Afternoon - we have a clutch disengagement problem on our 160k 2009 1.6TDI estate, which had its DMF replaced + new clutch at ~50k miles.

After noticing some stiffness in the gear-change (mostly 1st & 5th) we greased-up the selector linkages in the engine bay but the problem is still getting worse. We now have to push the clutch pedal all the way to the floor to engage 1st & 2nd, with 5th tricky, and the usual slight crunch getting reverse now very pronounced.

No obvious leaks of hydraulic fluid & brake reservoir appears to be full.

Would welcome thoughts on whether it is just a little leak, a terminally worn clutch friction plate, failing leaf/finger springs, or something else?

So it's done twice the work of the original clutch? Check around clutch pedal/master cylinder for dampness. After that remove the gearbox and asses the clutch.

We will have a look at both both ends of the clutch hydraulics, but unlikely to drop the gearbox out ourselves.

If it seems a four-figure price tag to get someone do that then the poor beastie may be off to scrap-yard in the sky...

If there are no signs of leaks it might be either the master or slave cylinder thats letting fluid past the seals but not actually leaking out yet. Not sure if your slave is internal or external. Mine on my mk2 1.9tdi is external so fairly easy to replace without removing box. The master was a bit more difficult as it requires removal of the pedals and not the easiest to get to if you dont have a garage ramp . Have you tried bleeding the clutch. It may be drawing in air somewhere. I would suggest a pressure bleed kit for ease . 50k on the other hand is very low to require a new clutch/DMF? A slave cylinder for mine was about £25-00 and the master was sligtly more. If bleeding doesnt help and yours has an external slave I would change that and see if it makes a difference as if its needing another clutch I would be changing it anyway.

A quick note when my master failed on mine all the fluid ended up on the undertray. It used to go to the floor randomly and not return. You had to catch it with your foot and pull the pedal up. Only noticed fluid when car was winched onto recovery truck and it ran out from tray

Alasdair

Cheers Alasdair - it is still an external slave on the 1.6 TDI, and there's no sign of leakage when we checked the slave this weekend, though potentially wouldn't show if it was only leaking into the clutch casing. The under-tray is mercifully dry.

The only somewhat noisy DMF was replaced when the engine was out for a blocked DPF, so it's quite possible that it is simply a worn clutch pressure plate, as we had similar symptoms in an older Laguna.

Will see if a bleed sorts it out, but if not then will suggest the garage replaces both cylinders if we decide to go with a new clutch.

Thanks for sharing!

If you have problems selecting. Clean the selector arm that’s attached to the gear lever cables. Especially where it enters a shaft on the gearbox remove clean up shaft and pin grease and replace. Made a difference to 2 different cars I have owned to smooth out selection issues.

You could try and reset the gear linkage cables. On mine you lock the selector lever on top of gbox and remove cables then lock gearstick and attach cables again. Theres a tutorial on youtube if I remember

1 hour ago, gav_is_con said:

If you have problems selecting. Clean the selector arm that’s attached to the gear lever cables. Especially where it enters a shaft on the gearbox remove clean up shaft and pin grease and replace. Made a difference to 2 different cars I have owned to smooth out selection issues.

We had that issue a few years back & cleaning+grease sorted it nicely.

Tried it again this time but while we can easily select gears with the engine off, it is baulking while under revs, which seems to indicate the clutch isn't disengaging the engine rotation?

@Alasdair1 that's the baby - and it turns out we'll need to remove those selector components to bleed the hydraulics.

Hope its just a simple bleed and it cures the problem.

Alasdair