Whilst towing my caravan I had to make a quick get away at a roundabout so a knob in a Golf GTi entering the roundabout at about 60mph didnt hit me, typically it was on an upwards incline so I had to slip the clutch abit so I didnt stall, everything seemed alright until I changed gear into third, the clutched slipped and the engine hit about 4500rpm without the car accelerating, I drove a further 80 miles ok and even had to do about 5 miles crawling in a que of traffic on the M1 mostly up hill without any drama's. Would this point to clutch being OK or is it the start of the end and a big repair bill, I have been told I probably shined up the clutch plates and that caused it to slip the once but now they have bedded back in and will be OK, does this sound plausable? Is there any way to check the clutch is OK?

Cheers

It's the start of a slippery slope downwards. It might not do it again when not towing, but once any serious grunt is needed with the box on the back, it's going to get worse & worse. This might sound like I am being accusing, but is the caravan of such a weight as to be safely pulled by the superb?

You never know - It might never do it again at all.

Whilst towing my caravan I had to make a quick get away at a roundabout so a knob in a Golf GTi entering the roundabout at about 60mph didnt hit me, typically it was on an upwards incline so I had to slip the clutch abit so I didnt stall, everything seemed alright until I changed gear into third, the clutched slipped and the engine hit about 4500rpm without the car accelerating, I drove a further 80 miles ok and even had to do about 5 miles crawling in a que of traffic on the M1 mostly up hill without any drama's. Would this point to clutch being OK or is it the start of the end and a big repair bill, I have been told I probably shined up the clutch plates and that caused it to slip the once but now they have bedded back in and will be OK, does this sound plausable? Is there any way to check the clutch is OK?

Cheers

Hi bryanp

Not the same vehical, but I had to reverse a 3500Kgs trailer up a hill, and I got to the stage where the clutch pedal was all the way up, but no drive at all, and a hell of a smell, I thought the clutch had given up compleatly but after cooling down (and the pedal felt funny) but drove all right and lasted a further 50K miles( I suspect it took some miles off the life of the clutch)

I sold the vehical and as far as I know its still on the same clutch, so I would not worry on what you did !

Radiotwo

It's the start of a slippery slope downwards. It might not do it again when not towing, but once any serious grunt is needed with the box on the back, it's going to get worse & worse. This might sound like I am being accusing, but is the caravan of such a weight as to be safely pulled by the superb?

You never know - It might never do it again at all.

My caravan MTPLM weight is 1400kg and the Superb 1.9tdi tow weight is 1600kg, even at the 85% rule its only 70kg over if I pack the caravan to its maximum weight,

The only test you can do yourself without stripping it is to feel for the bite as you come off it, and also on an open road get it in second gear at about 15 mph and floor it, if the rev counter bounces over and stays high without a speed increase then it's slipping, and finally, with the handbrake on and stationary come up on the clutch and feel where it bites, the longer the time it takes to bite the more worn the clutch will be.

Should be fine. Before Ross did the work on the estate, I pulled some things behind the PD100 5 speed at the time and it didnt do the clutch any favours at all. Badly slipped it a few times. Although it was a bit rough for a while it sorted itself out. I did several thousand miles on it after that without any problems.

I would have thought a single event like that will have used a bit of the clutch but not *that* much

Well it came back and bit me on the ****, cars in a clutch specialists today having a new clutch and flywheel, they are using a Luk clutch set who I beleive make the clutches for VW/Audi so happy with that,

not happy with the £700 bill. ouch!!!!!

Luk are excellent quality. They're one OE manufacturer for VAG.

Luk are excellent quality. They're one OE manufacturer for VAG.

bmw too

bmw too

How times change, I can remember back when 20k was about all you could expect from a LUK unit, used to be on par with Quinten Hazel ones.

How times change, I can remember back when 20k was about all you could expect from a LUK unit, used to be on par with Quinten Hazel ones.

I once bought a QH kit for a Mk1 Golf (cheaper than the LuK my local parts place suggested) and it was a Sachs unit in a QH box.

I seem to remember reading something like try to set off in either fifth or third, and if the clutch is not slipping, the engine will stall.

I guess the superb clutch is hydraulic so can't be a cable catching.

I seem to remember reading something like try to set off in either fifth or third, and if the clutch is not slipping, the engine will stall.

I guess the superb clutch is hydraulic so can't be a cable catching.

Yep. Put it in 4th, put the handbrake on, try to drive away. It should stall. Obviously don't slip it (or let it slip) too long or you'll cook it.

The way to test a clutch for slipping is to drive in as high a gear as possible with the engine at max torque speed and at max fuel. In practice, with UK speed limits in mind this will be at about 60 mph in 4th gear with your foot hard down on the accelerator.

Press the clutch pedal down carefully until the clutch just starts to slip (watch the tacho) and then instantly release it. The drive should fully take up immediately and the revs drop to their former value.

This is a hard test, so don't do it too often. I tow with my Superb and have noticed clutch fade on occasions - the linings get hot and their coefficient of friction reduces, thus limiting the torque capacity of the clutch. Slippage due to lining fade is fully recoverable when the clutch cools as long as you haven't damaged any parts through overheating. The clutches are rather marginal on these cars due to the very high torque output of the engine, so it's best not to abuse them.

Excessive clutch slippage will also cook the elastomeric centre of the DMF...

rotodiesel

Yep. Put it in 4th, put the handbrake on, try to drive away. It should stall. Obviously don't slip it (or let it slip) too long or you'll cook it.

This is how they tested mine, the guy put it in fifth and was able to drive 15' down the road and it didnt stall!

He showed me the clutch after the change and the friction plate was down to the rivets with about 2mm of material either side. the DMF which has a sprung loaded centre was set solid so where all the dust from the clutch had pentrated it, what a great design.

He reckons from his experience car manufacturers are slowly going back to solid flywheels, he also told me that clutches fitted to VW/Skoda are either Luk or Valeo.

Apparently Luk now supply 1 in 4 clutches fitted to cars worldwide as OE being the first clutch manufacturer in Europe to introduce the diaphragm spring clutch.