Clutch advice

Afternoon all - I got pointed towards you as a bunch of knowledgeable people, so hope you can give me a hand.

After our old MkI Octy got trounced by an oncoming trailer in the wrong lane at Christmas we bought a second hand Mk2 (05 plate, 1.9 TDi estate). It's done a lot of miles but in otherwise good nick. The clutch at the time of purchase was quite firm, with a very sharp bite point. The guy selling it (trade seller, bought from auction) and I both reckoned it had a relatively new clutch in it, although paperwork is lacking.

Over the next 3 months or so the clutch loosened down a bit. On a motorway drive last month I came to a roundabout and while decelerating discovered the clutch was not behaving nicely - I couldn't change down from 5th to 2nd without a little brute force. Accelerating away from the roundabout the gear changes up were ok, although 'firm'. Drove the remaining 40 miles of motorway, and nursed it home. Clutch seemed to be behaving better.

Next day, it seemed to be fine.

Now to today - partner did short hop into work but when parking suddenly couldn't change gear. Got the recovery guy out who pumped it a few times, has apparently checked the hydraulic fluid and says it's all fine and working. He also agrees it's a new clutch. Thinks there's a chance it's just a very light clutch and in both cases we might have accidentally ridden it and it overheated :think: .

It seems to work fine, although partner is describing it as 'spongy'

I know the (very) basics of car mechanics but I'll be the first to put my hand up and say I'm far from an expert.Should I get it looked at? Is it worth bleeding the hydraulic system anyway? Or was I just a numpty riding the clutch on that occasion. seems odd though as partners drive into work is only about 15 minutes, and she doesn't think she was riding it either.

Any advice gratefully received!

Edited 29 April, 201313 yr by OrbitalPete