capriman

Can I bump this guys? Update. Got a clutch and a slave. Was going to have the. Fitted today but my mechanic has injured his arm so said he could only do the slave. Now the clutch has started slipping more and more often to the point it acts up Most days now but it’s still not acting like a worn out friction plate! An example… pulled off a roundabout the other day and once I engaged third it slipped fairly badly so I backed off the traffic ahead and let the revs drop right off to about 1400 way off turbo and floored it, and as soon as the low torque kicked in about 1700 rpm it slipped but not quite as bad, repeated again and only slight slipping, by the 4th time no slipping at all. Approached next roundabout and had to use the clutch and again it slipped but after 3 or 4 eases off on the gas and accelerations, the slipping vanished. Had new slave fitted today and it’s still the same. The car has had a new master about a year ago. Now I know it’s due a clutch as it’s done 226k miles and never had one but I’m now concerned that I replace the clutch and I end up destroying it because somehow the clutch isn’t deactivating properly. Someone help please as it’s now driving me to distraction! P.s: it’s a 5 Speed green line so will have a solid flywheel. Thanks in advance

Thanks both. The fact it’s a solid flywheel means the job comes in at around £400 which is far better than the alternative! Given the age and mileage of the car it’s the difference between being a viable repair and binning the car. I’ll monitor it but looking to get a new clutch in before the really bad weather sets in. Thanks again.

Thanks for the reply. Ok this all started back in February. I was driving in monsoon like rain with lots,of flooding and the clutch was slipping in third and forth gear between 2000-3000 rpm where the most torque is but once the clutch actually grabbed it would drive fine. Once it was cruising or didn’t really force the acceleration it drove fine. I was on fast A roads so limited gear changes necessary. The car is high miles and has never had a clutch and the pedal is right near the top so I know it’s not got a lot of life in it. Anyway, a short while later I joined the motorway and gave it some heavy throttle up the slip road and it didn’t slip. It then didn’t slip again for a month or two. This same scenario has now played out 4 times since. It will slip in third and forth under fairly robust acceleration but then is fine a while later, sometimes it will sort itself while being driven and other times it seems better after being left overnight. I’ve never got it to slip in first or second gear. The squeak is only as the pedal goes down or up, it’s a function of the pedal movement, not a rotating squeak. My guess is the clutch is well worn and just sometimes something in the actuation is sticking just enough to allow the clutch pressure plate to not quite exert enough pressure to clamp fully. Does that help any more?

Hi, Driving around 8 months ago in some torrential rain, the clutch started slipping on the car. That’s it I thought but half an hour later it was fine. I just put it down to some water ingress into the clutch maybe. It continued to be fine for some months and one day out of the blue it started slipping again, and lo and behold half an hour later it was fine again. It did it again a month or so again and then today it started slipping again but on the run up the road from the supermarket I hoofed it in third and forth and it was fine again. Total mileage between first occurrence and now, minimum of 10,000 miles so it’s clearly not a worn out friction plate as it would have just died long ago. In between the first instance and now I did think the clutch had failed completely but turned out to be the master cylinder which has been replaced. The is a squeaky noise as I depress the pedal however, a bit like a squeaky door hinge. Pedal feels ok although perhaps a smidgen heavier than otjer cars I’ve driven. Any ideas? I’m tempted to bang a clutch in it when my mechanic gets back offf holiday in a couple of weeks as it’s done 210,000 and I believe it’s never had a clutch. So next question. According to my parts suppliers and also checked with euro car parts, they are only listing a normal clutch kit as they are saying it’s a solid flywheel? It has stop/start facility. Is there any way of checking? I’m tempted if it’s a DM to throw a conversion on it due to the cost of the flywheel and clutch otherwise on such a high miles and ageing car. Any thoughts or help welcome. I can supply reg. or chassis number if needed. Thanks

And as if by magic, a week later it’s resolved itself. Dash all working correctly and power steering light staying extinguished.

Hi guys, an update on this issue and some more help required please….. after the advice about the immobiliser I decided not to chance my luck putting in another cluster and having to pay to have it coded up as the issue was minor and an irritation rather than anything else. Anyway, as seems often the case with fabia electrics it just sorted itself out and went away! Roll forward a few months to now and I have more issues that must surely be linked. a bit about the car and other issues first as they might just be linked so I’d rather give more information and it be superfluous than neglect to mention something that might help…… I bought the car and it stood unused for a year. On coming to use it the n/s windows wouldn’t work, an issue that just sorted itself out intermittently then permanently over time. Also an alternator issue was sorted with a new alternator but to this day the exciter wire isn’t working so I just have to remember to give it a little Rev at the start of each journey to make sure the alternator is kicked into life. The power steering light has periodically failed to extinguish on start up but turning off the ignition and restarting always sorted it. Recently I changed lots of suspension components and a wheel bearing resulting in one broken ABS sensor….. I’ve got a new one but so busy with work I’ve not had chance to fit it but since then the power steering light would only extinguish if I turned the ignition on then waited for all the warning lights to go out before starting the car. It’s now struggling to extinguish at all and my trip when the ignition is on shows 0000 with the first zero flashing and with the ignition off, the clock is whizzing along, counting up a minute every half a second or so. Any clues? thanks in advance.

Hi guys, I had an issue with the aux belt tensioner failing repeatedly. Only thing that cured it was changing the alternator so can only assume it was periodically jamming and causing enough instant tension to snap the tensioner. Anyway, with that resolved I now have another issue. The new alternator won’t charge until I rev it to 2500rpm. Once I’ve revved it, that’s it it’s charging until I turn the engine off. I’ve a cigarette lighter phone charger that shows the voltage. It circa 12.9v until I rev it then it’s around 14v. The alternator is a recon and I had no such issues previously so I’ve been nagging the reconditioners to replace it but tonight I did some googling and I’m now wondering if there may be another issue here so looking for advice/help. i just popped the key in the ignition and noted I have no battery light! I’d never even noticed this. I read up about the alternator needing to get excited to kick in and the wire that does this also gives the dash battery light..... is that correct, and if so what colour wire is it? thanks in advance. oh, if anyone reading this, remember my issues with the passenger side window and mirrors adjuster..... well it just started being less of a problem then fixed itself of its own accord. Also the dash not clearing the inspection messages or letting me zero the trip or change the clock, that became less of an issue then cured itself too! #fabiagremlins

We are just talking about the instruments behind the steering wheel yes? I recall the issue before was a failed speedo. I just got another set of clocks and changed them. Adjusted the odometer with VAG401 so they were correct and all was fine.

Are you sure as I’ve done this before with no issues. Well, I say no issues, I wasnt aware of any as the car still started and ran ok and everything appeared to work ok.

Thanks guys, I’ll pick up a cluster from the local scrappy.

Just noticed tonight that turning the ignition off, reveals the trip which reads zero miles even after a journey.

Hi guys, ive both the oil and insp messages on my dash (2003 SDI comfort estate) and they refuse to reset using the conventional methods. The oil service appears to reset giving a line of dashes using the usual method but then the insp will not set and the oil one reappears. I’ve even used the VAG401 to reset it (it resets it thinking the car is a polo) and the dash clears the oil sign and the trip is displayed (at zero) instead but as soon as I turn off the ignition and turn it back on the oil and insp messages are back. They also never stop displaying while driving which is not usual either. any help?

Thanks for the reply. I came to a similar conclusion so bought a recon alternator with a new clutched pulley, new belt and tensioner. Touch wood it seems ok although I still think there’s too much constant oscillating of the tensioner. There’s also an awful rattle from ‘somewhere down there’ that starts when it’s not been running for a couple of hours a second or two after the engine starts and then vanishes about 6 or 7 seconds later. Engine generally runs well with no other concerning noises so I’m wondering if the air on pump might be at fault too. baffling to be fair.

That’s the previous one. The damage on the lug on the first pic I think was done by a following car running over it.

Hi guys, I’ve a 2003 SDI comfort estate with air conditioning and the auxiliary belt tensioner snapped the other day. I’ve replaced it and less than a couple of hundred miles, the new one has snapped too. I’ve checked the air on pulley and alternator pulley and both are spinning freely. Sounds like a very momentary squeal from the belt before a bang and the tensioner rattles off under the car. I had an issue with this type of tensioner before and it was periodically breaking the securing bolt but this was traced to the overrun pulley on the altenator not working and the vibration over time was breaking the bolts but this looks different and seems to involve force and quite quickly. any clues?