Clutch died on '96 Golf 1.8

The clutch spring has a bunch of fingers that point in toward the center where the throwout bearing pushes them in to disengage the clutch. It's kinda like a softdrink cup straw hole, but that only has four fingers.

I wonder if the bearing fell through where the finger broke off (split) and left a large enough space.

How many miles were on the clutch? This sounds like a classic failure of the "clutch release lever". This lever rides on the clutch release shaft (the lever your clutch cable attaches to) and resides in the 5th gear/clutch release bearing housing on the end of the transaxle. It directly actuates the release bearing, which actuates the clutch pushrod, which actuates the clutch release plate. It is very easily accessed and replaced without removing the transaxle from the car by removing the aluminum cap on the end of the transaxle. A common failure mode is for this lever to split, allowing the release lever to rotate relative to the lever. The symptom of this failure is exactly as you described: the pedal goes all the way to the floor and does not return.

Be advised that this is a $15 part and should not take more than an hour or so of labor to replace. The release bearing is typically replaced at the same time (about $8). Your clutch may have been worn and was ready for replacing, but it probably was not the direct cause of your problem. Hopefully your mechanic didn't immediately pull the transaxle from the car before checking the clutch release lever; he probably could have had you back on the road quickly and cheaply, and you likely could have logged a few more miles on your clutch. If he did immediately pull the transaxle without giving you the option of the quick fix, he's probably not as familiar with VW clutches as he should be.

There are also spring "fingers" on the clutch pressure plate assembly that can break off, but that won't cause the type of failure you describe. It would, however, necessitate replacement of the clutch.

Did VW offer a 1.8L Golf in 1996? I thought the 4-cyl gas models were all

2.0L.

Are you describing the clutch in a A3 Golf? I didn't think the release bearing was anywhere near the clutch pressure plate "fingers" on this model.

The 1.8l motor was offered in the MkIII Golf CL in Canada only (well, not sure about non-NA countries). And yes, this makes it a pain in the ass to find parts.

I'm concerned about this. I have some doubts. The garage I went to I have always had trusted implicitly and have always done good work - but in this case I did not deal with the engineer I'm used to. Nor was I able to visit the garage to inspect what they were doing or what was found. Furthermore, when the car was towed the recovery guy initially turned the car around by driving it before I could interject. When I queried him about this whilst travelling in the cab, he demonstrated how it's done by changing from 2nd to 3rd without using the clutch by judging the rev's. He managed to do this without any crunching whatsoever. I also queried the engineer about this, he said he didn't think it was anything to do with it - the clutch was just worn with use. Yet, worn and missing teeth.. couldn't this happen if the recovery guy misjudged??

I don't know which of the two explanations you've given is correct, but the engineer reported "clutch finger broken", and mentioned something splitting. I think try and get some clarity from him on Monday, and I will take a copy of your text with me - see how they repond.

The car has done about 65k so I was *not* expecting this. My previous VW did 100k with no clutch problems whatsoever. Possibly in favour of the dead-clutch argument - it had become *very* stiff at all times, engaging first or reverse from cold could be difficult (I realise the tranny needs to warm up). Also felt a sort of gritty sensation coming through the accelerator pedal, which seems to have gone with the new clutch. A few days ago I made a sharp turn at slow speed and it felt like the power steering disengaged.. but in hindsight perhaps the first gear was slipping. It was unnerving enough for me to go round the block several times and see if it happened again. This car *has* been driven hard lately.

Anyway.. the new one feels much slicker, the car seems to be running smoother and quieter than before, with fewer rattles. But.. right about now, I don't know if the garage and recovery guy have done me a favour or not.

This is a problem for car owners like me who do not understand the mechanics, explanations pretty much fly over my head. I have to work on trust.

Total bill, btw, was £340.

£175 for 5 hours labour £108 for clutch kit £9 for "finger" [VAT in additional to the above - I'm in the UK!]

-- S i g n a l @ l i n e o n e . n e t

"Kent" emitted :

I'm in the UK. It's a 1.8SE.

-- S i g n a l @ l i n e o n e . n e t

The fact that you itemized a replacement "finger" at a cost of 9 pounds tells me that it was indeed a broken clutch release lever that caused your failure. It's an important link in the mechanism that allows you to disengage the clutch by pressing the pedal; without it, the clutch can't be disengaged. This is a common problem and a fairly simple fix. And yes, someone likely could finesse the revs to get the car moving with a failed clutch release lever, but this tells me that you didn't have catastrophic failure of the clutch. And no, I don't think the recovery guy did any further damage to your car by doing this. If you want to see a picture of the clutch release lever, go to

and follow the links in the parts catalog (Volkswagen/Golf/Clutch) to find "Lever, Clutch Release".

Having said that, I wouldn't be too hard on your mechanic, although it always helps to let him know you're watching. Although a clutch should go longer than 65K km (depending on your driving habits), he perhaps probably felt that the transaxle/clutch needed some R&R and figured that a complete clutch job was not unreasonable. If you could get a look at the old clutch components you could get a clue. Your shifting problems may have been a combination of improperly adjusted clutch cable, low gear oil, worn clutch, worn shift mechanism, etc. The work required to install the new clutch would allow the mechanic to address some or all of these issues. A "clutch kit" typically includes a pressure plate assembly, clutch disc, release bearing, release plate, and release plate spring. I think 108 pounds is reasonable for parts cost. Five hours labor also sounds reasonable to me.

Just curious: did the mechanic have the flywheel resurfaced and replace some of the hard to access oil seals (engine rear main, transaxle main shaft, clutch pushrod) while the transaxle was out of the car? It is common to do this work at the same time that the clutch is replaced. If these particular seals develop a significant leak, it can trash your new clutch. There are other oil seals on the transaxle that are prone to failure also (drive flange seals especially) so it is always a good idea to replace them too, especially if you think you were losing gear oil.

Let me throw in a disclaimer while I'm at it. I'm not a mechanic (although I am a professional engineer, for what it's worth) and my experience working on VWs is limited exclusively to my U.S. model 1987 VW GTI 8V. It's been hard-won experience and I consider myself fairly knowledgeable of the workings of my particular model VW. Having said that, I know VW made changes to the clutch/transaxle mechanisms between 1987 and 1996 depending on the model. There may also be some differences between U.S. and UK cars; I'm just not completely sure. Hopefully someone with more intimate experience with your particular model Golf will be able to backup or refute my observations.

Good luck with this,

I have committments right now so I'm dashing out, but I cannot tell you how much I appreciate these comments!! It really feels like a minefield out there to somebody us un-mechanical as myself. Having read your comments, I think I've got a better idea of what happened here. Will take a look at the pictures you linked to and reply in depth tomorrow. Big thanks!!

-- S i g n a l @ l i n e o n e . n e t

"Roger McDodger" emitted :

This is MkIII btw.

-- S i g n a l @ l i n e o n e . n e t

Sounds like only the clutch release bearing lever was the problem and that replacement of the clutch was a little excessive. Although a new clutch always feels great, especially if the flywheel is crowned at the same time (as Kent suggests). I've replaced the 5th gear cap on two different A2's (yes, the '96 is an A3/MKIII) to cure the same problem in under 30 minutes.

I was just going on what I know about clutches in general (admittedly not too much). I've never heard of a clutch spring where the throwout bearing didn't directly contact the fingers, either the one-piece spring with built-in fingers, or the old type with coil springs and lever-type fingers.

After reading another post, I realize I'm a little ignorant of VW engineering. Oh, well, live and learn. Sorry to mislead anybody. I've been looking for an excuse to get a Bently manual...

"Kent" emitted :

I went down to the garage and picked up the parts.. here they are :

Finger is in top right corner of the first image. Difficult to see but it has split.

To my uneducated eye, that disc looks WELL worn!! What say you?

Sounds reasonable to me too. The total job cost a lot less than VW would charge! I haven't yet established if any of the following were done at the same time :

Thanks again for your assistance!

-- S i g n a l @ l i n e o n e . n e t

"Roger McDodger" emitted :

By the way it was 65K miles not km!!

-- S i g n a l @ l i n e o n e . n e t

Holy mackinaw! They'd better have machined the flywheel...at least if the pressure plate is any indication!

Well, it looks like the clutch release lever was definitely the cause of your failure; looks just like the one I pulled out of my transaxle about

100K miles ago! Your pressure plate looks pretty bad though. Looks like you had a bit of overheating (the darkish spots) and perhaps the clutch had been chattering a bit. Do you tend to hold yourself on hills using the clutch? Other things that indicate that the pressure plate is due for replacement are loose rivets; warpage; and worn, bent or broken fingers (I can't see the fingers in the photo since the release plate is installed). If the only visible problem is the surface defects, it probably could have lasted a bit longer, but it looks due.

As for the disc, I really can't make out its condition very well from the photo. A definitely bad disc would have warpage, loose or broken springs and rivets, and/or black glazing from oil contamination. I've also read somewhere that there should be at least 1/16" of lining above the rivets, but once you go to the trouble of disassembling things to inspect it, would be replaced anyway regardless of lining thickness. I can't tell from the picture, but if you see any indication of black glazing on the disc, contact your mechanic and make sure he replaced your rear main seal, mainshaft seal, and pushrod seal. Otherwise, your new disc will suffer the same fate.

Also, I don't see the old release bearing in the photos. Your mechanic should have replaced it since it's an inexpensive part and is easily replaced when replacing the clutch release lever. Oh, and he definitely should have resurfaced the flywheel; if he didn't, call him on it.

All in all, the photos seem to support my earlier opinion that your failure was due to the inexpensive clutch release lever failure. You didn't need the full clutch job to get you back on the road, but the condition of the release plate surface makes me think you would have needed one fairly soon. Now the question is: why is your pressure plate in such lousy shape after only 65K miles?

I would say, that clutch disk still has some ~2-3 millimeters (or

2-3/25.4 inches :))) to wear out before rivets will look out of the linings surface. That means couple of 10's of thousands kilometers, depending on how you drive.

There is no "real" release bearing in this type of the clutch. See that pit in the middle of the pressure plate? There is a sort of metal rod, which goes through the whole gearbox (gearbox shaft has a hole in it) and is used to press the pressure plate.

On the other hand, it is very difficult do judge, digital photos of metal surfaces do look really weird sometimes. We could probably see better, if Roger cleaned the surface with some gasoline and then made a close-up photo under better light conditions (using camera's macro mode).

Actually, there is what VW refers to as a "release bearing" on this type of clutch, although granted it is differs from the typical. It's located at the other side of the clutch pushrod (the metal rod you refer to), and rides against the clutch release lever. Since it's cheap (less than $10) and easy to access when replacing the clutch release lever, it is typically replaced at the same time. No question, the IP's mechanic should have replaced this part.

I still think the isolated dark spots (maybe bluish in reality) are clear indications of heat checking. I do agree with you, though, that this clutch probably could have run a fair bit longer before requiring replacement (assuming no loose rivets, worn/broken fingers, etc.). I'd like to hear how the IP's mechanic justifies replacing the entire clutch without at least giving him the option of the cheaper fix.