Wanted to share my Mk1 Leon FR TDI experience so far with chipping and clutch problems, in case others find it of use while searching around.
Originally bought the car with less than 70k on the clock, drove very nice as standard. Went to visit Revo shortly afterwards, and was prepared to fit a new clutch should I deem it necessary afterwards.
Post Revo was significant clutch slip and when feeding the power in from low revs, horrible fly wheel judder.
A service was coming up so thought I’d go for the new clutch. Purchased the entire kit from Techniclutch for under £500, which included everything, including new slave cylinder.
After fitting, car felt good while I was bedding in the clutch, still a small bit of fly wheel judder but generally happy.
Within the first week, I’d started the car with my foot on the clutch, a habit from starting the 350Z. The clutch however didn’t travel all the way back up, so dug it out with my toe and noted there might be an issue. On occasion, reversing uphill funnily enough, the biting point on the clutch would move while feathering the clutch. Apparently everything was changed during the service, so this would mean a faulty part from Techniclutch.
On an unspirited drive home, smelt clutch, thought it was the car in front but when I pulled up at home 2 minutes later, realised it was mine. The clutch began to slip after this at torque spike revs, but could be managed easily. Suspect fluid on the clutch at this point, plus the clutch fluid reservoir was depleting to the point a warning buzz would sound and I’d need to top it up every 2 or 3 months. The flywheel judder was also bad again.
Garage couldn’t find an issue on the next service, but said it looked “wet” near the pipe into the gearbox where the slave was.
Amazingly, the clutch failed one Sunday afternoon as I was literally pulling onto the drive way, before all pressure was lost. I was able to fix the issue via my AA Breakdown Cover, plus do a couple of other bits to the car while it was in the garage, result!
So now I’ve got a standard clutch, and it’s never been smoother. I’m quite gentle with the power but when tested, there’s no hint of slipping or feel of abuse damaging the current clutch. I had been completely prepared to undo the Revo on the car should it feel even the slightest bit out of place, and my original negative Revo TDI remap opinion has been reversed. The condition of the car internals make a huge difference, but hard to diagnose sometimes exactly what’s up.
I would probably recommend a harder clutch kit before mapping, but the standard clutch appears up to the job for now. I’m sure if the first clutch kit was truly healthy, I’d have been very happy from the start. Probably worth spending the money getting a clutch and remap at the same place, so if there are problems, there’s some come back and they’ll see the job through should problems occur. It’s a lot of money trying to correct it privately otherwise!
Originally bought the car with less than 70k on the clock, drove very nice as standard. Went to visit Revo shortly afterwards, and was prepared to fit a new clutch should I deem it necessary afterwards.
Post Revo was significant clutch slip and when feeding the power in from low revs, horrible fly wheel judder.
A service was coming up so thought I’d go for the new clutch. Purchased the entire kit from Techniclutch for under £500, which included everything, including new slave cylinder.
After fitting, car felt good while I was bedding in the clutch, still a small bit of fly wheel judder but generally happy.
Within the first week, I’d started the car with my foot on the clutch, a habit from starting the 350Z. The clutch however didn’t travel all the way back up, so dug it out with my toe and noted there might be an issue. On occasion, reversing uphill funnily enough, the biting point on the clutch would move while feathering the clutch. Apparently everything was changed during the service, so this would mean a faulty part from Techniclutch.
On an unspirited drive home, smelt clutch, thought it was the car in front but when I pulled up at home 2 minutes later, realised it was mine. The clutch began to slip after this at torque spike revs, but could be managed easily. Suspect fluid on the clutch at this point, plus the clutch fluid reservoir was depleting to the point a warning buzz would sound and I’d need to top it up every 2 or 3 months. The flywheel judder was also bad again.
Garage couldn’t find an issue on the next service, but said it looked “wet” near the pipe into the gearbox where the slave was.
Amazingly, the clutch failed one Sunday afternoon as I was literally pulling onto the drive way, before all pressure was lost. I was able to fix the issue via my AA Breakdown Cover, plus do a couple of other bits to the car while it was in the garage, result!
So now I’ve got a standard clutch, and it’s never been smoother. I’m quite gentle with the power but when tested, there’s no hint of slipping or feel of abuse damaging the current clutch. I had been completely prepared to undo the Revo on the car should it feel even the slightest bit out of place, and my original negative Revo TDI remap opinion has been reversed. The condition of the car internals make a huge difference, but hard to diagnose sometimes exactly what’s up.
I would probably recommend a harder clutch kit before mapping, but the standard clutch appears up to the job for now. I’m sure if the first clutch kit was truly healthy, I’d have been very happy from the start. Probably worth spending the money getting a clutch and remap at the same place, so if there are problems, there’s some come back and they’ll see the job through should problems occur. It’s a lot of money trying to correct it privately otherwise!
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