One bad clutch...

DCELL

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2002
Location
Sheridan, IN
TDI
'01 GOLF 2DR, ‘15 Passat SEL TDI

I don't usually start threads, but I had to share this one.
A few months ago, I completed a five speed swap on a 2000 beetle for a close friend. It's a Sachs g60/vr6 SMF kit from a reputable vendor. He drove the car about four thousand miles, then decided to loan the car to a 60 year old lady friend from church for a few days while her car was being worked on. Let me just say that when I did the swap, I had the old style cables which are not easy to adjust, and 1st gear was a little tricky to find. However, anyone else that drives that car figures it out pretty quickly. Long story short, this is what happens when you loan your five speed to someone that has no business driving it. A few days out of warranty and 4000.. An expensive lesson to learn.
 
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[486]

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Location
MN
TDI
02 golf ALH
It does when someone can't fInd 1st and decides to drive off in 2nd all the time , over-using the clutch. Especially not so mechanically mind old woman:rolleyes:
Um, no, that'll wear down the lining. That is burst lining.

She put it in first at freeway speed.
 

CourierGuy

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2014
Location
Canada
TDI
2002 Golf(Summer) 2003 Golf(Winter)
Not that I've ever remotely or accidentally or non-intentionally or by mistake ever tried to, or by accident, to put the car in 1st gear at freeway speeds.. but how would the tranny ever let a driver do that? You would have to ram and slam and force that in .. wouldn't be a flick of the wrist for sure.

If that's what she literally did that, that would be a nice video of her face ramming in that stickshift.

Man. You don't lend a stick car to an automatic idiot.
 

GCBUG00

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2013
Location
Hartsville SC
TDI
2000 Beetle
Those facings were exposed to way too many BTU's.

I ran into a situation where a driver went thru 2 clutches with similar results. A CONTRIBUTING factor was the Sr. driver's hearing loss. He was using way too much friction zone engagement time at too high engine RPM.
 

[486]

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Location
MN
TDI
02 golf ALH
Not that I've ever remotely or accidentally or non-intentionally or by mistake ever tried to, or by accident, to put the car in 1st gear at freeway speeds.. but how would the tranny ever let a driver do that? You would have to ram and slam and force that in .. wouldn't be a flick of the wrist for sure.

If that's what she literally did that, that would be a nice video of her face ramming in that stickshift.

Man. You don't lend a stick car to an automatic idiot.
Try it once. Er, well, don't. The synchronizer might not to it when the oil's cold, but it'll certainly do it when it's warm. Spins the disc up to 13k RPM and then the facings just sorta fly apart.
I did it once in a honda, friction lining didn't come apart though. To my defense, 3rd gear at 70 is a rather normal passing gear in those. Easy enough to miss third and get first.

In a big truck you can do it in the lowest gears just by rolling down a little hill without putting it in neutral.
 

DCELL

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2002
Location
Sheridan, IN
TDI
'01 GOLF 2DR, ‘15 Passat SEL TDI
The freeway speed to 1st is something I never thought about, actually. I am fairly convinced it wasn't 2nd either, but more likely 3rd (while thinking it's in 1st) and clutching out. The odd thing is that the flywheel looks like I put it in yesterday, and the flywheel side of the disk looked new also. I really thought it was a manufacturer defect, but the hot spots on the disk definitely say otherwise. The guys at idparts are helping me out a little because it's so close to its warranty period. I wanted to mention that too, it helps to deal with reputable parts vendors!
Another fun part of the story is that the turbo on this car doesn't even work due to a rusted out actuator. That was next on the list, along with an intake cleaning. So while I'm waiting on parts the intake and turbo are out.. Gasket set and actuator are on the way!
 

DCELL

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2002
Location
Sheridan, IN
TDI
'01 GOLF 2DR, ‘15 Passat SEL TDI
How does a hard-to-find 1st gear cause this?
More importantly, I was sweating bullets wondering if there was something "I" could have done to cause this. Upon disassembly, I found that everything was still properly torqued and nothing "I did" had let go...
 

GCBUG00

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2013
Location
Hartsville SC
TDI
2000 Beetle
Guys,

That pressure plate shows a lot of heat, BTU's.

If that was an over rev burst, the facings wouldn't smell burnt. But if the facings stink of heat, facing debris can be shredded with your fingers, lots of dust in the clutch, pressure plate shows high heat and the FW face shows heat discoloration, well I'd say it was a over temperature based facing destruction.

Good statements above about bursting a disc by downshifting and over revving. Heard it can also be done to a farm tractor with manual.
 

GCBUG00

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2013
Location
Hartsville SC
TDI
2000 Beetle
DCELL,

If you installed this clutch best insurance your could do would be to go on a test drive that includes an uphill simulated pass of a SMV and nail it to the floor keeping your foot off of the clutch. Slipping is not acceptable.

Document the test drive road course, HWY #, gear, speed and passed acceleration test AND put the mileage in and mileage delivered on the RO all to document what you did as a professional repair.

Then to prove its correctly repaired take the owner on the same test drive and show the clutch passed the uphill acceleration test. Or let them drive it with you watching and run the same course.
 

DCELL

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2002
Location
Sheridan, IN
TDI
'01 GOLF 2DR, ‘15 Passat SEL TDI
There is NO WAY that car was drag raced... I'm serious when I say It literally has zero boost, zero mods, very little overall power. Lethargic, anorexic, anemic, whatever you want to call it, it's slow as dogsh#t. The owner is a neighbor, friend and coworker who I know to be among the worlds most careful drivers. What the old lady did? I don't know, but she didn't do it fast.
Gcbug2000- those are all things I do for most of my repairs. Believe it or not, In a former life I was an evil VW dealer service writer- forced to protect the interest of the business at any cost. With my own businesses I am careful as well.
 

Seatman

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 23, 2010
Location
Scotland
TDI
2014 Skoda rapid elegance 1.6 cr tdi
Well I dare say that VR6 clutch isn't rattling at idle now :D
 

DCELL

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2002
Location
Sheridan, IN
TDI
'01 GOLF 2DR, ‘15 Passat SEL TDI
Once again, with a clogged intake and inop turbo, there is no torque.
Tires are brand new, they were put on after the swap was complete. Nothing to indicate they have broken loose at all.
 

ezshift5

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2003
Location
West Coast
TDI
2013 JSW TDI (Enroute BB).......2017 Jetta 1.4 turbo 5M ....................
DCELL, your pal has a good heart (and his learning curve has now steepened appreciably............................).

Holidays best,


ez
 
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