1 minute ago, alfalincs said:

I think you took my comment the way it wasn't intended. I wasn''t rejoicing at the size of your bill. It was ironic rejoicing that you had reminded me I was no doubt shortly going to get a big bill.

 

No worries mate, I was genuinely trying to cheer you up even more ... that's the trouble with online banter, so hard to read the tone. Anyway my bill's bigger than your bill 

3 minutes ago, vRSWitter said:

 

No worries mate, I was genuinely trying to cheer you up even more ... that's the trouble with online banter, so hard to read the tone. Anyway my bill's bigger than your bill 

 

I have about a week to pick myself up off the floor from this one...then my ancient Ford Connect van comes up for its MOT on 5th April.   Oh Joy....if it  dissolves on the ramp I might just chuck it all in and retire. 

On 28/03/2019 at 17:54, vRSWitter said:

 

No worries mate, I was genuinely trying to cheer you up even more ... that's the trouble with online banter, so hard to read the tone. Anyway my bill's bigger than your bill 

Last week the clutch on mine (2.0 tdi, 54000 miles) didn't come up fully and I had to pull it up a little (this was soon after I started driving the car in the morning). Was there any similar symptom before the leak/failure? My brake fluid seems to be at the max level. I have done about 150 miles after that but the problem hasn't occurred yet. 

Edited 10 June, 20196 yr by alladin1616

11 minutes ago, alladin1616 said:

Last week the clutch on mine (2.0 tdi, 54000 miles) didn't come up fully and I had to pull it up a little (this was soon after I started driving the car in the morning). Was there any similar symptom before the leak/failure? My brake fluid seems to be at the max level. I have done about 150 miles after that but the problem hasn't occurred yet. 

  

Mine was clutch on floor one day, but then still drivable if I pulled it up with my foot. I took it into dealers, diagnosed as needing new slave and clutch ... Ker-ching!

Since then I has one day where clutch was on floor again (early morning and weirdly after a brake fluid change), but not happened again since.

Probably best to get it checked out ...

Thanks. I think I will wait for the next occurrence as one of the dealer guy said it maybe an airlock if it only happened once. I will keep an eye on the brake fluid level if it starts to go down.

Am I right in thinking that it is the same fluid for both brake and clutch or is there a clutch fluid reservoir hidden somewhere?

Just now, alladin1616 said:

Thanks. I think I will wait for the next occurrence as one of the dealer guy said it maybe an airlock if it only happened once. I will keep an eye on the brake fluid level if it starts to go down.

Am I right in thinking that it is the same fluid for both brake and clutch or is there a clutch fluid reservoir hidden somewhere?

 

Same fluid for both, that's why I think I had an "incident" after my brake fluid change, seem like an odd coincidence to me ...

Jesus H Christ. This thread is 2019 and I'm writing in this 2024. It's just happened to me. 28k miles, Approved Used 21-plate Scala 1.5, and 2 months since purchase. Clutch stuck down during gear change on suburban road - just after I had left the motorway thank ****.  Rolled to safe parking. Called AA. Meanwhile, levered pedal up with foot, then pumped a bit, and it comes back to life a bit, but does not feel quite the same. AA explained the probable cause and sure enough here it is written down in this forum. AA shadowed me on a slow drive to dealer and it is now waiting surgery. It's under warranty and I intend to lawyer up if they try to bill me. It's blindingly obvious that this is a systemic fault arising from poor design and poor materials. It is screaming out for a class action. The poor design and poor materials means that rectifying this requires needlessly major and needlessly expensive dismantling. That would not impress a judge in the civil court. Watch this space. 

I suppose I have an advantage having lived with the problem for 6 months while replacing all the easier to replace components, perfecting my rapid side of the road bleeding technique culminating in replacing the DMF, clutch and concentric slave cylinder myself and being able to carry out a forensic analysis on the latter to determine the failure mode.

 

I would not have needed to do the above were the reason blindingly obvious to me, indeed to my knowledge I am the only person to date to have found the actual reason for failure.

 

I appreciate that you are having a rant and empathise with the need to do so but could you please explain what you consider to be the blindingly obvious poor materials and poor design, and why the repairs are needlessly major and needlessly expensive? How you consider could I have done the job in a cheaper and less labour intensive manner?

 

Finally on what basis do you intend to pursue a legal action?

 

I know the answers to the above will be of help to many people, the instances pf people reporting this problem are becoming more and more frequent as the vehicles age and continue to be produced.

1 hour ago, Happy_owner said:

Jesus H Christ. This thread is 2019 and I'm writing in this 2024. It's just happened to me. 28k miles, Approved Used 21-plate Scala 1.5, and 2 months since purchase. Clutch stuck down during gear change on suburban road - just after I had left the motorway thank ****.  Rolled to safe parking. Called AA. Meanwhile, levered pedal up with foot, then pumped a bit, and it comes back to life a bit, but does not feel quite the same. AA explained the probable cause and sure enough here it is written down in this forum. AA shadowed me on a slow drive to dealer and it is now waiting surgery. It's under warranty and I intend to lawyer up if they try to bill me. It's blindingly obvious that this is a systemic fault arising from poor design and poor materials. It is screaming out for a class action. The poor design and poor materials means that rectifying this requires needlessly major and needlessly expensive dismantling. That would not impress a judge in the civil court. Watch this space. 

Let's wait and see what happens at the dealer and I'll report back. Bonne nuit!

Just had the same thing happen to me today 🤦‍♂️
I've rung the garage that I bought the car from and they have told me to get it checked out at a garage. 
I told them there is a Skoda place down the road from me and they said that their warranty doesn't cover main dealers, just independent. 

So plan B is an Independent Skoda Specialist near me instead. I have to ring them in the morning to try and get the car recovered to them for diagnosis. 

I'll keep you posted on the outcome. 🤞 

I had the same symptoms as J.R., lived with it for 5 months before it developed into a full on leak, in the end saturating the sound insulation and was warned that it was potentially a considerable fire risk if the clutch was slipped and generated enough heat. Whilst I don't have the slave cylinder in my hands, I can only assume that the CSC had a small enough hole to suck in air but not let fluid out initially, and this then developed further into a larger leak that then allowed fluid out. 

 

If you have any sort of brake fluid loss, check the join between engine and clutch housing, there is likely a drain hole there which will be dripping fluid. If it is leaking you can really exacerbate the situation by pressing the clutch pedal down and actuating it in the 25-75% area of travel.

 

Hopefully they'll cover it either under your consumer rights or warranty, cost me £1450 at a local independent garage for clutch, CSC and DMF.

Edited 23 February, 20251 yr by micro

I've just experienced the same symptoms as reported. Clutch pedal on floor, can be hand-pumped back into action (initially took 30 minutes).

It's in at my local garage now and the slave cylinder and clutch need replacing. Once they get it apart they'll know if the flywheel is also doomed.

Note mine is a 10 year old VRS, although only 73k mileage. I've had it since 6 months old and 3k miles.

I was lucky in a way that it was the master cylinder that had failed. Clutch to floor one day but managed to get it bak up and it was fine. Two days later same and no clutch at all. Only dicovered the leak when it got winched onto truck and fluid came out from undertray. A lot of new cars have an internal slave or external that fits into bell housing so when it leaks it contaminates the clutch. Had a few older cars with an external slave and either rod or lever to operate clutch. Why they stopped making them like that ?? it was to me a much better design as if it leaks then you don't need a new clutch.

Alasdair

Just to update on the conclusion to mine.

It turned out the dual mass flywheel was the cause of the issue. It had worn so the plates no longer sat flush against each other, and one half had wandered into the slave cylinder.

The mechanic said he's seen a few that had travelled through the gearbox and one that got all the way to the bulkhead. So, could have been worse.

DMF, slave cylinder and clutch replaced with OEM parts. Came to £1387 inc vat.

Thats not the kind of bill anyone needs but if it has to be done and the cars worth it then glad you got it fixed. At least you know that you have new everything and should be trouble free for years. I reckon when you factor in the price of the parts and labour plus the dreaded vat its fair enough.

As said glad you got it fixed and no damage. I have seen a DMF that totalled the gearbox bell housing. Stopped to help a stranded car and there were bits of alloy housing everywhere. Looked like it had exploded.

Alasdair

On 20/02/2025 at 21:35, Chrispy99 said:

Just had the same thing happen to me today 🤦‍♂️
I've rung the garage that I bought the car from and they have told me to get it checked out at a garage. 
I told them there is a Skoda place down the road from me and they said that their warranty doesn't cover main dealers, just independent. 

So plan B is an Independent Skoda Specialist near me instead. I have to ring them in the morning to try and get the car recovered to them for diagnosis. 

I'll keep you posted on the outcome. 🤞 

Back to update 3 months late (sorry)!
Garage diagnosed as Slave Cylinder dead, which spat Hydraulic Fluid over the Clutch Assembly and recommended that he should also replace the Duel Mass Flywheel (car has done 130k Miles).
The place I bought it from agreed to pay for Slave Cylinder, Clutch Assembly and Labour at a cost of approx £700.
I followed the recommendation and paid for new Duel Mass Flywheel at a cost of £390 inc VAT.

Its been a dream to drive ever since!

Glad you got it sorted. Why they put the slave cylinder a position when it leaks it kills the clutch I don't know. Reckon you got a good deal from the garage plus replacing DMF is the way to go. Might as well when Gbox is out etc.