Clutch Slipping

Dreadnaught · Nov 9, 2005

My 13k Leon has started slipping it's clutch at about 2000 rpm (Ok at 1500, slips from 2000 20 2300 ish, then fine afterwards). Was almost undriveable Monday, but as you'd expect it performed flawlessly for the dealer today. Mechanically, its as supplied from the factory with the addition of a dealer-fit cruise control.

As far as i can gather, there is no adjustment possible on these units - anyone know if that's true? if it is, the dealer's offer to look at it anyway would just have been a ruse to charge a bit for labour and do nothing i guess.

Clutches slip for 1 reason - not enough friction between the plate and the flywheel. This can have 2 causes - contamination or the pressure plate is damaged / not up to it (or i guess it's being driven beyond spec).

Anyone else got direct experience of this? I had a look here yesterday and it seemed there was a bit of it about, but the dealer says he's never heard of it happening before (he's only about 12, so i guess that's expected).

prc · Nov 9, 2005

The clutch auto adjusts itself.
Your not alone! I've seen alot of cars with clutch slip from new. Especially happens now that it's getting colder and the motor produces more torque.

stoneyfordNI · Nov 9, 2005

true , mine slipped a few times last winter , dealer said it was normal

frj · Nov 9, 2005

if its a tdi with a pd engine in it the clutch operation is hydraulic,controlled by a master cylinder on ure bulk head and a slave cylinder on ure gearbox,get it back to the dealer and get the mechanic to go on a road test with u when the fault is occuring.

Dreadnaught · Nov 10, 2005

Normal??

stoneyfordNI said:
true , mine slipped a few times last winter , dealer said it was normal

How can a dealer say clutch slip is normal? If it's normal (i.e. a common occurrence amongst TDis), it's a design flaw. Begining to think i might have bought the wrong car, however much i like it. OK, I know it's under warranty, but that won't help after the warranty's up.

Dreadnaught · Nov 10, 2005

frj said:
if its a tdi with a pd engine in it the clutch operation is hydraulic,controlled by a master cylinder on ure bulk head and a slave cylinder on ure gearbox,get it back to the dealer and get the mechanic to go on a road test with u when the fault is occuring.

Yep, that's my current plan. Dealer says i can call in any time if it's doing it, so that a bonus.

Wheely · Nov 10, 2005

Unbelievable that I was going to write this exact same thread yesterday.

My 04 TDI-Cupra, with 14.5K on the clock has started to do the exact same !!!

Noticed it (and ignored it) last week when it was so brief I wasnt even sure.

Then yesterday, uphill dual-carriageway, 6th gear, 2K revs, boot it and its up to 2.5K with hardly any change to my speed -- until I back off and retry with a little more gently.

Was pretty peed off -- as the clutch slip thing is pants and was the main reason for me hanging off a remap - as it becomes quite pronounced then !

Bleedin things !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dreadnaught · Nov 10, 2005

lets ask the question....

Wheely said:
Unbelievable that I was going to write this exact same thread yesterday.

OK. Seat will be getting a call tomorrow to see if they will own up to it. If not, maybe Watchdog will be interested.....

Dreadnaught · Nov 15, 2005

Official Denial

Not a surprise, but Seat Customer Service Centre deny knowledge of slipping clutches being a problem. They do ask that anyone whose dealer says it is normal to contact them on 0500 222222 with the dealer name, your Reg No and VIN, and they'll investigate for you. Come to that, it may be there *is* a problem, they just don't know about it. With that in mind, I have sent my details to them - and i would suggest that anyone else getting this do the same. It may be there's a duff batch of clutch plates out there, and only the torquey diesels bring out the worst in them. Better still, they might even stick the Skoda RS plate in when they fix it....

Mine's only done it the once (for the whole evening), and i'm going to stop trying now

Wheely · Nov 16, 2005

Dreadnaught said:
Not a surprise, but Seat Customer Service Centre deny knowledge of slipping clutches being a problem. They do ask that anyone whose dealer says it is normal to contact them on 0500 222222 with the dealer name, your Reg No and VIN, and they'll investigate for you. Come to that, it may be there *is* a problem, they just don't know about it. With that in mind, I have sent my details to them - and i would suggest that anyone else getting this do the same. It may be there's a duff batch of clutch plates out there, and only the torquey diesels bring out the worst in them. Better still, they might even stick the Skoda RS plate in when they fix it....

Mine's only done it the once (for the whole evening), and i'm going to stop trying now

Mine did it the same night as yours !!!! (weird)

and again quite badly a few nights after.

now it seems to have settled right down again -- I've tried, even on colder eve's but seems ok.

I'll keep a close eye on this and may have a word with my two local dealers as well.

zac_69_uk · Nov 16, 2005

This is weird!
I have experienced exactly the same thing on my Cupra, I have done 18k in the last year and no signs of clutch slippage.
The weather gets a bit cold and it starts to do it.

You put your foot down in 5th or 6th and and the revs rise very quickly then drop back a bit and then rise steadily.

Dillinja · Nov 16, 2005

Had this loads, it's worse in the cold weather, when it gets too bad I switch the Revo off for a week, cook the clutch a bit [:@]

and then it seems fine again for a bit longer.

Thought seriously about getting a new clutch and I was nearly gonna but I'm a bit worried about trading it in.........

APNess · Nov 17, 2005

Mine slipping too - just another to add to the list. Done 11750 miles...

Paul TDI · Nov 17, 2005

Mines been slipping the last few days too.

Its mainly 5th/6th gear at 70mph

The Governor · Nov 20, 2005

Mine did exactly this at around 18k miles, Camberley Seat replaced it for me under warranty without any quibbles at all.

I've done just over 23k now and it's still fine, I just hope it doesn't reoccur after the warranty runs out..

Dreadnaught · Nov 20, 2005

It's done it again. Proves 2 things: 1) i didn't image it, and 2) it wasn't a fluke. Seems there is a thread here too - cold evenings. Both times mine has done it I've driven 15 miles from cold, left the car for 3 hours then driven the same 15 miles home. Still, something to go on.

muddyboots · Nov 24, 2005

As I've posted in another thread:
My Ibiza (A TDI 130 remapped by Seat Holland when new to a similar output to a Cupra TDI) suffered clutch slip during it's first winter at around 14-15k miles.

Demo'd it to the dealer and they changed it under warranty. They didn't know it was chipped (never asked...) but it's only the same output as a std Cupra TDI, so the clutch should have held (as it's exactly the same clutch).

Deleted member 7040 · Jan 2, 2006

Still occuring?

Hi all, i did a search on this forum for slipping clutches, notice its fairly old posting but wondered if anyone is getting this now? Done 16k and noticed last couple days that booting it, then changing up gear that the revs on the counter snap into place then in a split second it slips down by 400 - 500 rpm. Also seem to have lost that "edge" on the performance on 3rd - 6th range of gears. Oddly enough though on 2nd shifting to 3rd theres no slip in the revs and yet i thought that would be the most powerful gears?

The burning question is, if it is slipping slightly can i have it replaced under warranty? I was told by my local dealer that a clutch failure isnt covered unless under 10k as its a wear n tear item, is that true?

orangesprout · Jan 2, 2006

mines been doing it especially when very cold.

i was blaming the clutch plate and fly wheel being too cold. once warm it was ok

dip clutch a few times and it goes away. Its never flickered all year until now.
bought it at end of feb last year with 5500miles now done 23500. oops

maybe shes loosened up?

orangesprout · Jan 2, 2006

robcornwall2003 said:
Hi all, i did a search on this forum for slipping clutches, notice its fairly old posting but wondered if anyone is getting this now? Done 16k and noticed last couple days that booting it, then changing up gear that the revs on the counter snap into place then in a split second it slips down by 400 - 500 rpm. Also seem to have lost that "edge" on the performance on 3rd - 6th range of gears. Oddly enough though on 2nd shifting to 3rd theres no slip in the revs and yet i thought that would be the most powerful gears?

The burning question is, if it is slipping slightly can i have it replaced under warranty? I was told by my local dealer that a clutch failure isnt covered unless under 10k as its a wear n tear item, is that true?

slip is likely in higher gears as ratio is closer to engine true speed. so pull is harder
(if that makes sense)

my 306HDI did it, got new clutch - still no good so got rid and became a SEAT owner nearly 3 years ago.

Clutch Slipping

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