New clutch problems

Last month I replaced the clutch on my 2002 Jetta after the bearing went out. New clutch kit as well as bearing, fork, shaft and clip. Ran great for maybe two weeks then started acting funny, a little rough engaging in first gear and sometimes rough switching between gears until one day I was backing out of the driveway and it died, stuck in reverse.

So I figured it was the slave cylinder and replaced that this week. Just bled the air out this morning and tried to drive. Starting in neutral it turns on but I can't shift it into any gears. Starting it in first gear with the clutch pedal depressed works and it will drive forward and shift through gears just fine. Then I tried to back out and the pedal got a little soft then the car died, stuck in gear again.

So I plan to reprime the slave cylinder to make sure all the air is out and if that doesn't solve it I'll move on the replacing the master cylinder I suppose. Just want to make sure I'm not missing something here, anyone ever had similar issues who can tell me I'm on the right track? Thanks!


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It sucks, but if you verify that your hydraulics are working correctly, then the only other possible cause would be in the clutch itself.

Clutch cylinder failures are predictable. Slaves fail by external leakage (easy to spot). Master cylinders fail by leaking internally most of the time, meaning that the pedal will sink to the floor.

Neither sounds like your issue...

I agree with Windex. My Sons car had a VR6 with a Single mass flywheel that had around 80k on it and we wanted to believe that the slave cylinder was the problem so we changed it bled it and the issue never cleared. In the end we had to pull the trans and examine clutch in his case some of the springs in the pressure plate failed causing intermittent issues. If there are no leaks on the slave do not waste your dough. If it's about the money just go on Amazon and grab one of those soup to nuts kits it's a duel mass and it's cheap!
Sorry the number slips my mind but if you do a search here on this Forum it will show up and many people have used it and are very happy with it..
The best part is it can handle more power than stock! Time to yank that trans..
Good Luck!

That is my fear but as I mentioned, this is a brand new clutch, I replaced it mid August and maybe drove a few hundred miles with it tops. Could a new clutch really fail so quickly??


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It could, or perhaps one of the clutch cover bolts snapped off or came out?

Sounds like the friction plate is dragging.

If the clutch performed fine for a time, and there are no leaks from the slave, then it sounds like you'll need to pull the transmission again.

How's the pedal feel? Usually feels weird and soft if there's air in the system. Should be a fairly smooth pressure all the way down and back up.

SmilesAndGimps said:

Last month I replaced the clutch on my 2002 Jetta after the bearing went out. New clutch kit as well as bearing, fork, shaft and clip. Ran great for maybe two weeks then started acting funny, a little rough engaging in first gear and sometimes rough switching between gears until one day I was backing out of the driveway and it died, stuck in reverse.

Click to expand...

The shaft you list here is that the pivot bolt? Sounds to me like something came loose after you finished. That pesky clip just came loose or the top of the pivot bolt is worn and the clip is not staying put.

I think you’ll be pulling the transmission again. Before you do get another clip and a pivot bolt. Especially if you didn’t replace it the first time.

Couldn't one be able to tell if that pivot isn't working properly by removing the slave and moving the fork around? Or, use a borescope? (I've got one for my smart phone.)

I just finished installing a new clutch in the wife's car. I'd like to say that I was testing how well I could get the transmission mated up to the engine all by myself D) but the truth is is that I got in a hurry and just as I was going to start popping in bolts it hit me: I forgot to install the clutch fork! (after resolving this I then got to the same point to find that one of the little ears on the metal plate, goes over the dowels, had folded over on me- had to retract the transmission again! - third time was a charm, or I'm hoping). So, if I could forget the fork I could also forget to tighten the ball stud (or mess up the clip); fortunately I only made the one, quite visible, mistake (forgetting the fork altogether).

The shaft I mentioned I think is actually called the sleeve: the metal portion on the tranny side that the bearing slips over. I did put a new clip but not pivot bolt. I tested the tenacity after installing and it was a pain in the ass to pull back off so I'm not too worried about it...

I'm fairly certain the master cylinder is the problem though; rebled the slave yesterday and removed it from the bell housing and had someone else step on the clutch pedal. Got no movement from the piston so there is definitely a hydraulic problem. Replacing the master today so I'll let y'all know! Thanks for all the suggestions, still keeping my fingers crossed I won't have to pull the tranny off again!


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PROBLEM RESOLUTION
Ok, so it turns out the replacement slave cylinder I bought was a lemon... after replacing the master cylinder I was getting a little bit better pressure but still pulling a TON of air through the bleed port. Pumping the pedal made a high pitch hissing sound from the slave. So I threw the old one back on with the new master and it works like new!


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Great to hear! Sucks to get bad parts, but better the slave cylinder than the clutch itself.

Never (I mean ever) seen a bad slave cylinder that did anything other than leak.

Did you have any external fluid coming from it?

No fluid from either cylinder but I've heard the slave will often leak into the bell housing. I didn't think master right away because I wasn't having issues with the pedal but go figure!


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At this point I will mention whenever a clutch job is being done, replace the "old" pivot-pin-fork-clip while the bell housing is open. For me the $50 or so dollars is very cheap insurance against having to have my car out of commission while the transmission has to come out again.

Nevada_TDI said:

At this point I will mention whenever a clutch job is being done, replace the "old" pivot-pin-fork-clip while the bell housing is open. For me the $50 or so dollars is very cheap insurance against having to have my car out of commission while the transmission has to come out again.

Click to expand...

^^^ I know this gets recommended on this site all the time, but of the 6 or 7 clutch jobs I've done over the years, I've never replaced the fork or pivot shaft, and never had one of these components fail. They seem like pretty bulletproof units.