Difficulty getting in and out of 1st and reverse gears.

Pitchshifter

Active Member
Dec 3, 2015
10
3
Can some one point me in the direction of how to fix my clutch please. I have a '04 plate Seat Leon Mk1 1.9tTDi fr. Sorry for the length of the post but I’ve tried to give as much detail as I can remember in the info below:


A few weeks ago, my clutch went while driving to work and when the clutch was changed, it was obvious what went wrong. The centre of the friction plate had sheared off from the external bit.

For months before the clutch went, I had a small problem getting in and out 1st and reverse gear but since the clutch was replaced, the symptoms have got worse.

In slow moving traffic I dip the clutch repeatedly, going from first gear to coasting with the clutch pedal to the floor and back again. As I slow down and press the pedal to the floor everything feels normal, but a moment later it feels like the car slips back into gear. When this happens, I can hear the engine start to struggle. When I take my foot off of the break pedal, the car tries to very slowly pull away and all of this happens in 1st gear with the clutch to the floor. At this point I find it difficult to take out of 1st or reverse gear and sometimes makes me press the brake pedal harder than usual because the car is still trying to pull.

When I’m driving, I sometimes feel the pedal ‘stick’ near the end of travel the jump the last bit to the top. Other times it feels like the bite point moves when I lift my foot after a gear change. I find my usual bite point is about 2/3 of the way down but when I feel it move, it feels like the bite point is closer to the floor.

I find all of the above can be overcome by pumping the pedal a few times to make the symptoms easier for awhile but often I have to force it in to gear. If it’s already in gear and it’s hard to take out of gear, I either force it out of gear or I have to switch the engine off to take it out of gear.



I have had the car back into the same garage for them to fix it but they’ve had no luck. They are thinking there must be something that is loosing pressure which is causing the clutch to slip. So far the Clutch, slave cylinder, master cylinder & a ’T’ piece has been changed.
 

Sharpy

This place has cost me a fortune....
Oct 2, 2018
957
486
From what I understand struggling to get in and out of 1st and reverse can be linked to needing to shim the input shaft bearing, there is a seal on the end of the gear box, thy pops off and shims can be added to the bearing to prevent the issue. It’s a relatively cheap and simple part.

https://www.darksidedevelopments.co...gearbox-input-shaft-shim-kit-and-end-cap.html

The link also eludes to the same. Worth a look.
 
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Pitchshifter

Active Member
Dec 3, 2015
10
3
From what I understand struggling to get in and out of 1st and reverse can be linked to needing to shim the input shaft bearing, there is a seal on the end of the gear box, thy pops off and shims can be added to the bearing to prevent the issue. It’s a relatively cheap and simple part.

https://www.darksidedevelopments.co...gearbox-input-shaft-shim-kit-and-end-cap.html

The link also eludes to the same. Worth a look.

If it is as simple as this, I'm going to get my take that end cap off tomorrow and see if there is play in that baring.
 
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Sharpy

This place has cost me a fortune....
Oct 2, 2018
957
486
If it is as simple as this, I'm going to get my take that end cap off tomorrow and see if there is play in that baring.

Worth a try. Even if it’s not that it’s another thing crossed off the list.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Pitchshifter

Active Member
Dec 3, 2015
10
3
Worth a try. Even if it’s not that it’s another thing crossed off the list.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Exactly! It will be far cheaper than some of the other options and cheaper than what i've already paid for the master cylinder change.
 

sockpuppet

Active Member
Apr 30, 2007
837
4
My money was on the slave cylinder (still is), did they definitely change it as it's a four hour job as the gearbox has to come off to get to it, so it's the sort of thing they would say they have done and haven't. I had exactly the same symptoms and it was the slave cylinder, no loss of fluid and it was very intermittent at first and took 4 years to get to the stage you are at. The shim won't make any difference, that only quietens the gearbox whine on deceleration in certain gears.
 

Pitchshifter

Active Member
Dec 3, 2015
10
3
My money was on the slave cylinder (still is), did they definitely change it as it's a four hour job as the gearbox has to come off to get to it, so it's the sort of thing they would say they have done and haven't. I had exactly the same symptoms and it was the slave cylinder, no loss of fluid and it was very intermittent at first and took 4 years to get to the stage you are at. The shim won't make any difference, that only quietens the gearbox whine on deceleration in certain gears.
When I collected the car after the clutch change, they showed me the old clutch. There was a cylinder in it and they said the cylinder comes with the clutch when they order it.
After they changed the master cylinder they were a little stumped as to why the fault was still there. They still think it’s some sort of pressure lose when I use the clutch and have suggested going back in to examine the slave cylinder to see if it was faulty on fit.
I don’t know whether to go ahead with it as they said if it is a faulty slave cylinder they would claim the maintenance cost back from the supplier. My problem with doing that is if they don’t find a faulty slave cylinder, I’ll be paying out for the 4 hours of maintenance. It’s a bit of a gamble for a car that isn’t worth that much anymore.
 

sockpuppet

Active Member
Apr 30, 2007
837
4
The slave cylinder definitely doesn't come with a clutch kit, they are talking about something else entirely as the clutch slave cylinder is part of the master cylinder/ brake clutch fluid circuit.
 

sockpuppet

Active Member
Apr 30, 2007
837
4
Like I said they are talking about something completely different. Look up Product Code: 136440160 on ECP and thats the clutch slave cylinder and it even has the explanation at the bottom.
 

Pitchshifter

Active Member
Dec 3, 2015
10
3
They bled it twice. Once when they changed the clutch and once more when I took it back for them to look into it.
 

Zardoz

Active Member
Sep 6, 2016
525
214
North West
Had similar problems when my clutch and gear box went early this year. Have you looked at the gear box oil to see if there's a high amount of metal shavings/flakes? Might be the box itself and could be easier to diagnose than taking it all apart.
 

Pitchshifter

Active Member
Dec 3, 2015
10
3
From what I understand struggling to get in and out of 1st and reverse can be linked to needing to shim the input shaft bearing, there is a seal on the end of the gear box, thy pops off and shims can be added to the bearing to prevent the issue. It’s a relatively cheap and simple part.

https://www.darksidedevelopments.co...gearbox-input-shaft-shim-kit-and-end-cap.html

The link also eludes to the same. Worth a look.


Just to confirm, this was the cure to this problem. Thank you!
 
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