fabia vrs gear selection problems

[bertieboy]

Been back to 2nd skoda dealer after unconvincing visit to 1st dealer regarding gear selection and they couldnt find anything wrong. I used the clutch going backwards and forwards and managed to get the problem to re-occur and they decided a new clutch is needed after only owning the car for less than 2 months. The car had done 18000 miles when i bought it and was stuggling with the gears not long after that. It has now done 23000. Has said that they see very few vrs in with clutch problems. They say that clutch is not covered by warranty unless it has a fault with it which by the sound of it is unlikely. Have quoted just under 500.00 pound to replace as well ! They said to try customer care but have said it is very unlikely to get any compensation back. Very fed up about all this so not sure what to do next. Have got few quotes from more local garages and have got prices nearer to the 300.00 mark. Any suggestions gladly accepted?

[giandougl]

Been back to 2nd skoda dealer after unconvincing visit to 1st dealer regarding gear selection and they couldnt find anything wrong. I used the clutch going backwards and forwards and managed to get the problem to re-occur and they decided a new clutch is needed after only owning the car for less than 2 months. The car had done 18000 miles when i bought it and was stuggling with the gears not long after that. It has now done 23000. Has said that they see very few vrs in with clutch problems. They say that clutch is not covered by warranty unless it has a fault with it which by the sound of it is unlikely. Have quoted just under 500.00 pound to replace as well ! They said to try customer care but have said it is very unlikely to get any compensation back. Very fed up about all this so not sure what to do next. Have got few quotes from more local garages and have got prices nearer to the 300.00 mark. Any suggestions gladly accepted?

Hello,

Has the car got any sort of warranty, is it still valid ??

If yes, then you have a strong point that the fault was present when you bought the car at 18,000 miles.

You have not made it clear what exactly what the problem is, and the first garage could not detect a problem ?

Clutch troubles should not start (if vehicle driven correctly) until quite high mileage, certainly not at 23,000 miles.

It maybe down to gear-lever linkage or clutch pedal linkage, and not necessarily clutch at all.

If it does come down to clutch renewal, search for cheapest reputible garage, or if able DIY.

Good luck.

Ian. 21/03/2009

[bertieboy]

The car is an o7 plate vrs and has 18 months warranty left. After using the clutch after doing hill starts or manoeuvering the car backwards and forwards the gears are very difficult to engage and become very clunky if they go in at all. Went to 1st skoda dealer and they adjusted gear linkage but didnt seem to help much and 2 days later found an a4 sized piece of paper showing how to adjust gears which they had left under the bonnet! Thats why i have gone to 2nd dealer in the hope of a better outcome. I hope if i do have to have a new clutch it will last longer than 23000 next time.

[oilburninnut]

The car is an o7 plate vrs and has 18 months warranty left. After using the clutch after doing hill starts or manoeuvering the car backwards and forwards the gears are very difficult to engage and become very clunky if they go in at all. Went to 1st skoda dealer and they adjusted gear linkage but didnt seem to help much and 2 days later found an a4 sized piece of paper showing how to adjust gears which they had left under the bonnet! Thats why i have gone to 2nd dealer in the hope of a better outcome. I hope if i do have to have a new clutch it will last longer than 23000 next time.

its not the clutch at all,this seems to happen to quite a few vrs's,i have my own suspicions as to what the cause is but no real proof,mine also does this

[WaveyDavey]

This might be something similar to mine.......

It only occurs when stood in traffic when you are using the clutch a lot.

Whilst stood still you sometimes feel the clutch bite slightly as though you've raised the clutch pedal a little. If you release the brake the car will creep forward slightly too. If you then try and change gear it is very stiff again as though you've not got the clutch pedal fully down etc..... As soon as you put it in neutral and take your foot off then back on the clutch you can get it in gear straight away ok.

As i say it only seems to happen when stood in traffic etc.... and i maybe notice once a month or once every couple of months.

I'm sure i saw something on here ages ago about it being a problem on some vRS's and it relating to a faulty slave cylinder????? or something like that.

My warranty is up in just under 2 months so it's something i'm still toying with mentioning before the warranty is finished.

Cheers

Dave.

[devonutopia]

relating to a faulty slave cylinder????? or something like that.

That's what I was thinking, but my one is brand new, but is perhaps not suited to my car - It's the one which came with my spec clutch,

[oilburninnut]

This might be something similar to mine.......

It only occurs when stood in traffic when you are using the clutch a lot.

Whilst stood still you sometimes feel the clutch bite slightly as though you've raised the clutch pedal a little. If you release the brake the car will creep forward slightly too. If you then try and change gear it is very stiff again as though you've not got the clutch pedal fully down etc..... As soon as you put it in neutral and take your foot off then back on the clutch you can get it in gear straight away ok.

As i say it only seems to happen when stood in traffic etc.... and i maybe notice once a month or once every couple of months.

I'm sure i saw something on here ages ago about it being a problem on some vRS's and it relating to a faulty slave cylinder????? or something like that.

My warranty is up in just under 2 months so it's something i'm still toying with mentioning before the warranty is finished.

Cheers

Dave.

this is exactly the problem,and exactly my suspicion

[WaveyDavey]

lol glad it's not just me that's been pondering about it then....... It happens that infrequently to me (i do at least 80-90% motorway driving) that i'm in two minds to even mention it before the warranty runs out. It's not got any worse in the just under three years i've had the car etc....

Cheers

Dave.

[oilburninnut]

mines gradually becoming undrivable,might ring up this week i know it can't be the clutch cos its brand new

[ExAudiSi]

I had to change the master cyclinder on my 1.4 16v. I believe that there are known issues with the pedal dropping to the floor over night, which was the reason I changed mine. This could also lead to differences in the height of the pedal and so longer or shorter travel, not necessarily noticeable, but enough to prevent the clutch from disengaging fully when pressed in.

Might also be worth just bleeding the clutch hydraulics just incase there is any air in the system as a first step.

[oilburninnut]

I had to change the master cyclinder on my 1.4 16v. I believe that there are known issues with the pedal dropping to the floor over night, which was the reason I changed mine. This could also lead to differences in the height of the pedal and so longer or shorter travel, not necessarily noticeable, but enough to prevent the clutch from disengaging fully when pressed in.

Might also be worth just bleeding the clutch hydraulics just incase there is any air in the system as a first step.

i did this a couple of weeks ago and topped it up,seemed to make the problem worse:eek: I think i will let skoda deal with it as its still under warrenty:D

[dxg]

I have this issue - 1st and second are really hard to select when the car's been sitting in cold temps overnight. 5th sometimes won't go into 6th onh the m/way. 2nd alwasy crashes in when the box is cold, and the clutch shudders preety violently whyehn cold (I have video of this somewhere...)

Dealer has agreed to replace the gear change cables incase water is getting into the tubes and freezing overnight. Unfortunately, the agreed to do that mid-Jan and I haven't had time to take it in (workload!)

They also talked about splitting the gearbox to see if something is up (are 1st and 2nd on the same selector?) but have said "it would never be the same, and a dealer could tell the box has been apart)...

They have given the "they all do that" to the clutch shudder issue...

Shame it's getting warm again and my warranty runs out at the end of the summer, as these problems really only happen when it's cold...

:(

[bertieboy]

Well im sorry to hear that there are other people with simular issues. Other than this gear selection problem and the famous stutter which im getting sorted asap the car is great.

[Confused_Cheese]

When cold I find first and second notchy, second especially.

Several times I couldn't get the car into first or reverse at all when it was warm... after 40 mins country driving. I couldn't seem to replicate it in any particular way, even moving back and forth repeatedly just made changes slightly stiffer.

I had gearbox linkage adjusted which didn't fix the notchy changes... I had a new clutch fitted (old one was fine apparently but replaced anyway as it was out) didn't sort it. after that I had a gearbox oil change and it made the shifts a little better, but still notchy. I've not had a problem engaging first/reverse again seems to of been either cured or kept at bay.

Funny thing is the 3 garages that looked at it said it was fine, although it never felt that way when I first got the car??

[dxg]

Here's mine doing its thing:

YouTube - shudder

It's worth watching to the end - there's a massive one there.

[Confused_Cheese]

Here's mine doing its thing:

YouTube - shudder

It's worth watching to the end - there's a massive one there.

My vrs definitely does not do that!

[WaveyDavey]

Nope mine doesn't do that!!!!! :eek::eek::eek:

Cheers

Dave.

[NFox]

I too have the slightly notchy first and second, mainly first thing in the morning as its cold, once its warm though its normally fine.

Don't get any shudders though like in the video!

[Mattcooper79]

I had the clutch master cylinder changed under warranty with no arguments what so ever from the dealer.

They said they couldnt find the fault but it was a matter of safety and they changed it as a precuation.

[KenONeill]

I'm thinking that most of these sound like linkage, or slave cylinder.

[ernienewman]

I've got a Fabia vrs se, which sometimes will not go into reverse after the engine has warmed up. Other gears are a bit notchy, but no real problem.

My dealers have tightened the linkage, but told me straightaway that this hasn't solved the problem. I'm impressed that they haven't fobbed me off, and my car is booked in to have the gearbox dismantled (the car is still under warranty, thank goodness!).

Can anyone say more about the problem possibly being a 'slave' or 'master' cylinder instead, as mentioned in earlier postings?

[KenONeill]

You know these cars have hydraulic clutch actuators? If so, then the slave cylinder is the one that actually moves the release fork, and the master is the one that is moved by your foot on the pedal.

As a workaround, if the change balks into reverse, try selecting first and easing up slightly on the pedal, but not enough that the car moves, then selecting reverse.

[ernienewman]

Just to follow on from my 'thank you', the temporary technique worked when I couldn't get into reverse this evening. I had only driven about a mile at the time. So I'm very grateful.

There's just one question I have (excuse my ignorance): does the success of the technique indicate that the problem is definitely with the slave cylinder, rather than anything else?

[KenONeill]

Maybe.

It indicates that the problem is either clutch drag (which could be caused by a faulty hydraulic cylinder, and the slave usually goes first, but if it's gone then the master will probably go in a few months [you learn these things with enough experience]), or the reverse gear teeth meeting tooth to tooth rather than tooth to slot (the trick works by jogging the input shaft in the gearbox. round a few degrees, so that the reverse teeth don't block on each other). There's a good illustration of a permanently meshed gearset here - Gear ratio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that might make this make more sense.

[ernienewman]

Many thanks, KenONeill, for your helpful advice and link.

Apart from this problem (and an intermittent malfunction of cruise control - a minor irritation), I've been really happy with this car. I had a couple of Mercs before, but I prefer my vrs as it's got character by the spadeful. Every journey is a treat.

I hope that you enjoy your Skoda too.

Thanks again.