lewis Hamilton on steroids I would have expect at least double that . I suppose I could call Audi customer support but I don't know if I can be arsed to go through all that whinging and whining again, so I'll pick it up tomorrow and ask for all my old bits back, just 'cause I can, and drive it like I stole it


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## Venom7000 (Jul 23, 2017)

OP I know people with +50,000km (about 31000miles) with their original clutch, myself included (despite being automatic!! There is still wear and tear on it!!). Most cars don't need new clutch until they reach 50.000miles on a car.

You shouldn't have settled for this [email protected]^&. The dealer is obviously crooked. Should have taken it to next town Audi service. Your car is 2015 (like mine) so there is about one more year of warranty. If someone told me that a clutch was broken at measly 11.000miles and its "normal wear and tear" I would literally sock him in his eyehole or at least call the nearest psyche ward.

Call the complain centre and complain!! If what you are saying to us is true and you did not drive it 100mph in 1st gear for 11.000miles that no way this is normal!!!

Complain and cause a ruckus.
Problem is that now you have very little evidence (I bet that old clutch is in their dumpster now). So it will be very hard to prove anything.

Dont want to be " I told you so prick" but you should have taken a minute and think before cashing in that much money. I am truly ashamed if Audi did this to you. Shame on them! :evil: :evil:

My local Audi wanted me to pay 1100 eur to instal navigation on my A1. I argued that all it needs is the SD card with maps and activation code. They insisted that it needs HDD.
Took it to another service 50miles next town. (they charged me 400 eur and free coffee & magazine while I waited).


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## 90TJM (Sep 30, 2013)

I would contact Customer Services as its your money.My mate had a turbo go just outside warranty and paid the dealer.After taking it up with VAG he got a full refund.


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## jhoneyman (Aug 8, 2012)

To put things into perspective..
My MK1 TT has 140,000 miles and on the original clutch.

You need to fight this one !!


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## BW57 (Jun 26, 2017)

jhoneyman said:


> To put things into perspective..
> My MK1 TT has 140,000 miles and on the original clutch.
> 
> You need to fight this one !!


Totally agree....I've had a polo do 106k and our civic is at 116k, both on original clutches. Assuming you're not sitting at junctions riding the clutch etc, there is no way a clutch should need replaced at 11k.


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## Venom7000 (Jul 23, 2017)

90TJM said:


> I would contact Customer Services as its your money.My mate had a turbo go just outside warranty and paid the dealer.After taking it up with VAG he got a full refund.


I agree and hope that OP will do this. Because the balls on Audi service in that town is of the charts. (that mechanic's face/picture is probably plastered on their "employee of the month") :lol:

However I am not sure how can OP contact VAG? (assuming that he is in UK). I hope that VAG doesn't direct his case back to his Audi dealership to complain, who most likely will stand their ground. (the old ping pong between departments tactics. To make you fed up and give up). Got to love UK bureaucracy.


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## 90TJM (Sep 30, 2013)

I mean VAG UK Customers Services or in this case Audi.I suspect it could be a bad batch of clutches.


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## winrya (Feb 22, 2014)

Unfortunately this has been a problem with vag cars since the golf Gti in 2005. The clutches are made of butter and pretty much all golf, s3, cupra, vrs etc forums are full of the same problems. I'd never risk another manual due to them not being able to handle the torque. You are being ripped off however. My golf gti clutch and fly wheel was £1400 from vw or £700 from a vag specialist using genuine parts


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## ZephyR2 (Feb 20, 2013)

To balance things, looking at it from the dealer's point of view. There are plenty of drivers who inadvertently slip the clutch by using the pedal as a foot rest. Also there's many more who hold the car on a slope by slipping the clutch.
Both actions will cause premature wear of the friction plate. As far as Audi and the dealer know the OP could have been one of those drivers.

As regards the OP agreeing to pay up, I would think he was in that situation where they have dismantled his clutch / gearbox assembly to access the clutch. If he tell's them to forget it he's still going to have to pay the hefty labour charges for taking it apart and putting it back together again. And then he's still going to have the clutch problem at the end of it.


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## J400uk (Dec 6, 2009)

I'm wondering if this is a common problem as I've just got my TT back from Audi after a couple of weeks of the road, and it's ended up needing a new clutch at just 15.5k miles. Symptoms very similar to the OP, along with a high biting point which had begun to get annoying. The problems were most noticeable when trying to make quick gear changes and there would be a noticeable lag along with high revving.

Mine was luckily covered under 'goodwill' by Audi, presumably as I'd only bought the car from them very recently. But there was still a bit of mumbling about 'wear and tear' when I collected it. But I've had 9 cars now and never once had a clutch fail on me. This now drives a lot better anyway with the new clutch and feels much sharper 

Seems to possibly extend out to other MQB cars, very similar discussions about the Leon Cupra here http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=424167 and lots of chat on VW forums about Mk7 GTIs suffering a similar fate.


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