I have a 2019 Fabia colour edition.

In the last few months it’s developed a strange intermittent clutch issue.

When driving at low speed, when putting the car in first the clutch pedal will completely stop working and won’t allow you to put the car in any gear.

After a minute it reverts back and starts working and then will work normally for a while.

As I thought it might have something to do with start stop I’ve been disabling it and the problem doesn’t happen when it’s switched off.

I’ve had the battery checked, the clutch checked mechanically twice plus diagnostics and there’s nothing apparent causing this.

Has anyone had any thing similar?

When you say ' clutch completely stops working' can you clarify what the clutch pedal does - does it press to the floor with normal resistance, but does not appear to release the clutch plate?

When this does occur, does the clutch problem disappear if you pump the clutch pedal?

It’s hard to describe because when it happens is usually at a very stressful moment.

The clutch loses all resistance, you can’t get it into any gear. It does return but it’s completely loose.

I’ve ended up turning the engine off and on again and the clutch seems to reset but it might also be me frantically pumping it as well.

Sounds like either the master cylinder letting fluid past the seals/leaking or the slave. Check the brake/clutch fluid level. Had one do this on a couple of cars. Clutch went straight to floor and had to lift it up with toe. Pumped a few times and it came back. Eventually master cylinder failed completely. No fluid visible as it was all on the undertray. It drained out when the car was winched onto recovery. Wasnt losing any fluid or very little until it failed completely.

There’s no issue with the brake fluid level and no leaks have been detected, the clutch has been mechanically inspected twice.

Also if this was a progressive issue then surely whether start stop was engaged or not would make no difference?

But I literally drove 500 miles with start stop disengaged and had no issues and then I forgot on one trip and the issue occurred.

Unless that’s total coincidence and I will check that the master/slave cylinders have been inspected thoroughly.

Edited 7 November, 20257 Nov by stoo31

It has to be a coincidence - Stop/Start has no connection to physical operation of clutch - just the engine restart switch when clutch pedal is pressed.

I'd suggest another check of the master and slave cylinders.

Next time this fault occurs stay calm and try pumping the clutch pedal to see if that allows gears to be engaged.

You say the clutch has been checked mechanically twice - was the gearbox actually removed for these checks?

You say that you are unable to select any gear while the vehicle is moving slowly when this fault shows - what actually happens? does the gear grind/clash as you try to engage it, or does the gear selector just 'baulk' in the neutral position?

If its the internal seals on the master there will be no signs of failure unless its leaking. Same as the slave. If any are leaking then you should notice a drop in fluid over time. I reckon it may be a master cylinder problem.

Alasdair

Intermittent issues are often a right PITA to put up with and diagnosis.

As put an internal leak won't show externally.

The stop/start might just at the times in the car's drive activity cycle when the clutch (possibly hydraulics) becomes subjectable and/or actual. The issue will perhaps be more noticeable when driving slow in lower gear numbers, also you are probably doing more frequent gear changes then.

Now you will know better when it starts to play up you can pump the pedal sooner to save you distress (but not annoyance).

IIRC the clutch hydraulic is off(?) the brakes hydraulics, the clutch slave cylinder being another bit of wunderbar fantastic-plastic - and the gearbox is as old as the hills in design, it certainly feels a bit basic which it's always a bad thing, so getting the revs right for changes and double de-clutching may help and for the higher gear numbers.

Do you notice any change in brake pedal feel at these times too?

Edited 8 November, 20258 Nov by nta16

Just following up on this as it's been amazingly 4 months and the clutch has been checked twice by two mechanics, the brake fluid levels don't change so as far as we can ascertain there is no mechanical issue with the clutch.

The car has been driven probably nearly 5k since I reported this on here and we have persistently left the Start/Stop off which has preventing the problem from occuring.

On two instances it was forgotten to turn it off and the issue occurred.

On the last occassion I was passenger so was able to notice something additional which was that even though start/stop was off when the car essentialled stalled, the "manually restart engine" message was on the dash which I have only ever had previously in relation to start/stop.

It's really weird and quite annoying but all I can say whether it's actually related or not when we keep the start/stop switched off we don't have the problem.

On 06/11/2025 at 13:57, stoo31 said:

When driving at low speed, when putting the car in first the clutch pedal will completely stop working and won’t allow you to put the car in any gear.

Try only to engage 1st gear when you have come to a complete stop.

I can quite easily drive off from stationary in second gear.

So low speed in second gear is fine.

On 06/11/2025 at 19:55, stoo31 said:

I’ve ended up turning the engine off and on again

And have you also stopped by now?

Thanks. AG Falco

To me it now sounds like it might be a computer system error / programing / sensor error for the clutch pedal related to the stop/start.

Has anyone plugged in a relevant scan tool and done live readings on such?

Something you could try is possibly disconnecting the battery monitoring (at the negative battery post clamp) which will do away with the stop/start and see if this prevents the issue from occurring as this could confirm this is the area you need to concentrate on.

Thanks for the insight, could I buy one of these and then try and trigger the issue with it plugged in? https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07Z3HB7DR?smid=A368O7OVZP75AQ&tag=pepperegc-21&ascsubtag=ppr-uk-2964803247

A scan tool that just an error code reader that's only for the engine will I think be a waste of time for your issue.

You put you've had two lots of diagnostic which I assume (ass u me, makes an ass of you and me) means this might have included diagnostics with plug in scan tools and hopefully other tools and use of training, knowledge, experience, thought and attitude to try to sort this out.

You would need a better scan tool than that simple code reader to take live recordings and have bi-directional control (not only get info from car's computer but also can activate and de-active items).

Tangent - Amazon aren't the only providers of everything (and often not the least expensive) but everyone can buy from who they want.

I think it might be a good idea to test your theory and take the stop/start element out of the equation by disconnecting it. This will not harm the car and actually helps the battery a bit, some owners have disconnected the stop/start for years, whether on a 2019 car this might report you to VW and you are summoned to a meeting in Germany to explain your actions I don't know but I doubt it.

Give it a try for a while and see what happens and report back. Good luck.