Clutch goes at 30K miles... my bad, VW bad or bad luck?

I had the clutch go on my 2012 Sportwagen TDI. It did not go like clutches have gone in the past for me from wearing out (ie starts slipping at highway speeds ) It went almost without warning, several times the pedal did not return when I released it, and then, it just would not return. No funny noises, no smell. Bad thing was, this was only after ~30,000 miles. Seems way too short for me.
Since I'm through the VW warrantee, I brought it to my local mechanic. He found a service bulletin on it that made him think I should take it to VW, so I did. The guy out at the front desk was so blown away by the condition of my clutch, that he took photos of it after it was out. I can't remember if I actually looked at them or not, I'm not a gearhead, so it wouldn't mean much to me anyway. Basically he said the clutch was completely destroyed.
...So $1,300 later, I'm driving again. Problem is, I'm nervous that I caused this to happen, but I also secretly think this was a faulty clutch from VW that should have been partly covered by VW.I'm hoping folks hear can clear that up for me.
I've driven stick for 20+ years, though the last 5-10 were mostly on automatic. Other than some infrequent stalling during the first 10,000 miles, I'd say I have adapted pretty well to diesel.
On the other hand, I am driving much differently, I'm trying to hypermile, and would often put in the clutch and coast. The other difference is that I downshift more (I think?) so that while coasting up to a light for example, I'd be using my momentum to keep the engine running, as opposed to fuel.
I work out of my house, so I don't have a long commute anymore, so I would say 80% of my miles city, and then 20% are highway, since I often get better mileage than my wife's prius on road trips.
Although the VW dealer claimed there were no service bulletins (actually said the mechanic knew of only one, and it was for traditional worn-out-clutch symptoms, not mine.) Problem is, I have gone back to look at that service bulletin, and it totally matches my symptoms, so now I really don't trust them. Worse, the service bulletin is full of words, but says nothing about what is really wrong. Is this what VW does when they know they have a problem thats their fault, and they don't want customer to know? I could post the bulletin if anyone wishes.
So I am unsure if I am at fault, and I should change my driving habits, or this was VW's fault, and I should do battle with them (will be harder since the repair happened months ago.) ...Or is this some sort of fluke, and one clutch out of hundred goes like this, and its nobodies fault?
I a long-time lurker here, but I really appreciate this forum!
Thanks,
-Dave F

Doesn't sound to me like you are using the clutch properly at all. For example, the pushing the clutch in and coasting thing, not really ideal for the clutch. If you are downshifting too aggressively and not rev matching that would be bad as well. I don't understand the description of keeping the engine running with momentum rather than with fuel.

Lots of videos on YouTube that show properly use of a clutch and shifting. You should review them and see how your habits vary.

I'm guessing you are going to have some people tell you they are on their original clutch with more than 3 times the miles you have.

ben

Rats!

I'm still puzzled as to how holding the clutch in and coasting would cause trouble, but thats why I'm asking I guess.

I agree about the mileage though. I'm pretty sure I've only had to replace two clutches in well over 200,000 miles of driving before this.

I don't rev-match, and I've been trying to learn how to do that since this happened. With gassers, my lack of rev-matching probably was not an issue, because except for the MR2, most of my cars didn't have high-compression engines, plus there probably was not as much "spin-up" for the clutch when I let it in.

I'm sorry, but I can't imagine how searching and watching some random videos is going to help me. On the other hand, a link to one particular video that would help if its for meant for someone like me who already has already driven 200,000-300,000 miles on stick, and wants to up their game.

I just figured that if my changed driving habits were the cause, that the clutch would have worn out "the usual way". Am I wrong about that assumption?

Thanks,

-Dave

Here is one with a few more miles / kilometers:

Changed the clutch after nearly 14 years at 386,786 km = 240,337 miles

FYI moving from 6th to 4th is hard on the transmission...
Sounds like user error to me too. :-/
-BB

...So no more downshifting when coming off the highway?

Hmmm, no 6th to 4th? Thats my favorite shift!

OK, so I need to re-learn everything, because I've been doing it wrong.

I guess I'm a bit annoyed because I'm trying to figure out where I should have learned this. The owners manual certainly was not much help, (and I'm one of those weirdo's who does RTFM) its probably in there in between 135 pages of instructions on how to use a seatbelt and how not to attach a baby to a vehicle.

-Dave

Coasting with your foot on the clutch isn't great for the clutch assembly - the "natural" state of things is your foot off the clutch with the clutch disk being squeezed between the pressure plate and flywheel.

My question is *how* did it fail. If the pedal wasn't returning the slave cylinder might have failed, which could explain all the symptoms you experience. Driving around with your foot on the clutch would add extra stress to the slave cylinder, so, while I doubt it caused the failure, your driving style probably didn't help things.

Do you have the service write up? If you can scan it and post it here we can do some "translation"

105 k miles on the 2010 Golf Wagen - OG clutch
193k miles on the 2004 Jetta - OG Clutch

Maybe you got a lemon.

I'm going to go against the grain and say that it does NOT sound like user error, but rather faulty parts.

Since when does shifting from 6th-4th "completely destroy" the clutch?

Since when does holding the clutch and coasting "completely destroy" the clutch?

I drop the clutch on my old, tuned, leaky Golf all the time, start in 2nd gear slipping the clutch really hard, shift aggressively from 3rd-5th, miss my rev-matches 24/7, and engine brake to stop lights and my clutch has almost 100k on it with absolutely no signs of wear. I pretty much guarantee I'm harder on mine that OP is on his that only lasted 30k miles.

I've even used my Golf to pull my dad's 10,000lb Ram 2500 Cummins out of a mud pit until I could see visible smoke coming from my clutch disc (the smell was horrendous) and still its totally fine today, tens of thousands of miles later.

The amount of user error and effort it takes to destroy a quality clutch in 30k miles is tremendous.

In fact, I'm not even totally convinced that the vague description of the original problem even sounds like a clutch disc or pressure plate issue, but rather a slave/master cylinder problem or something in the hydraulic system.

Keeping the clutch pedal pushed in shouldn't tear up your clutch disc, but sure isn't doing any good for your throwout bearing. Pushing it in and holding while coasting doesn't make any sense. Push your clutch in, rev match to what 2nd gear would be, and let the clutch out, then you'll actually be using your inertia to keep moving. The engine cuts fueling while coasting only if you're in gear. If you are in neutral, or in gear but with the clutch depressed, the engine needs to keep itself spinning due to it being disengaged from the wheels. It'll keep itself at idle rpm ~850ish, which uses fuel - not hypermiling, at least in my eyes.

That being said, 30k is insanely quick to destroy a clutch. Sure, not rev matching is a real foolish way to drive, but if you like the hard jerking of your engine going from 1800 to 5000rpm in .1 seconds, more power to you. You certainly didn't do your clutch any favors, but I've only heard of clutch burnouts at 30k, not a catastrophic failure.

You can downshift to any gear you want from any higher gear, with the exception of 1st, and so long as you don't take it over redline (within reason).

It really wasn't hard at all to do a search.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cbZlhduYJY

Here are more options for you to view. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=why+you+should+not+hold+clutch+in

ben

Faulty parts for sure. JSW is not an Evo or STi to have the clutch go out at that mileage!

poor technique.

~400,000 miles with out replacing clutch

euro2fast4u said:

poor technique.

~400,000 miles with out replacing clutch

Click to expand...

I'm also going to say nope to that reason... yeah the op would be smart to rev match when downshifting to reduce ware on the clutch and to keep the clutch in the out/neutral position as often as possible But a complete failure of the clutch doesn’t sound like user error.

I'd like to see the pictures of the clutch assembly to see how it failed. I've heard of the pressure plate springs failing and getting between the clutch and flywheel. I've also heard of one that failed and those pressure plate springs got into the bell housing and tore through the slave cylinder. All the break fluid thats used to operate the clutch ruined the clutch as well.

Since everyone is jumping on or guessing it is user error... I will be contrarian and say it is possible a mechanical failure....

We all know about the dual mass flywheel... not saying that is it, but stuff happens.

Yep have to take it apart and decide. I would not tell the dealer squat. You drive like a little only lady only to Church on Sundays...

I have been reluctant to post on this sensitive topic, but I guess I will throw my 2 cents in. I am thinking it very well might have something to do with Hill Hold Assist if that feature was not turned off by the OP. Depending on driving style and the way it functioned on that particular car, it could have been a major contributor to the reduced life of the clutch. I have four VW's that came with this feature enabled, and each car seemed to behave slightly differently with it. Personally, I could not live with HHA enabled, so removed itvia VCDS on all cars.
YMMV...

my guess is the clutch diaphragm failed, or the throw out bearing began to bind. its what provides the force to return your clutch pedal and allow full lockup, if your clutch was slipping continuously for even 20-30 minutes it would get hot enough to completely destroy itself. Unfortunately its near impossible to get a dealer to pursue a faulty part diagnosis on a wear item like brakes or clutch.