Do I have a clutch, DMF or transmission problem?

fryerdiesel

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 29, 2009
Location
Prince Frederick, Maryland
TDI
'05 Passat wagon
i'm starting to wonder now if I have a flywheel, pressure plate, master cylinder or transmission problem. Hopefully, it's not more than one of them gone bad but, When accelerating and shifting through the gears a while back, the pedal felt as if it wasn't returning. My wife called me the day after this happened and described the same problem on her way home from work. Then, this morning, she said the clutch was slipping when she went to take off and she had a difficult time getting it to move, followed by the same strange feel of no resistance as you're letting the pedal out. The car has had this really jerky shudder as you let the clutch out when you are moving the car from a standstill in either 1st or reverse gear since we got the car it seems but not knowing any better, I just thought it was normal for these cars. It was jerky but always felt solid. Recently however, it has felt more jerky and definitely more loose when the clutch is let out. It feels like something is coming apart almost. Could this be the DMF? The transmission is very difficult to get into gear sometimes and has started grinding when shifting into 3rd, 4th and 5th gears at times. What's weird is the car is sometimes barely driveable and other times not so bad. Am I doomed to a clutch and flywheel replacement no matter what?
 
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