We had the clutch and flywheel changed a few months ago, and I was not aware of anything wrong with the car (the OH drives it to work and back) until I set off two weeks ago for Italy.

As soon as I joined the motorway, I noticed a bit of clutch slip after changing from fourth to fifth gear (not thrashing the car, but the revs rose without an increase in speed and then settled, then the car started to accelerate). This freaked me out a bit, because I knew the journey which lay ahead of us, including some very hilly sections. Over the course of the holiday the clutch slip happened frequently but did not get worse. It does not happen in 1st, 2nd or 3rd gears, but happens in 4th and 5th sometimes, even with gentle acceleration. It seems as though the clutch and flywheel are not quite mating as they should and then come together to transfer the power.

I am going to contact the garage who fitted the clutch, and also the manufacturer, but I wanted to see if anyone else has had this problem, and whether it is clutch/flywheel related or maybe the fault of the release bearing (the clutch pedal does not feel like any other car I have driven, but having said that, it does pull away nicely and is almost impossible to stall).

Thanks,

Andy

Sounds to me like the slave cylinder is sticking on the quicker gear changes in the higher gears .

... but having said that . . . is almost impossible to stall).

Thanks,

Andy

Well, being impossible to stall is a sign of a slipping clutch. A good strong clutch bite will make stalling quite easy. Try pulling away from standstill in 3rd. If you can without stalling then clutch is slipping.

Just a quick update on this, as I am driving the car today. I had a word with the company who supplied the kit (Darkside Developments), and they have said that it could be down to oil contamination, or possibly the new clutch had not been bedded in properly because we were doing mostly motorway driving.

The car is due in for MOT on November 13th, so I want to get this sorted out ASAP. The guy who does my servicing and MOTs is ex VAG, but he did not fit the clutch. Is there any way that he can check for oil contamination whilst doing the MOT (leak from crankcase seal possibly?), or could the contamination have been cause when the new clutch was fitted, by not thoroughly dgreasing everything.

I am wondering which route I should take, because this will only get worse (although you can drive the car like a petrol to get around it a bit).

Is the fact that the diesel engine is producing maximum torque around 2000RPM a contributory factor here, because the clutch slip still seems to happen on motorways, when you have to ease off and then accelerate again - I now change down to 4th and boot it.

Andy

Did you ever try going in 5th at 60-70km/h and floor it.

If it slips, even in forth, is the disk itself that need to be changed because of the usage.

I would leave it on until it also does it on lower gears, On my frenchy it got to the point that even in first did it.

It´s dificult to notice as the rpm climbs fast, and as the engines torque is way less than if in 4th or 5th,that´s why you notice sliping at higher gears.

Yet another update.

I had the car MOT'd yesterday, and it passed with flying colours, but the ex VAG mechanic who does the servicing and MOT's for all my cars past and present, said this about the clutch:

It is the worst "new" clutch that he has ever seen. The slipping is really bad in 4th and 5th gears, the clutch pedal is really heavy (this is my first Octavia, so I wasn't aware of that, only that it was a lot heavier than my 12 year old Mondeo's), and the clutch release is noisy and is making a bad "graunching" noise.

I have mentioned both the slipping and the clutch release noise/feel to both the supplier of the clutch/flywheel kit (who were very helpful), and today phoned the garage who fitted it. The garage have simply said that if I want it fixing, then I will have to pay the fitting charge again!

I now require help from you guys as to the best way I approach this, because the car has only done 7000 miles on this replacement clutch and it looks as though the replacement clutch/flywheel/release bearing is scrap.

The clutch will still be under warranty and you shouldn't be paying anything at all.

The clutch will still be under warranty and you shouldn't be paying anything at all.

Thanks for your reply Stormchaser, because I am really seething/gutted/peed off about this situation.

The garage are saying that because I purchased the clutch (they are now saying that they were not really happy fitting it, even though they said nothing at the time), I will have to pay for them to take it apart and refit it. The supplier - Darkside Developments (who supply plenty of these conversions for VAG vehicles), have been very fair, saying that they can send me a replacement unit and not charge me (they will put in a warranty claim on the old unit). I however need to have the new kit fitted, and my problems are:

Do I want the same garage down here to fit it, and pay the same fitting charges again

If I take this route, do I trust their workmanship?

How do I tell if the garage degreased everything correctly, or that the clutch release bearing which the garage supplied (as a replacement for the one which was damaged by Royal Mail in transit) was up to the job/correct?

I don't see why I should have to pay anything for this, as the clutch is definitely on its way out after only 7000 miles use, and in 30 years of driving, this is the first ever clutch replacement I have had on any vehicle.

Andy

Throwing this into the ring: Could Darkside not fit it for you?? not sure on your location though.

Seems like a faulty clutch alright.

Throwing this into the ring: Could Darkside not fit it for you?? not sure on your location though.

Seems like a faulty clutch alright.

Well, I am now considering this option, because although they charge about £150 for the fitting, they are based in Barnsley, Yorkshire and I am in Kent - a round trip of about 440 miles I reckon, so three quarters a tank of diesel. I could be up there and back in a day if it all went well, but I amstill not happy with the response from the garage who fitted the unit.

Andy