88 VW GTI Clutch - pedal drops to the floor

HEy it is a loose spring! the one at the transmission unit! Anyway we do have books in germany called "Jetzt helfe ich mir selbst" means "now i help myself out". search for this titles or ask in a bookstore. As far as i know theire available in english as well. Not very expensive but very helpfully. Lot of drawings ;)

djiss schrieb:

Since it's an '88 and I don't know how old the clutch is, I'll make a guess. Under the 5th gear cap, you'll find the clutch push-rod arm (or whatever it's called). On the outside of the tranny, pull up on the clutch cable attachment point and it plunges the arm inside the tranny to depress the clutch push-rod which disengages the clutch. A little wordy, I know.

I've seen the arm inside the 5th gear cap snap and result in the same symptoms you're experiencing. It's obviously cheaper than replacing the clutch and it can be done with the tranny in the car. A break can be difficult to spot. You'll need a 13 mm socket, a new 5th gear end-cap gasket, a new clutch push-rod bearing and a used end-cap with all the attached hardware.

Just my CDN$0.02.

Darryl.

Check where the clutch cable goes through the firewall. The outside of the cable seats inside of a short steel tube that is welded (usually poorly) to the top of the bracket that supports the clutch and brake pedal up under the dash. If the weld on this tube either breaks partially or completely, the clutch will not adjust or will go completely to the floor as you have explained. This is very common on that style and age of A-1 style cars as well as others. I have repaired about 6 and I am not in the auto repair buisness. Look up under the dash and you can see if it as broken or is loose as you work the pedal.

Butch

Well, out of the three replies you have gotten so far, one of them is right...

Pull that end cap on the end of the transmission (don't worry about screwing up that end cap - it's soft aluminum, and will have to be replaced anyway), and inspect the finger that pushes the rod to disengage the clutch. The split near the shaft should be visible. Replacing it isn't too bad either, although I don't think it's covered in the manaul. You'll need to purchase the "finger" and a new end cap from VWoA - can't be more than about $40 total though. Once you have the clutch cable off of the lever arm, there's just one circlip holding things together. After that's off, it should slide right off. The old finger should wiggle right off, but the new one might take some pushing to get it on (can't recall how hard or easy that was right now). Put everything back together in reverese order, and you should be good to go.

ccp

Woohoo! All those years of keeping my '89 running has paid off. Now let's hope the push-rod assembly is the culprit! ;-)