The clutch/transmission troubles thread.

[MKVdemon]

If the OEM clutch assembly is soo ****ty, why not upgrade to Aftermarket and be done replacing the same faulty design over and over? Also, I double checked this, Isn't SACHS the OEM supplier to vw? Why not look at their performance clutch upgrades? You could always argue that if the one supplied by factory is ****...

[MKVdemon]

http://www.sachsperformance.com/Sach...h-Kit::85.html

There you go. OEM Performance Clutch upgrade made specifically for our Golf Rs

[JosephHatfield]

Anyone heard yet any official response from VW on these transmission and clutch issues?

[MKVdemon]

i called the Tech-line at Volkswagen of America. Nothing official is out yet.

[MKVdemon]

I also asked about installing that OEM Performance Clutch from Sachs. They said that since its manufactured by the OE supplier of VW/AUDI, legally they can't void the warranty. However,
their official stance is that to replace anything with official VW parts only.

[darthfuhrer]

5467 miles and yesterday every time i released the clutch a noise like if metal on metal were scratching each other, brand new car and already problems

[MKVdemon]

Problem with a performance car that's supposed to be awesome, being
made in a cheap era. :/ go get the Sachs SRE clutch , and make vw put it in.

[JosephHatfield]

i called the Tech-line at Volkswagen of America. Nothing official is out yet.

Thanks for checking.

[AmishR]

This is always fun.. i am still all paranoid.

[Rebellionelite]

Can we get a poll for people with transmission/clutch problems

[chramiji]

I think I either need new bearings or a new transmission. It makes a squeaky grinding noise, dealer/VWoA replaced clutch and flywheel. Same noise still present. Not. Happy.

[MKVdemon]

Squeaky?? How so? More details

[mintzert]

I am not sure my problems are related to yours, however it has happened to me at least 6 or seven times over the last two months. Ocassionally when I attempt to shift into 6th gear, (under normal/casual driving) it seems like I am not shifting it all the way into gear. I have thought it was because I may have been a little lazy, and merely didn't exert enough positive pressure but I have never experienced this problem with any other manual transmission. Have about 5k miles on my car. Other than that, I don't seem to be experiencing any of the other symptons. Certainly doesn't happen all the time and I will be more conscious of it now. Anyone experience anything similar?

[B0000rt]

Wow, so all that scratching noises coming from my clutch/transmission aren't because I've only been driving stick for a week?!

[Sales@DBCPerformance]

Golf R Sachs Performance Kits I think just the clutch disc itself will do it.

[blefevre]

I finally gave in. I have a service appt this Saturday.

Anything over 3,000 rpm I have noticeable squeaking/grinding in the clutch pedal. Even happens in neutral...rev it over 3k and push the clutch in and it is still there. Now coming to a stop in first gear, while still in gear, produces noticeable whine where before there was none. Hopefully the dealer is co-operative or I will find a different one.

I will keep this updated with what they say/do.

[DaLeadBull]

I posted this in the manual transmission forum:


Originally Posted by DaLeadBull
"The other question I have is reverse. When I'm starting off, when I push the clutch in and try to put it in reverse, it won't go in smoothly (a lot of rubbing), so I have to reset to neutral and try again. Then it'll slip in smoother, if I repeat this over and over again it gets a lot smoother."

Answer:
"That's a problem. Select 1st gear while stopped, keep the clutch pedal depressed, then once in 1st, pull it out of 1st and immediately select reverse.
It might help stop the rubbing (grinding) when you select reverse.
This is not a fix or cure, it is a band-aid solution."

Originally Posted by DaLeadBull
"Is this hesitation to go into gear normal? This happens in 1st too but not to the same degree."

Answer:
"Not normal at all.
You have a clutch issue. The clutch is not disengaging the trans from the engine as it should when you depress and hold the clutch pedal down.
The result is that the input shaft of the trans is continuing to rotate even with the clutch pedal depressed. This is wrong, it should stop fully. With it spinning, when you select reverse, you are sliding a small idler gear into the input shaft reverse teeth... and since the shaft is spinning, you get grinding when selecting reverse.

This will tear the idler gear up inside the trans.
You need to have the clutch looked at... it might be something as simple as a cable adjustment, it might be something at the clutch parts, but if reverse grinds on selection, it is clutch-related 99% of the time.
The only other reason for reverse to grind would be selection when the car is moving. The car has to be 100% stationary, no movement at ALL, before selecting reverse.
Sooo... if you're 100% stopped and reverse grinds on selection, it is the clutch.

1st-5th gears have brass synchronizer rings that work to create friction and will fight the clutch, so the 1-5 gears are easier to select without grinding. Reverse has no sync ring, so if the shafts are moving in the trans when you select it, you get grinding.

If it is grinding on selection in 1st, that means the clutch is dragging (staying engaged) pretty badly, and you should have it looked at as soon as possible to prevent any internal trans damage... until then, try to limit the use of reverse. You can start the car in 1st with the clutch depressed to help limit grinding in 1st until the clutch is sorted. The band-aid solution above will help until you can get the clutch taken care of."

Do any of you have a problem similar to mine and do you think it's a clutch issue?

[chramiji]

Well it sounds like rubbing metal most apparent at 6 gear about 35 mph. Tomorrow VWoA will check it out to see if they will approve new trans and diff. Kinda scared of hearing that because I'll lose my car for another month or two, meaning... I only had my car for 2 months in my possession out of the 3 so far.

[pierovw]

I am bringing this thread back to life because I've been having a weird sound in my stick shift. When I wiggle it in neutral it makes a really weird sound and sometimes when driving it hard it's a little bit harder to shift into third or downshift from 5th to 4th.

Here's the sound I was talking about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--XWW...ature=youtu.be

[Atl-Atl]

Currently having a new clutch pedal assembly installed after experiencing a strange pop/click from the pedal, after the initial "free play/travel" at the top. Apparently the piece that the pedal pushes into the master cylinder does not fit properly into the pedal - perhaps someone grabbed the wrong part when putting my car together.

Service assures me that my clutch is currently OK...

UPDATE: I got my car back a couple weeks ago, and the clutch pedal assembly had been replaced (not sure how much or just a part of it). Popping/clicking is gone, and the pedal feels a lot more "normal." There is still a little vibration in the pedal, but very little - I think it's the "normal" level of vibration? No work was done on my clutch, was assured it's still good. Will see when I go in for my first service in about a month to get them to confirm everything.

One thing I do still notice is the excessive clutch noise. If I let the revs drop and jump off the clutch, there's definitely clatter/clicking sounds from the transmission/clutch area. If I feather off, there is no sound. I've read that this seems to be the norm for our cars, but just wanted to document it here anyway. I typically feather off the clutch when shifting, so it's not an issue anyway.

I have the EXACT same issue with the pop/click in my clutch pedal, directly after the first inch or two of free play. I took a close look at the pedal assembly while depressing the clutch and it's clear that there's a white plastic clip/insert in the clutch pedal that is not fitting as it should.

I will be taking my car in soon and have this looked at. I spotted a post by a GTI owner in another forum who complained of the exact same issue. He even took a video of it:



I took delivery of my Golf R 6/9.

So I took my car in for its 10K service today@10,503 miles to be exact. My build date is 12/11, took delivery 3/12 with about 180 miles on the car. I have never had the hard shifting/wont go into gear issues. I DO however have the noisy clapping/weird noises issues a lot of other people seem to have. I have also been having the "clicking" noise in the clutch pedal assembly. The tech definitely knew something was wrong. Thankfully there was a brand new Golf R on the lot he could drive to compare the two clutches. He agreed my car was definitely worse than stock. He ordered some parts to replace so I will be taking my car back in a few days when the parts arrive. I'm not sure exactly what he ordered but I will be showing him and my service advisor this post for reference. I will follow up on this post so people know what the tech does to fix the issue. If possible I would greatly appreciate you guys posting up or PMing me the name of your dealership/service writer/technician so I can relay the legitimate info to my guys and get my car fixed correctly the first time. Thanks

[Diocletian]

This concerns me for 2 reasons:

1) This will be my first manual car(I have my reasons for waiting so long) so my shifts will not be perfect for a while causing quicker wear on the tranny anyway.

2) The MY I was about to purchase is a 2012 that has been sitting on the lot for over 4 months. I'm trying to get a build date for it now.

I've been hearing a few issues about this car, which when the car is rare is not good odds I think.

[mcoccia]

Guys,

I have 2013 with only 800 miles on her. Picked her up at end of July.

I experienced all the symptoms everybody else has but not as severe and started at 100 miles on the clock. The biggest problem I had was a shudder via the clutch pedal & through the car as you started in reverse and everything else starting manifesting quite rapidly. My local dealer did nothing to help me when I drove in there @ 200 miles. Mike from Linden VW got in touch with me and sent me to thier service dept which was about an hour ride for me. Just spoke to Chris & Rick and they are ordering a Flywheel and Complete Clutch assembly. The main source of the issue seems to be the flywheel in my car. Speaking with Chris & Rick there must be an issue and VW is aware of it....all I know. I was told it will be 2 weeks before the parts are here, apparently there is a newer flywheel revision....don't quote me on that though.




I will post more info once the repair is done


UPDATE**** 9/7/2012

I had a defective Dual Mass Flywheel. Nothing wrong with the clutch or trans at this time.
Very happy with Linden VW, Chris, Rick & Mike (Tech) Treated me professionally and took care of the issue ASAP. I had dropped off the car in the morning and they were done by 5:00 P.M. Since they fixed the issue I decided to spend some more money there

Something else that I found funny is while checking out someone else had called them with a brand new R with the same symptoms....I see this being a issue globally as far as I am concerned.

[B0000rt]

Guys,

I have 2013 with only 800 miles on her. Picked her up at end of July.

I experienced all the symptoms everybody else has but not as severe and started at 100 miles on the clock. The biggest problem I had was a shudder via the clutch pedal & through the car as you started in reverse and everything else starting manifesting quite rapidly. My local dealer did nothing to help me when I drove in there @ 200 miles. Mike from Linden VW got in touch with me and sent me to Mike which was about an hour ride from me. Just spoke to Mike and they are ordering a Flywheel and Complete Clutch assembly. The main source of the issue seems to be the flywheel in my car. Speaking with Mike there must be an issue and VW is aware of it....all I know. I was told it will be 2 weeks before the parts are here, apparently there is a newer flywheel revision....don't quote me on that though.


This does not bother me though (Clutch issue). What bothers me, being a former Auto Tech I knew there was a issue with the Flywheel, Clutch & ETC and Flemington VW service manager did nothing to help me out except to say "they all see to do that". I am glad Mike @ Linden VW took me seriously and looked into the issue.


I will post more info once the repair is done

Wow, looks like this has nothing to do with "early builds" if there's a 2013 having this issue.

Good to know, I haven't heard a bad thing about Linden or even Douglas for that matter.

[usurpers26]

Yup, my build date is 11/11 and I'm over 11k in miles. Modded since ~1000 miles, everything is still smooth as silk.

Wow, looks like this has nothing to do with "early builds" if there's a 2013 having this issue.

Good to know, I haven't heard a bad thing about Linden or even Douglas for that matter.

[Thedude4bides]

I finally gave in. I have a service appt this Saturday.

Anything over 3,000 rpm I have noticeable squeaking/grinding in the clutch pedal. Even happens in neutral...rev it over 3k and push the clutch in and it is still there. Now coming to a stop in first gear, while still in gear, produces noticeable whine where before there was none. Hopefully the dealer is co-operative or I will find a different one.

I will keep this updated with what they say/do.

Update????

[Sales@DBCPerformance]

Tuesday, the car started developing transmission issues.

1. Difficult to engage into first gear at start.
2. Impossible to engage into gear over 3000 rpm
3. when pedal pressed at any speed, revs would hang for a few seconds, and then drop.

Car had funky clutch feel from day one.

I dropped it at the dealership Tuesday. I know what is wrong, I have advised them, but will keep my judgement for later as to not speculate. I am sure they will figure it out soon.

[mcoccia]

Tuesday, the car started developing transmission issues.

1. Difficult to engage into first gear at start.
2. Impossible to engage into gear over 3000 rpm
3. when pedal pressed at any speed, revs would hang for a few seconds, and then drop.

Car had funky clutch feel from day one.

I dropped it at the dealership Tuesday. I know what is wrong, I have advised them, but will keep my judgement for later as to not speculate. I am sure they will figure it out soon.

Today is Saturday. So they had the car since Tuesday and still trying to figure it out?

I was told when a R comes in they are to call Tech Line immed and describe the customer issues/concerns. Supposedly we are to get special treatment. I am sure that was a BS line to make the customer feel good.

[Sales@DBCPerformance]

Today is Saturday. So they had the car since Tuesday and still trying to figure it out?

I was told when a R comes in they are to call Tech Line immed and describe the customer issues/concerns. Supposedly we are to get special treatment. I am sure that was a BS line to make the customer feel good.

this afternoon i got a call, they are telling me transmission is coming out of the car and apart as per VWoA.

[SoNgMaN]

ARGH,

I was at the drag strip at the start of august and "missed" 3rd at least 5 times.

going to take the car in and see what they say.

[riderbmx4]

13k since i picked her up jan29 n tuned 4/23 and no issues thus far. Just a slight whirling feeling in the clutch when rev matching sometimes. I could be wrong

[Tightlines]

I am experiencing a rough feeling and sounding clutch when depressing during mi-high rpm shifts. If I am cruising and shifting low, there is no issue.

I live quite a long way from a dealership, but called to report the issue. They are going to call me back after reading what VW has to say. This sucks! I will likely need to make multiple long distance trips to get some kind of service to this brand new car.

I already had to get new breaks in the rear.

[-YZ-]

Guys, VW is NOT going to replace ANY engine or tranny part with some aftermarket stuff. If they do, they're probably not supposed to be as they're unable to warranty anyone else's stuff. That said, why would you go out and spend money already on aftermarket clutch's when you just dumped 38k on a brand new car is beyond me... not to mention install charges. Silly. Just let VW fix the problem 1st, if it's this widespread then just give them a bit to come up with a solution.

[BC R]

why would you go out and spend money already on aftermarket clutch's when you just dumped 38k on a brand new car is beyond me... not to mention install charges. Silly.

Well, to get better performance for tuned cars is the obvious answer. Also, 38k is not much these days. VW keeps making things cheaper by adding plastic wherever they can and by removing features. For example my 2010 TDI wagon had dash cubby, my R does not- how much did VW save there? My 2010 TDI wagon had a gas shock for the hood, new Jettas and Passats do not. When you install Diesel Geek short shifter you get a very good idea of what is going on internally too, like for example metal clips and metal parts from old shifters are now all in plastic and it makes you wonder how it all holds together. But hey, no more need for metal parts and bushings...

This makes me wonder what the next generation cars will be like when they keep promising savings. Will probably have to replace half the car upon delivery

[luckeydoug1]

That said, why would you go out and spend money already on aftermarket clutch's when you just dumped 38k on a brand new car is beyond me... not to mention install charges. Silly. Just let VW fix the problem 1st, if it's this widespread then just give them a bit to come up with a solution.

There is also the time and inconvenience to be considered. In my case in particular, brakes and suspension parts are upgraded when worn, and often before hand.

I would consider the replacement of the clutch no different from upgrading the fuel pump, wheels, tires or other parts. To my way of thinking, if they already have my car apart, and the OEM solution didn't get the job done, this is the perfect time to upgrade to a more heavy duty solution.

In some cases, I would agree with you, have them replace a failed part with OEM under warranty, but in the case of the clutch, I highly doubt that VW will come up with a good OEM solution to this one.

A good case in point would be the ridiculous brake situation on the Routans. Sure, VW will replace the rotors every 6K if necessary, but that could easily be 6 trips to the dealership under warranty (or is it 5). Anyway, had I kept my Routan past the 7K we owned it, I already had decided the first time my rotors crapped out, they were getting replaced with quality parts, not the Mopar crap that came on the vehicle. For me, my time has value. Just my thoughts, since you asked.

[-YZ-]

Ok, well apparently I ain't ballin' like the rest of y'all. Throw in a beater mk4 R to use while its in the shop too.