Clutch master / slave cyl. or clutch?

Jetter_Sprinta

Veteran Member - TDIClub Contributor
Joined
Nov 7, 2002
Location
Boston, Massachusetts
TDI
2 Peeps sharing 1 UseYerName//an array of cars
Hi all,

Our B4V w/ 166k has been doing some strange things as of late. Sometimes while in gear and I floor it while trying to pass or climb a hill (without downshifting, that's for gassers
), the clutch feels like it is slipping. The tach jumps up momentarily and then comes back pretty quickly. I have not smelled the tell-tale odor and it seems to grab fine. It has been increasingly harder to get it into 1rst gear, like when the light turns green. I put it in 2nd let up the clutch just a little to get the car to move a little, then shift to 1rst usually works. Second and especially third under moderate acceleration can also refuse to engage.

Would a bad master or slave cause this type of condition or does it sound more like the clutch itself? We've only had the car since December / about 6K miles. It has almost always been a bit fussy about getting into first gear for us. I thought that it was a linkage adjustment issue. Maybe I was wrong? Although I'm quite sure this has been discussed, my searches yielded nothing quite like this. Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated!

Scott
 

turbotone

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2001
Location
Vancouver,Canada
TDI
96 Passat
I think it could be the slave cyl, have you checked the oil level? I had a hino truck with a oil filled slave cyl that did that exact thing. the fluid (brake fluid) would leake on the ground and then i would lose all clutch controle. I have a passat b4 as well but i could not tell you if it has a oil operated slave cyl or not.
 

Herm TDI

Vendor
Joined
Nov 21, 2001
Location
Richmond, Maine...The far side of Witsend
TDI
2002 Golf GLS Malone Stage 3, P+520 nozzles, 11MM Inj pump, Sachs VR6 clutch, Stelth Race Pipe, Immo Deleat, EGR Deleat
Howdy Scott,
The first thing I'd tell you to do is to change the trany gear lube oil. This may sound a little "strange" ...but several A-3 / B-4 owners have had really good results with issues discribed as "Notchy or Stiff" gear shifts or difficaulty getting into certain gears.
Just make sure you use the specified gear lube.
It stuff is a bit pricey...but well worth the results.
 

redtdi966

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2003
Location
bridgewater, NJ
TDI
09 B-graphite sedan 6-sp (Bridgewater- NJ)
Scott,
His issue is a slipping clutch, why would you change the fluid???? or are you suggesting a solution for another problem once he replaced the clutch.
 

dieseldorf

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 11, 2000
Location
MA
TDI
ex- 1996 wagon, ex-2000 Jetta
Scott, a month or two ago we had issues with the clutch in our B4 (167k miles
). I had several diagnoses. We did not have a slipping clutch but we were experiencing serious engagement issues. I let the dealer and Shine evaluate. Dealer wanted $1800 to replace the clutch, etc…they thought the slave was not an issue.

I replaced the slave ($47) just for laughs…problem completely eliminated.
(The integral boot was torn, control rod flopping around) Clutch operation is great now. Very smooth.

Unless abused, the OE B4 clutch should last 'til 250k miles or beyond.

Have you changed the fluid?


Ohhh...BTW, did you RC recently


 

Jetter_Sprinta

Veteran Member - TDIClub Contributor
Joined
Nov 7, 2002
Location
Boston, Massachusetts
TDI
2 Peeps sharing 1 UseYerName//an array of cars
RedTDI96, I believe Herm's post was suggestion to alleviate my "notchy" shifting I eluded to in my first post. Nice B4 BTW, looks familiar!

Herm, tranny fluid change will be performed! I'd suspect it's original!

Yesterday, I brought our girl down to the soon to be infamous "MrChill". A few stabs of the throttle in a short but quick test drive, and the diagnosis was in...clutch time
!!

I agree DD, it is early on in miles for this (coincidentally this is one of the few things our two wagons have in common, the current odometer reading
) to occur. This has happened earlier to others, I'm sure.
Did we "RC" recently you ask? Why yes, yes we did
! I will have to thank Jeff for giving our TDI the sauce required to retire an already beat clutch (I don't blame the chip)! If this were our car since new, things would be different.

Thanks all again! Perhaps a bump for this thread when we get the VR6 clutch installed
. Got to happen before IMPEX!
 
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