All,

Following much deliberation and many Briskoda threads. I took the plunge and had a SMF conversion using the well respected Valeo 4 Piece Kit.

The car in question my 2005 1.9 Octavia 155k bought and driven by me since 2009/ 28k. I always knew something was wrong with the DMF especially the vibration when under stress and driving off from being stationary. Well 120k later I have given in as I felt it was getting worse on my mainly motorway driving if stuck in traffic.

Immediately on driving it away I noticed a clutch judder very pronounced but only on anything up hill. I.e. not level ground. The higher the incline the worse the judder.

The engine mountings are not gone. The gearbox mount that although in my mind has some movement also is not a sign of needing replacing.

This has been visually confirmed by a mechanic.

I called Valeo and they have asked me to run it in for at least 3k before raising any claim. With my kind of driving this should be more like 6k as I hardly use the clutch. 96 miles of a one way commute of which 5 miles is local or A roads.

At present I am not going to make any changes despite the temptation to put a diesel dogbone mount insert in from Powerflex.

I throw this out to all converted people to let me know if anyone has been affected the same

TBH if I have to do anything it will be straight back to a DMF as that's what's recommended for this car. I doubt I will see another clutch kit in this cars life.

Cheers

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I wouldn't jump to conclusions about the SMF conversion just yet. There have been lots of successful SMF conversions on the 1.9. Take it back to where you had it done and explain the problems you are experiencing.

 

I had a friend who had a new clutch fitted and suffered very similar symptoms to you. He took it back and the mechanic couldn't work out why is was juddering etc. He thought it must be a defective part in the new clutch kit, so took it apart with this in mind.....Only to find that he had inadvertently installed the clutch plate the wrong way round. They say every mechanic has done that once (but only once as it's a very expensive lesson for them!).      

Edited 13 April, 201412 yr by booke23

Thanks Booke23. Are you talking about a standard clutch in a friends car or an SMF?

I purchased the kit myself and got it fitted. If it is indeed as you say. What items do I need replacing to rectify said issue, another clutch friction plate?

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If you are only mainly doing motorway miles that isn't going to run the clutch in properly.

 

You may need to try gently slipping the clutch a bit to get the surfaces bedded in.

 

Phil

Thanks Booke23. Are you talking about a standard clutch in a friends car or an SMF?

I purchased the kit myself and got it fitted. If it is indeed as you say. What items do I need replacing to rectify said issue, another clutch friction plate?

 

My friends car was a 2.0 TDI with a DMF. Nothing actually needed to be replaced in the end......the mechanic simply realised his mistake and refitted the clutch friction plate the right way round and it was fine after that.  

When you called Valeo, did they take the details to confirm the parts are genuine. There are lots of fake Valeo parts around at the moment.

If it has to come apart there will be a DMF and new clutch waiting on the floor. Forking out £120 to take a look only to confirm its fine is not going to resolve the issue.

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I obtained the kit from ECP and to the untrained it looks genuine. Valeo did not ask me for anything when I called other than to bed it in for at least 3k. They would then look into a warranty claim

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Apologies when you say slip the clutch what does that entail exactly? I have been told to run it for 6k by a mechanic rather than the 3k Valeo said for the so called bed in period. He also said the engine mountings are not worn. As interestingly the Valeo YouTube video asks you to ensure they are fine like a lot of other things on the car. Suppose they are covering themselves.

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Just a few spirited starts with high-ish revs and holding the clutch a little longer than normal. Might just rub anything causing the vibration off the clutch plate. I've seen people with similar problems fix it by doing this.

 

Worth a try before having the car stripped down again.

 

Phil

Thanks Phil. I will do some of those despite it being against my nature and style of driving. My brothers usual answer is an Italian tune up. I had to remind him it's not a VRS.

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...I obtained the kit from ECP...

It will be genuine if it came from ECP.

Thanks Phil. I will do some of those despite it being against my nature and style of driving. My brothers usual answer is an Italian tune up. I had to remind him it's not a VRS.

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I know... you may feel bad or a fool slipping the clutch when setting off but a few times won't hurt it and fingers crossed it may just do the trick. It could even be some contamination on the clutch plate that may get burnt off with some wear.

 

The 1.9 isn't slow though either and pulls really strong. Love it.

 

Phil

Thanks For confirming RWBaldwin

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Phil. I feel pretty bad post conversion at the moment. Lol

The plus points. Car starts and stops without the engine thud type feeling when the key is turned. I am pretty sure it's a lot quieter at high speed motorway driving. However the accelerating resonance that seems to shake the dash or glovebox CDs has not gone away. My 1.9 is particular nice as its got a tuning box on it which I drive with economy in mind after years of having a heavy right foot. Will try some slipping assuming I am doing it right.

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I keep toying with the idea of a remap or tuning box.

 

I find it's a good match with the DSG box and makes it very smooth and punchy.

 

Just give it plenty of revs and come slowly off the clucth so the revs are higher than the road speed if that makes sense. Do that a few times in a row (to get some heat going) and see how it feels. If it doesn't seem to be making any difference then I'd say that's not where your problem lies and you need to be going back to the garage/Valeo.

 

Phil

Mike I know all about your cars given we had numerous PM's on the subject, that's why the symptom I have is all the more frustrating. Everyone is saying this is a symptom of a SMF conversion. Except on Briskoda obviously.

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Yeah don't skoda offer an SMF fitment themselves? I know a lot of the Taxis have them done when the DMF finally gives up.

 

I'll have to stick with the very expensive DMF when mine finally gives up (not that I have had any problems so far).

 

Phil

Edited 14 April, 201412 yr by Phil-E

I tried plenty of clutch slipping on my way home on and off. Plenty of wheel spins. I also did 4-5 consistent ones up hill near home. I am going to get a bad reputation where I live. Lol. One thing that springs to mind is the also very present rocking of the engine or something when at 2k revs in the right gear so could be doing 60mph in 5th. Let on throttle rock. Let off throttle rock. Not a thud but definitely a kick back of sorts. Again not sure if that was there before. The car is getting old with the miles so I am not expecting smoothness anymore. I do have one sure item on the list to replace before the clutch and that's the first set of console bushes. The suspension is definitely getting tired on this car.

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Edited 14 April, 201412 yr by gav_is_con

Just a quick update. No other work performed. Symptoms the same as before really. I ordered a polyflex insert/bush for the dogbone chassis/subframe end and fitted it today. It's the diesel specific one too. Interestingly it required no grease to get it to go into the existing bush. Upon starting I expected to get the vibration mentioned in the literature on idle. Non whatsoever!

Driving it for a few hill starts around the block. The issue has dampened very little. The vibration although very much still present on pulling away is slightly dampened. I have learned to work with the judder for the last few weeks.. I always try and pull away without any gas/accelerator and that's the smoothest way as once drive is taken up the judder is not as bad as accelerating away from standstill. I will leave it like this until mid-May when I am back at the garage. Reviewing all engine mounts is very much a priority now.

I must add the drive otherwise is very smooth in all gears etc since the SMF has been in.

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Another update. Had my console bushes replaced as planned with Cupra ones as they are not voided like the originals. First of all. The cabin resonance is now coming from the new stiffer front suspension. Driving in a high gear at low speed is not pleasant at all. It's settling down and its only been a week. Interestingly the clutch judder also seems to be changing, although not eliminated. It's seems to be getting better. Car also very much planted after the consoles. Not much nose lift and dive when accelerating or braking. Also had the rear shocks and bump stops replaced. This is all to avoid any MOT issues next month as they have been pointed out to me last year. Whilst I consider replacing the upper and lower subframe/dogbone mounts with new OE replacements, i prefer to let the car settle for a bit now. So all work on hold.

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