Slipping Clutch ???

[Farts_fo]

My Leon Cupra R 210 seems to have a slipping clutch in the higher gears.
If I put my foot down in 4th for example, the car starts pulling and the revs build up, but then the revs continue to go up to about 4k but with no increased road speed. After a couple of seconds the power kicks in again.

I hope this isn't a clutch thing but an electrical problem perhaps?

There are no warning lights or weird smells, and the engine isn't modified in any way.

Any ideas and suggestions would be appreciated.

Martin

 

[ChrisUK]

Have you had it remapped ?

 

[Farts_fo]

Thanks for the reply.
The car isn't modified in any way - No engine remap.

 

[morebeer]

I had a similar problem with my old 03 LCR. I was told by the garage that the pressure plate had failed in the clutch, causing the clutch to slip. I had the whole lot replaced under warranty, about a month before it expired. The car had around 40k miles on it, but had had other problems prior to the clutch problem, including a gearbox failure and clutch pedal box failure. This possibly influenced the decision to sort the fault under the warranty. It did however reinforce my decision to get rid of the car, before it had another major breakdown.

 

[Farts_fo]

Oh bugger - My warranty expired in April this year but the car has only done 25k
I guess this means a trip to the garage for inspection !

 

[declfc]

Did you get this problem sorted as i have got the same problem in my 03 Cupra R. When im crusing along at about 80 and put my foot down the turbo kicks in the revs scream up but i go no faster!! then the revs back off and it gains speed normally!!! Help me!

 

[Farts_fo]

I have had the problem confirmed by VW and I do need a new clutch. You seem to have the same problem.
VW advised me to take it to a SEAT dealer who might be able to offer a discount due to the low mileage and age of the car.
I decided to launch an appeal straight to SEAT UK instead. My case is currently under investigation.
You can contact SEAT through the main website:

http://www.seat.co.uk/generator/su/uk/SEAT/site/contact/main,templateId=mainNotCacheable.html

I will take this further if I need to.

Please contact them as well - We can't be the only ones in the world with this problem! There must be a general problem.
I was told by a top UK garage that even a car that has been modified shouldn't have clutch problems at such low mileage.

I will post my progress. Good luck yourself !

 

[Mitchy]

Not unless the mileage has been played with, has the car got a full service history and is it all in order?

Yes you do have a slipping clutch as i have just replaced mine due to exactly the same thing (Although i had been running 400lbft of torque through it )

Its all about your driving technique as to how long your clutch will last. If you are a lazy driver and put the foot down at sub 3000rpm in the higher 5th/6th gears then it doesnt last long at all! You need to change down,say you are in 6th at 65-70mph and you want to go full throttle, to save your clutch your better popping it into 5th! (Especially on a remapped car)

When i took the clutch off there was very little of the pressure plate left, it was very worn!

The clutch is actually very strong mate, there isnt a general problem with them tbh although at standard power it should last longer, perhaps the car before you bought it was remapped and when he sold it he took the map off? Check and confirm the mileage by going through your service book and maintenance log!

 

[Farts_fo]

Hi Mitchy,

Thanks for your comments.
I bought the car from a Seat dealer and it was a 9 month old demo car. I doubt very much that the car had been temporarily modified.
I think that my driving technique is OK.

 

[declfc]

Yeh mine has done 72k, its been remapped and im a lazy driver!!!!!! How much am i looking for a new clutch fitted then?? Its not too bad at the moment just sometimes when im bening lazy in 6th! But it will need doing soon I expect. cheers!

 

[Triple D]

For the clutch to slip, the common causes are as follows:
1. The drive plate lining will have carbonised or may infact have started to break down due to excessively high temperature build up i.e temps over 400 degrees c. This will cause the resin in the lining to break down and the coeficent of friction is then decreased.

2. The pressure plate will have also overheated and may have infact weakened the diaphram fingers on the cover. Due to the excessive heat like in point 1, the temperature will have weakened the cover and then coincedently the cover will not beable to clamp to the drive plate, as the friction will not be as good, the c;utch will slip at peak power / torque when the turbo kicks in and you will get clutch slip as before.

3. There may well be a liquid, depending if either your CSC is leaking, or if this is not the standard clutch and has infact been replaced before, they could have put too much grease on the gearbox imput shaft splines. When the engine is then started, the excess grease will radiate outwards and coincidently go onto the drive plate lining. If this has happened the drive plate will be useless, and will not beable to clamp onto the pressure plate at all, giving you slip.

Hope this may help mate, but like others have said, if you are in very high gears, and do want to overtake or speed up, then use the gears, rather than being lazy and just booting it.But fpr a clucth to only last 25k does seem a little low. Does the car get abused at all? whats is your style of driving like, is it just you driving the car?if not, what are there driving styles like? all these questions may well try and indicate as to why your clutch is slipping.

 

[Farts_fo]

Hi all,
My driving style is OK and I'm the only one driving the car. I have a feeling that the first 10k of the cars life may have been a bit dodgy - (Garage owned)

My previous car was a Golf VR6 and I did about 80k in that - Clutch OK.

A new fitted clutch won't cost any more than £500 as this is what VW quoted.

 

[acidstrato]

yeah but the vr6 aint turbo is it...

it qute common unfortunatly on 1.8Ts
people prefer to just bury it rather than progressively pressing the throttle which means that the clutch gets a good smack of torque and this over and over again causes bad wear

i had my clutch changed a few months ago, came to £350 at a vw specialist.

 

[declfc]

Ok, i get the picture, but how much is this gonna cost me?? Anyone get any good prices on a clutch replacement?

 

[acidstrato]

i actually thought my 350quid was a great price

160+vat for parts iirc, obviously you wont have the same part, but concept is the same

some people manage to get labour cheaper, but I wanted my car in and out asap

 

[Mitchy]

Ok, i get the picture, but how much is this gonna cost me?? Anyone get any good prices on a clutch replacement?

4 hours labour at £45+vat an hour = Approx £210 alone on fitting.

It depends on whether you want a standard clutch back in or an uprated clutch?

 

[albert47]

I think my 2003 LCR has that problem. It's been modified with a Revo remap.

Now 6 months after having the remap, im having nothing but problems, possible due to the remap, although it has done 45k. 30k of them, down to me. My driving style is ok, although i like to boot it every now and again!

My car now just feels sluggish, as before it was beast. I just put it down to getting use to the cars power, then i thought it might be the standard bosch DV. Im thinking of changing it to a forge 007p.

Now im thinking the clutch might have gone. It has all the symptons you lot have described, also when im changing gear, up or down then seems to be catching something just before it slips into gear. Does this sound like a clutch or gearbox problem.

Any advice welcome!!!!!

Cheers Adam