Thanks to the forum I found out what had gone wrong when my clutch pedal hit the floor with a clunk and stayed there.

I have fixed the broken weld on the pedal and after a 3 hour fight with the spring managed to reinstall the pedal assembly. The only problem I have, and it's a biggy, is that when the pedal failure occurred the white nylon end on the master cylinder arm came off. I tried pushing it back on before I reinstalled the pedal, but as it wouldn't go I thought that surely the amount of force required to depress the pedal against the master cylinder arm would make it just 'pop' back in. Oh dear, it doesn't.

Does anyone have any handy tips or hints on how to get the nylon piece back on? It's jolly frustrating.

All hints gratefully received.

You can probably do it by opening the bleed nipple on the clutch slave cylinder - That way, you're not trying to operate the clutch. When you put the pedal back on, it will stay down, but you should be able to pull it back up and it will work as normal.

You'll probably have to top up brake fluid too.

Thanks RK696 for the tip.

Unfortunately I think I might have not be quite clear enough. I just can't get the ball end of the actuator arm back into the white nylon holder. I'm starting to wonder if it is factory fitted to the arm, although it is shown as a separate part on the diagram the dealer gave me.

I know I shouldn't moan, but getting the simple problem sorted has to be one of the most challenging and time consuming bit of mechanics I've ever done. I wonder what the melting point of nylon is . . . ?

3 13mm nuts and the whole clutch pedal box comes out the car and you can see what your doing.

That's a good tip, thanks it'll certainly help with that demon spring.

I hate being beaten by a 3cm long piece of nylon. :'(

It has to go on the cylinder first then clip into the pedal.

I couldn't get it on the cylinder rod - I'm going to disassemble the lot again and then scream . .

I tried using a mole wrench to squeeze the rod in from the side, but it just flew straight through. Dozens of times. I can't get any leverage on it dead on to force it on.

I'm thinking I might have to get the car towed to the dealer - 20 miles away.

Ahhh, I get what you mean now.

just checking i have read the thread a few times and do you mean:

1 you can not get the small white plastic clip onto the clutch master cylinder pushrod

or

2 the clip is on the push rod and you are unable to get the rod into its little section of the clutch pedal.

It's the first one of those - I cannot get the small white nylon clip onto the master cylinder pushrod . .

I'm taking the day off from it today on account of the pain in my side from lying across the sill yesterday afternoon.

the easyest way to get it on the rod, it to boil the kettle and pour some of the hot water into a cup and drop the clip into the cup for a few minutes, and then try to clip it onto the rod, it shoud easly fit.

another hint on this repair

the big return spring that fits at the top of the pedal, compress that in a vice till a small as you can get it and with a couple of cable tie's slide them in tighten them up, remove the spring from the vice and it is easier to fit in place at the top of the pedal, with just a case of cutting the cable ties once the spring is in place.

they are a pain on the plus side if you bought a master cylinder ours come with the clip attatched already

Great tips, thanks.

I'll have another go tomorrow and let you know how it goes.

OK, progress report.

I thought I would start by removing the rest of the dashboard undertray (I'd already removed the lower part). After I worked out that I had to get the fuse box free to get at the light control panel to get that out to reach the last torx screw that bit all went swimmingly.

Then I thought that removing the whole assembly would make it easier to work on, so I removed the three 13mm bolts, but this did not free the pedal box assembly as the master cylinder was still firmly fixed to it. So I replaced the nuts and went ahead with the other tasks.

I removed the pedal again. Got the nylon clip out (as I had welded the broken tang all the way around that was a bit tricky) and turning to Cariffblue's handy hints, put it in a cup of boiling water for a couple of minutes. It expanded enough to make fitting it a doddle. So top tip there - I didn't realise that nylon was given to much expansion.

Next I threaded two cable ties through opposite sides of the outer coils of the spring assembly and compressed it in the jaws of my workmate. I secured the ties and released the clamp. It expanded a little, but it was easy to refit. Because the spring was not in place when I refitted the pedal to the pedal box it was easy to get the nylon clip into the pedal before I refitted the pivot bolt. The spring then slipped easily into the right place and I cut and removed the cable ties.

Everything works - so kudos and big thanks to Cardiffblue for the top tips.

The only issue that I have now is that the black plastic clip that has the tab on it to activate the switch attached to the pedal box is completely trashed and my dealer says that he can't get another one, at least not for several weeks. That said I don't actually know what the switch is for, since the car runs with no warning lights even with it disconnected. So for now I haven't put the switch back in.

Once again, big thanks for all the help. I wish I was more mechanically minded and could help others in the same way.

tell your dealer he's a tool, every dealer should carry numerous of these and they are available overnight from skoda if not, part number 1J2 721 332 A £2.63 inc vat. just nip to your local vw or audi dealer with the part number, we've never got less than 5 of these and the white clip

Thanks for that Mr 007.

And the switch does what? If you know, that is . .

And the switch does what? If you know, that is . .

The clutch pedal switch feeds into the ECU. When you press the clutch pedal to change gear, the fuelling is reduced momentarily to make gear changes smoother.

Aha! Thanks for that - I shall have to find someone who has one of the relevant bits and fit it.

Hey everyone, I've just done this job, ruined my back in the process. The tip for getting the white bit on using boiling water is brilliant, thanks to that man.

Question, I have no cable ties to fit the spring yet so have to drive the car, Is something going to break driving it without the spring? The pedal returns back up fine just a bit slower.

Thanks

Sorry to bring up this old post but I have got the exact same problem I have removed the pedal and brought a new pedal how much do you think a garage would charge me to have the work done if I supply the parts