OK may be easy questions may not...

We've got a 1.9 TDi estate with just over 100k on the clock and were thinking of replacing it with an Octy II estate :P but have now decided that even if we do get an Octy we may keep it for me to use in bad weather and for lugging stuff ( the MX5 isn't the best for the first and is crap at the second!).

However, the clutch now seems to be biting lower down the pedal travel than it used to :thumbdwn: so I'm trying to guage how long it might last (nearing in mind that most of the 100k the car has done has been criss-crossing the Pennines on a daily basis via the Cat and Fiddle... hence loads of gearchanges), whether we'll get any warning (the wife hates being stranded and she has been a few times recently) and what the likely cost of replacement is (all to be factored in to the "keep it" decision).

Any comments welcome for those that have been there!

Cheers!

Under normal wear you'll normally get a period of slip before it goes completely.

A techie will no doubt correct me but doesn't clutch wear result in a higher pedal position?

As far as lifespan goes a poor driver could kill a clutch in 2500miles and a good one could do 250000 miles or more.

My modded 1.9 TDI was still on its original clutch when I sold it at 82k miles and I don't think the new owner has had to replace it yet. If it's anything like mine though, I'd get practicing your clutchless gear changes as the clutch pedal on mine snapped without warning :(

Chris

Clutch pedal... yep had that TWICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The life of a clutch depends very much on the driver. However on a carefully driven car (ie. no wheelspin starts!) there's no reason why a clutch can't last 200k miles or more.

Cheers guys... was just wondering if they were known to go at a specific mileage (like stuff that always seems to break just out of warranty) and what the warning signs might be (ie feel at the clutch pedal - which in our case seems the wrong way!).

The wife (who uses it for her daily commute) isn't the most sympathetic driver ("why would you want to match engine revs when changing gear??????")though so I guess it could be anytime!

Any idea on costs?

My modded 1.9 TDI was still on its original clutch when I sold it at 82k miles and I don't think the new owner has had to replace it yet. If it's anything like mine though' date=' I'd get practicing your clutchless gear changes [b']as the clutch pedal on mine snapped without warning :([/b]

Chris

All I have to say to the snapped clutch pedal is did it snap on the end where it attached to the cable??? (Most likely place it would snap)

If so, from a person who spends 10-12 hours a day making pedal bars for Nissan, Renault, Honda and some other companies I will have to say, the person who built that one was obviously not paying attention to the weld stregth on the boss to wire weld. Or the pivot pin to wire. As a standard we keep the weld strength (Torque Strength) at 75 - 80 Nm when it gets weaker, then it is obviously easier to snap.

Being a absolute nut job when it comes to quality, I find myself going tisk tisk tisk at the person who made your pedal bar...... I know I am a mad man, just hate to hear about sloppy work.

Q

The clutch on the Fabia is hydraulic so I'm not sure if there are any cables. I assumed it was a one off (down to poor quality), but as Skomaz has hit it twice, it sounds like it might actually be a design fault.... :confused:

Chris

From what I've heard it's certainly not unknown as the dealership acknowledged that they'd had to replace a number and were even more sympathetic when it went again!

SEcond time round though they thought it was because they hadn't fitted the first replacement properly!

Touch wood this one has been fine so far and hopefully won't go again (the wife was not happy at being stranded miles from anywhere on top of the Pennines twice!)

hydraulic or not there will still be a boss on the wire..... the bars I do are for drive by wire control systems, but with all things that pivot i.e. a pedal bar will have a boss welded to the wire. The spring back effect is created by two springs our part number 100509 and 100510 so i will say that the issue would probally lie there. the differance being the is no pivot pin welded to these bars as it is spring loaded and not require the strength needed to pull a cable.

As it has happened to others, i personally think there was a batch of bars made with to low a strength on the weld, causing them to snap.... that is of course my personal oppinion from making them for the last 2 years

Q

My friend needed to replace the clutch on his modded TDI at 107,000 miles - he drives like a jessie though.

Stuart's wife Wendy had the clutch on her modded 110TDI at about 111000 miles IIRC - she is a girl and drives like one too

Cheers Tavia... The wife certainly ain't slow (dunno where she gets that from ) and she certainly ain't the smoothest either so the car gets a bit of hammer, so I'll expect to fit a new one sometime on the next 10,000 miles/six months or so!

Just managed to check and the Sept 2003 dealer costs for replacement were about