Hi all, had my vRS for just over a week now and absolutely loving it. But on the 3rd day of driving it the cruise control went from only working sometimes to not working at all. I suspect it's a dodgy clutch sensor as when i push the piston in by hand it feels notchy as hell after half way. After scouring Euro car parts etc. i can't find anything along the lines of 'clutch sensor switch' apart from a used one on ebay that's come out of a 130k car. i can only find the brake sensors elsewhere.

now, it might be an idea to change both anyway even though the brake sensor feels silky smooth in comparison, but i can't find a brand new clutch switch anywhere! The switches look different yet similar to me (one's black, one's green) but are they esentially the same? can i just put a brake sensor on the clutch? Otherwise a link to a suitable clutch sensor would be much appreciated.

If replacing the clutch sensor doesn't work, i'm not sure what to try next. I hope it's not the stalk as it would be relatively pricey to replace but there are some things that concern me about the stalk also.
When i first got the car, pushing the SET - button would cause the switch to spring from the OFF position to the ON position. But after pushing in a piece of loose plastic on the stalk whilst looking for the problem it no longer does this and it jut stays in the OFF position; have i broken it or fixed it?

I appreciate any advice as it could be neither of these things but i'm new to the car and not exactly a mechanic.


 

Not sure what you mean about the switch springing from off to on when you push the set button? Do you mean on the stalk? If the switch on the stalk is now stuck in the OFF position then that will be your problem.

 

If you have a laptop with VCDS-Lite and an OBDII USB cable then I think you can test the operation of the brake/clutch pedal switches and the switches on the stalk. I have an OBDII USB cable but my laptop is out of action - keep meaning to fix it so I can get VCDS running on it again. I am not far from Saffron Walden so if I've got my laptop working again before you have diagnosed/fixed it I might be able to help with diagnosis. There is a member map somewhere on the site - there might be someone else who can help with diagnosis before spending money on parts.

 

Looking at the ones for the Golf the clutch/brake pedal switches look different:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vw-Golf-Mk4-GTI-1-8T-Brake-Clutch-Pedal-Switch-/151620533507

 

GSF list clutch switches for the Golf mk4 which I'd expect would be the same as on the Octy though they don't list a clutch pedal switch when I put in my reg. Maybe someone can clarify if they would be the same? The dealers should still be able to supply them and they might not be that expensive. If there's not much price difference I'd definitely go for genuine. If you can find the right part number you could try ordering it from a different VAG dealer (VW Sawston/Bishops Stortford might be nearer to you).

Brake switch would be the more likely culprit being a known problem on these.

My cruise wasn't working when I bought mine, didn't really bother me that much though, but after replacing brake pedal switch for the brake lights staying on my cruise worked. Hope this helps