I can't be sure of this, but here are the symptoms - what do you folks reckon;

- For months, occasionally when it started it sounded like a bag of spanners (a really harsh, knocking sound) - irrespective of if the engine was warm or cold. Switching on and off cured the problem instantly and the engine was smooth again.

- The last week or two I have detected a very slight vibration (more of a steady pulsing vibration rather than a jack-hammer) through the steering wheel on gentle-moderate acceleration.

- Today was the final (and rather more dramatic) incident - slowly (yes, slowly!) accelerating to about 60mph on the duel carriageway, I suddenly could hear a very loud deep rumbling/rattling sound (but quite a high frequency), I was in 4th at the time. I eased off and the sound quitened down quite a bit. I slowly tried to accelerate and it came back again, so I popped my hazards on and coasted to a stop where the road widened in the 30mph. At idle (in neutral), there was a loud rattling noise from the engine, a metallic but 'solid' sound, like someone very irregularly, but quickly, tapping the engine with a hammer. Dipping the clutch caused the sound to mostly go away.

I was about to arrange to get the car towed away to discover I'd left my mobile in the office (doh!) so decided to see if I could coax the car gently back home so I could get my bike. Well, upon starting all was well again. I nevertheless still was very very gentle all the way home, not straying about 45mph or so, but it went through all the gears fine including reverse and there was no noise at idle.

Does anyone have any thoughts? Can the DMF be intermittent like this (maybe if the plates are loose and 'catch' in a certain way or something? My knowledge of clutches is somewhat limited)?

Bit of extra info - the car is on 130,000 miles and is on the original clutch still.

Cheers.

Seeing as no one else has replied, I thought I would

With my limited knowledge and experience from reading this forum for 5 years, and from looking around with similar questions after a recent diesel car purchase, it does sound like a knackered DMF.

IMO if you're on 130,000 miles it might be worth considering an SMF conversion to save yourself £100s. There are a couple of recent posts regarding this so have a search.

Hope this helped

yep sounds like dmf. I had same behaviour on my VW Polo 6N years ago.

there are indeed smf conversions which are cheaper (and won't break again normally), I've paid about 1000€ for my Polo (clutch and flywheel, without VAT, fitted by someone I knew), for a conversion kit this would be around 700 to 800€ (including VAT, fitted by an motorsport workshop - Belgian prices though).. if I've only knew that at the time :-(

Dont the SMF conversions on diesels cause a lot of vibration/clatter at idle?

Cheers all - speaking to others today, that's the same conclusion that is being drawn too.

Dan - yes, that's true from what I can gather, but it's just a cosmetic issue and for the sake of a reliable flywheel, I really don't mind.

One of my friends had a SMF fitted to his Fabia vRS and personally I couldn't live with the clattering that it made. If you can find someone who has had one fitted have a listen before you spend any money.

Yeah I am aware it's pretty loud, but only an issue when in neutral with the clutch out - not something I do very often as I'm rarely in heavy traffic for very long (and rarely in heavy traffic full stop!). I've listened to some youtube videos too (searching SMF tdi - throws up some Fabia vRS videos in the first results interestingly) and while it is noisy, I can live with it I reckon.

Cheers for the heads-up, though.

Ok, you try it first and report back

I sometimes get an odd vibration through the car when I put my foot down in a high gear, so I have a suspicion that all may not be well with my DMF either. As I say if it sounds like Jon's Fabia did, I couldn't put up with it, much the same as I think that Ducattis at tick over sound like someone has left their spanners in the engine :S

Ok, you try it first and report back

I sometimes get an odd vibration through the car when I put my foot down in a high gear, so I have a suspicion that all may not be well with my DMF either. As I say if it sounds like Jon's Fabia did, I couldn't put up with it, much the same as I think that Ducattis at tick over sound like someone has left their spanners in the engine :S

Well, the SMF was fitted today. Very slight increase in noise at idle in neutral (with the clutch out), but barely detectable (probably only because I was listening for it!). Maybe the non-PD engines are quieter for some reason when fitted with an SMF? Or maybe it's a feature of the 5-speed gearbox that has a less 'chattery' idler gear compared with the 6-speed 'boxes? No idea, but it's not a problem on mine.

Result

How much is the conversion?

(if you don't mind me asking)

The conversion came in at just under £600, which is favourable compared with a stock replacement of the clutch.