Clutch Not Disengaging Fully When Depressed?

**SOLVED**

Vehicle: 2012 Jetta TDI 6 Speed Manual Transmission, 55,000 Miles (14,000 miles left on Certified Pre-owned VW Warranty)

Issue: Clutch intermittently does not fully disengage causing a hard shifting problem where I have to force the car into gear. This occurs while stopped.

Question: Has anyone seen this problem or experienced it and knows what to look for?

Thank you in advance for any help or insight you guys can provide!

UPDATE:

I just wanted to bring this thread to a close. I first attempted to solve my problem by flushing the clutch slave cylinder with new DOT 4 brake fluid. That did not help.

I then brought it to VW where they took the transmission out and found that the pressure plate had two bent fingers which was causing the clutch to sometimes not fully disengage. Luckily this was covered under the certified pre-owned vehicle warranty.

Thank you to everyone for your help!

Matt

I will update this when I go to the dealer on Monday to show them the issue. Hopefully I can get the problem to happen while I'm there.

Check the fluid level in your brake master cylinder. If it is low, like an inch or more, the clutch may be sucking air because the clutch tap is near the top of the brake master cylinder.

Sure is a lot of words to describe a very simple problem, but that's ok.

Ol'Rattler said:

Check the fluid level in your brake master cylinder. If it is low, like an inch or more, the clutch may be sucking air because the clutch tap is near the top of the brake master cylinder.

Sure is a lot of words to describe a very simple problem, but that's ok.

Click to expand...

Yeah sorry about that. I just wanted to avoid a bunch of questions, but I see that it's probably unnecessary.

Thanks for the response! I will check that fluid.

Ok I just checked the brake master cylinder reservoir and it is full, just under the max fill line. I was hoping that would be it, as it would make sense with the problem being intermittent.

Check transmission oil level and also that floor mat is not bunching under the clutch pedal and that you really are pushing it all the way down.... Just to rule out the easy stuff

Little Joe said:

Check transmission oil level and also that floor mat is not bunching under the clutch pedal and that you really are pushing it all the way down.... Just to rule out the easy stuff

Click to expand...

The floor mat is a good idea. I just checked it after my commute to work and the hard shifting was present even after pulling the floor mat back.

I'm not sure I fully understand why the gear box fluid being low would cause the clutch to sometimes drag on the flywheel. However, I will check.

Thanks for the help!

This might help isolate if its clutch or transmission. Requires two people.

Engine off, raise one wheel just off of the ground. REPEAT this is an engine off test.

Driver: Select a gear.

Helper: Try to rotate tire. It will not rotate while in gear.

Driver: Push clutch pedal to normal disengaged position.

Helper: Try to rotate tire, rotates Y or N. If N, clutch has not released. If Y, proceed.

Driver: Pedal on floor, Helper: Rotate tire, Driver SLOWLY engage clutch (pedal up slowly) Observation, how much upward pedal travel do you have, 1-2" or even more indicates a pretty healthy clutch release and you might be looking at a trans issue.

Also any other factors that may coincide with issue, engine hot or cold?

How many miles on the car? Your gear oil could be in rough shape and in need of a change.

turbobrick240 said:

How many miles on the car? Your gear oil could be in rough shape and in need of a change.

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Approximately 55,000 miles. However, I can't imagine the gear oil has anything to do with the clutch not fully disengaging unless there's something I'm overlooking.

GCBUG00 said:

This might help isolate if its clutch or transmission. Requires two people.
Engine off, raise one wheel just off of the ground. REPEAT this is an engine off test.
Driver: Select a gear.
Helper: Try to rotate tire. It will not rotate while in gear.
Driver: Push clutch pedal to normal disengaged position.
Helper: Try to rotate tire, rotates Y or N. If N, clutch has not released. If Y, proceed.
Driver: Pedal on floor, Helper: Rotate tire, Driver SLOWLY engage clutch (pedal up slowly) Observation, how much upward pedal travel do you have, 1-2" or even more indicates a pretty healthy clutch release and you might be looking at a trans issue.
Also any other factors that may coincide with issue, engine hot or cold?

Click to expand...

I haven't had a good chance to try this suggestion yet because Chicago just got a snow storm. However, I will try this once the weather gets a little better.

Also, the mechanic who recently bled the clutch slave cylinder said that he noticed the hard shifting after the car had warmed up.

M. Tummi said:

Approximately 55,000 miles. However, I can't imagine the gear oil has anything to do with the clutch not fully disengaging unless there's something I'm overlooking.

Click to expand...

Hard shifting isn't necessarily indicative of a clutch engagement problem. But at 55k miles , your gear oil should have plenty of life left.

Not a tranny fluid issue at 55 K miles.

Probably not. In the unlikely event of some sort of leak though, a low or empty transaxle could definitely make shifting difficult. I'd also wager that there are drivers capable of wearing out the oil at that mileage. I once drained a Porsche transaxle in which the gear oil looked like mercury from all the fine metal particles.

I have supplemental maintenance update included in the owners manual of my 2014 Jetta TDI 6sp manual stating a tranny fluid change is due at 50k miles.

Not saying this is the problem, just a FYI.

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What I was referring to on the oil check was leaning more towards a low level which could be causing syncro problems.

When it doesn't want to go in try going back to neutral and release clutch then apply again and then try the gear and see if it makes any difference.

Until you try GCBUG00 check you are still only guessing with no data to further troubleshoot

Aztraveler said:

I have supplemental maintenance update included in the owners manual of my 2014 Jetta TDI 6sp manual stating a tranny fluid change is due at 50k miles.
Not saying this is the problem, just a FYI.
Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

50k miles?!?! That has got to be one of the shortest manual transmission fluid change intervals I have seen.

Funny that VW would go from no fluid change interval to 50k mile fluid changes. That's VW for ya.

P.S. In case you guys didn't see the update in my first post, the problem is fixed. I brought it to VW and they replaced the clutch and pressure plate. The pressure plate had two bent fingers causing the issue.

Thanks again for the help!

Glad you got it fixed.

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