Help re Clutch gone (dual mass flywheel?)

[J500ANT]

Our Leon FR TDI is currently at the dealers with the clutch having gone a second time, the car has only done 950 miles!

The dealer is alledging that the damage is down to the driver and not any mechanical fault. Previously they changed the clutch, flywheel and release bearing but nothing else.

The dealer is saying there is nothing else there to fail and therefore it must be from the driver slipping the clutch or starting in the wrong gear

Can anyone advise just how the clutch set up is on the FR TDi? I know its hydraulic but does it have its own master cylinder? The dealer showed me how the release bearing is also the slave cylinder - very clever, but they says its sort of Pedal-master cyl-pipe-slave cyl-clutch and they've inspected the master cylinder and pipe and theyre ok.

Now i've read the recall notice re dual mass flywheels, it refers to a "non-optimally designed through-flow restrictor in the clutch pressure pipe." and the fix is "replace the flywheel and the breather of the clutch pressure pipe"

I've no idea of a build date for this car but i'm assuming its built after the affected chassis ranges for this recall. But still, that means that there are other parts the dealer hasnt mentioned, especially the "through flow restrictor"

Any help really is appreciated, cos the dealer wants £1500 to fix it!!

 

[justlivyalife]

How the hell can they suggest you'd have killed two clutches in 950 miles, even if you were mistreating it! .

Are you sure that the Dealer replaced what they say they did the first time?

 

[truCido]

no way could you of gone through 2 clutches in 950 miles unless you were running some serious amounts of power!! and how a dealer could suggest that its down to driver error is crazy any mechanic should see thats probably impossible!!! Unless you sat there for 8 hours a day holding it on the clutch of course

 

[JonoUK]

Is it the TDI or TFSI? Just wondering.

950 miles and 2 clutches? That's crazy!

 

[Tam]

I'd suggest......

Fix my car properly this time (as they obviously didnt do a good job the first time round)

OR..


I'll reject the car as not fit for purpose, and speak to trading standards about this.


See where the dealer goes with those comments.

 

[J500ANT]

TDI, sorry should have said. Unmodified too.

 

[Triple D]

they want you to pay the costs =£1500 are they for real??

the release looks something like these

They are called concentric slave cylinders, and they are a hrdraulic release bearing.

Did they say what had actually happened to the clutch? and what was it that failed? the csc? the pressure plate? or the drive plate?

What are they claiming was wrong with the dmf???


just asking as i work for sachs, we make the clutches and dmf and csc for a hell of alot of cars as OE, and with the knowledge i have working in the warranty department i can tell you what has happended and what has possily caused it.

 

[J500ANT]

The clutch is totally burnt out due to it being driven whilst slipping. However they cant see any reason why it would have been slipping and therefore are saying its either been started in 3rd gear or slipped in traffic etc - not a mechanical defect. First time round they just replaced the whole clutch and that hydraulic bearing thing without finding a "cause", yet there was still clutch smell (which we left it with the dealer for 3days to check)

 

[Triple D]

wtf, it was slipping , did u get to see it?

My guess, is they used excessive amounts of gearbox input shaft lubricant and didnt wipe off the excess, and then when its started up, has radiated outwards from the hub on the driven plate due to the centrufugal force (spelling). This will then contaminate the lining on the drive plate and alter the coeficient of friction and cause slip....

 

[Tam]

who drives it??

They must of noticed it slipping if its gone that quickly it would have had to have been slipping badly.

 

[Triple D]

i guarantee when seat fitted the 2nd clutch they rushed it............ causing this problem, slip is caused by 3 things, excessive heat causing the friction lining to break down, caused during installation as i have suggested above, or by driver malpractice.....

 

[JonoUK]

ANYONE would be able to tell if they were starting in 3rd. Even with diesel.
Both clutches burned out in the same way?

I don't know much about these clutches but I've had a clutch slip a bit (on a toyota), and that was remedied by bleeding the hydraulics. Oh and it only occurred at say accelerating from 35ish in 4th... would just start to slip a bit when the turbo kicked in (on a diesel).

You could certainly tell when it was slipping, aside from looking at the rev counter.

I'm assuming you've not been seeing/feeling such things whilst you've been driving it?

Edit - If it's not driver malpractice I'd go with what Tam said a few posts up.

 

[J500ANT]

It WAS slipping badly, I told him to just call the AA but the dealer told him to see if he could drive it to them.

 

[JonoUK]

Started suddenly or since you've had it back after the 2nd one was fitted?
I still can't see how you'd wreck two clutches just by driving it. (that's not me accusing anyone btw )

 

[J500ANT]

Since it came back from the first time

 

[JonoUK]

Urgh I hope mine lasts longer than that. And it's not replaced under warranty? They'll be getting the car back if it happens to me and isn't fixed properly the first time round.

I'd have thought this problem would've been fixed by now. Do you know what its build date was (ish?)

 

[mode]

Sorry to hear about youre car j500ant i dont see how you could have worn out a clutch in that short time anymore than someone could wear out the brake pads say, I would wager that seat know about a faulty batch of components and i would get them involved have you checked out any vw sites like mkiv.net or one of the GTI sites for any evidence?

Just out of curiosity how does a dual mass flywheel differ from a regular one? Do the petrols have it also?

Best of luck hope you get the car sorted soon and for free.

 

[JonoUK]

Just wondering... has anyone else who's got a new FR TDI had this problem? I know there's been some kind of problem a while back and a recall - i think affecting every company across the VAG group...

 

[J500ANT]

No idea of build date sorry, and I did a google without any results (apart from the comments re the DMF recall)

 

[mode]

How is it going J500Ant ?, Have you got the car sorted yet?