When I make a turn, of any radius, whith the clutch engaged, there is a clicking noise coming from the front of the car. Going straight, there is no sound, and if I disengage the clutch, the noise disappears....
Any ideas?
Sounds like CV joints. Check the condition of the boots, inner and outer joints. I just got through doing 3 of the boots on a 2001 Passat V6 auto. It was clicking too. later, dave (One out of many daves)
If it ain't the CV joint, either one, could be the "throw out bearing" preceeding the clutch, at the clutch fork.
Explain why it is only there on turns? If it's a clutch issue it would do it regardless off which way the wheels are turned!
It sounds like you need to service your outer CV joints. You can do one of two things. Pull the half shafts off, remove the clamps and boots, and degrease the joints. This should be done every 100,000 miles anyway. I even pull the joints off the half shafts and put them on the other shaft so they wear more evenly and last longer. Reinstall the boots, fill with the grease for that purpose, or use AMSOIL HD Grease with moly (one tube of GHD-CR on their web site), and reinstall the clamps. You're good for another 100,000 miles.
The cheap and dirty solution is to put a needle fitting on your grease gun, shove the needle between the boot and half shaft from the engine side, and put several pumps of grease into the joint. You aren't servicing the joints by doing this but you are giving them much needed new lubrication. The first solution is the best if you plan on keeping your VW past 8 years.
If you don't mind doing the work yourself...............clean, inspect and repack those CV Joints or replace the driveshafts. If someone else is doing the work and you don't mind spending the $$$ then have new/rebuilt driveshafts put on. Repacking those CV Joints might be fine! ;-)
JMHO
I have 165,000 miles on my front CV joints. No clicking ever by servicing them at 100,000 mile intervals. Maybe it's the AMSOIL HD grease that makes the difference? I have never used the OE grease. My boots do not have a clamp on the half shaft side. It is easy to slip a needle fitting in there and add grease. No leaks there either. Mine is a 91 Jetta. My first (85) Jetta went 300,000 miles on the original CV joints. I saved them for a project car when I took the car out of service due to severe body rust where someone welded a new trunk on the back of the car. I still have the engine and tranny from that car too. Know where I can get a good, rust free 91 Jetta diesel body to put them in? Nothing like one of these for a commuter car that gets 50 mpg and lasts 10 years or more with a little TLC! No payments either!
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