Clutch problem

[Dieselumbrado]

Yesterday morning when I was leaving to work, the clutch cable broke, (that's what I thought) the pedal went to the floor and stayed there.
When I went to change the cable, I noticed that wasn't broke.
I took off the plate on the transmission end, thinking that spring in there broke, or something wrong with the clutch arm, and that little lever.
When I moved the arm by hand, the return spring is good, but the release bearing doesn't move, I mean doesn't came back, now is a gap between it and the clutch lever.
What do you guys think is the problem?


Thanks

[burn_your_money]

I'd venture to guess that you wore through this guy


Clutch Thrust Plate - $8.95

[Dieselumbrado]

Thanks for the reply!

Can I change this plate without removing the transmission?
(I never did any work on a MK1 clutch...)

Thanks

[Vincent Waldon]

Unfortunately, nope.

[Jettagli16v]

I had a similar issue on another 020 trans car (98 GTI)
It felt like I broke a clutch cable,
but I replaced the clutch cable, and it still did the same thing.
Mine ended up being the "Clutch release arm" seen here:



It looked fine, but had a hairline fracture that only showed when major force was applied.
If you pull up on the clutch lever at the trans, without the cable attached
you should be able to feel if the button fell out.

Just one more thing to look for,
but it is an easy 20 minute repair!

-Brad

[Quantum TD]

I had a similar issue on another 020 trans car (98 GTI)
It felt like I broke a clutch cable,
but I replaced the clutch cable, and it still did the same thing.
Mine ended up being the "Clutch release arm" seen here:



It looked fine, but had a hairline fracture that only showed when major force was applied.
If you pull up on the clutch lever at the trans, without the cable attached
you should be able to feel if the button fell out.

Just one more thing to look for,
but it is an easy 20 minute repair!

-Brad

Good call. Seen this quite a bit, especially on MK2 and 3 cars.

[Patrick]

Looks like I'm into the same problem, pedal went to the floor yesterday and the cable is intact. Any way to tell if it's the button or the arm before I pull it apart? pedal is still on the floor.....

[R.O.R-2.0]

its that clutch actuator finger.. i would bet money on it.

pull the green cap off the end of the tranny. if your super careful, you can re use that plug.

i took and just tack welded that finger back together, and its worked good since..

[Patrick]

It was the finger. I have lots of spares, so rather than mess with the cap (which I don't have in stock) I pulled the whole end and swapped on another tranny end. changed a bad transmission mount while I was in there.......
Only possible problem left, couldn't get the self adjusting clutch cable to back off. Pedal feels a little high, but the clutch isn't slipping (yet)

[R.O.R-2.0]

self adjusting clutch cables suck!

[vanagonturbo]

repair procedure for sticky/malfunctioning auto clutch cable is as follows:

Have buddy sit in car.
Move clutch release lever up toward the hood.
disconnect the clip on the end of the cable.
have buddy depress the clutch pedal. it will stick to the floor.
reinstall clip on the end of the cable.
pull clutch pedal back up.

done.