Car wont' shift into gear

DrZombie

Active member
Joined
Nov 27, 2003
Location
Toronto Canada
TDI
Jetta, 2003, blue
This morning my wife was driving to work, slowing down on the highway, tried down shifting from fifth to fourth, and wouldn't go into gear. Wouldn't go into any gear. Eventually she somehow got it into first and made it to the side of the highway.
Mechanic says the flywheel is done, and that clutch needs to be replaced. The car has 176k (km) on it, and there's never been any problems with the clutch before. I've read on this forum and elsewhere that the dual mass flywheel is known to have issues. Talked to a few mechanics and they told me they've seen this before. Any thoughts?
 
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weasel

Deactivated Member Account
Joined
Sep 12, 2000
TDI
None.
Try bleeding the slave cylinder before you throw in the towel completely. Does the pedal go to the floor really easy ??
 

burpod

teh stallionz!!1
Joined
Nov 27, 2004
Location
cape cod, ma
TDI
82 rabbit vnt ahu, 98 jetta vnt ahu, 05 parts car, 88 scirocco.. :/
ughhh, it must be that time of year... seen a number of threads on this lately, including myself.....

from what i gather it's probably clutch, pressure plate went or throwout bearing... did you hear any noise? i think if the DMF went you'd hear a bang.... when my clutch went it made no noise, so i think the DMF was probably fine. i was accelerating briskly 1 -> 2 then no 3, couldn't get into any gear

i also bled the clutch slave cylinder, and before the checked my linkage... all good... can get into gear when car is off, but when on, no go.... i can't say for sure in my situation it was the clutch until i get the old clutch out from the shop... but that's what all fingers are pointing to
 
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chinaloy

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Location
Delaware
TDI
1999,2001 Jettas
Had the same problems, only can get into gear when engine is off, then had to rev match to get into higher gears, then had to kill engine at stop and restart again in first.

turned out to be clutch disc spring broke and lodged into pressure plate fingers. I also troubleshot the hydraulic system and luckily that wasn't it as those parts seem much harder to get than the clutch package.

Unfortunately a clutch change is in your future.
 

JKTDI

Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2008
Location
Southern Oregon
TDI
1996 passat tdi 250,000 and still trucking
having same problems

i have a 1996 passat with 199700 miles and with no noises or any warrning i couldnt shift from 2nd to 3rd, then i relized i couldnt shift at all. I have to turn off the car to stop and rev shift to get to higher gear. my pedal has normal pressure and there isnt any slack on the way up either, am i doomed into getting a new clutch?
 

hevster1

Vendor
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
Columbia NJ
TDI
98 NB
Some of you need clutches/flywheels. Some may need an adjustment on the shift linkage. All need their card diagnosed properly. Try the TDI trusted list in your town.
 

aNUT

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Nov 29, 2006
Location
Boulder, Colorado
TDI
'01 TT (ALH-ish), B7 Audi gasser, '05 Golf
Clutches are expensive. Do the easy stuff first. Like was said before, I'd check the shift linkage, bleed the clutch cylinders, make sure the trans has gear fluid, etc. All that above is less than a $100 worth of guessing, compared to a 1000 (sounds like a guess too) clutch.
 

jollyGreenGiant

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2003
Location
MA
TDI
03 Golf TDI GLS ( my 5th TDI ), 03 Eurovan GLS - VR6 :(
Spring breaking in the clutch disk is fairly common with TDI's, this is what happened to my current engine. Think about it, when lugging in traffic, these springs are taking all the torque...


The broken spring piece will wedge intself between the clutch disk and the pressure plate or flywheel and prevent you from disconnecting power transfer...

This one was at 172K and the friction material was in great shape, this was a 96 Passsat B4V one.

 
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