:( Kind of glad it has now and not half across germany (have to laugh)

Was in Exmouth, and I heard a SNAP when depressing the clutch, and it stayed rooted to the floor, and I was left with 2 bits of plastic on my carpet. Looks like whatever held the connection to the slave cylinder to the pedal broke spectacularly. So the AA is popping out at 4pm, and recovering me to my local dealer, who I hope I can have some faith in (usually hate them, but this job is probably a dealer job, or at least a dealer "check" job)

Fingers crossed!

Oh, and the feeling of NOT having the ability to get from a) to should I wish feels SO disabling! :(

Been there, done that :( Mine happened on the wettest Saturday in November just before I joined the motorway. I'll see if I can dig the thread out, but I think it was about

Here we go:

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/fabia/bugger/16357/

Chris

A good read thanks, but all that seems to have happened with mine is the pedal connector broke, and the car is just in neutral all the time - maybe it just happened at a good time during my gearchanges? (I remember when it snapped I just dipped the clutch and pulled straight over, then it stayed down)

Mr Lummox said it's a new pedal and cylinder job, but I'll let the stealer make that decision. He seemed to be looking on his system and said it could be fixed by a 66 pence bit of plastic.... :confused: All I know from removing the bit of trim is the pedal goes up and down (springs hold it at each point) and there's a metal rod sticking out the bulkhead with a ball on the end.

Well that metal rod is the clutch master cylinder.

bummer - hope it's just the little clip inside and not the whole MC thingie.

Hopefully its just the plastic, but something else may have broken that has caused the plastic to break off.

Hopefully its just the plastic, but something else may have broken that has caused the plastic to break off.

A cable tie?! :eek:

Chris

Blue tac?

Well, there were no advanced warnings - so not sure if that cylinder suddenly lets go? Clutch has been top notch since the day it was fitted and right up to the point of it breaking. Hoping it can just be reconnected to the clutch pedal somehow, but not holding out for this. I guess if that metal rod did jam up, that would be why the clip/s on the clutch pedal snapped.

Apparently the MC is not the strongest thing on the VAG range, and replacing them is fairly common.

Mine was misbehaving a bit, and still does on occasion. (Clutch bit point drops a bit with repeated use....)

Planning to put in a new one September time after my hols.....

DO hope it's not the slave cylinder end that has stuck - changing that is a proper PITA (I changed mine as a routine when I removed the tranny...)

Hope it's the cheap one, I've had the clutch 'go' on my Renault 21, fortunately managed to get it to a Tesco carpark near where I lived at the time - no doubt you'll get it sorted

:P

As I said you should have the modified clutch pedal fitted, if you dont then its only going to break again, maybe next time a bit further from home.

X2

Jason is saving the engine-nuke breakdown for the autobahns..

Well, amazingly Mr AA man managed to get it working again. Apparently he's dealt with LOADS of similar things, and has a little knack to it. I do need a new pedal, what actually gave way was a small square of metal about 1cm x 1.5cm, it seemed to have snapped cleanly on two sides, and the two plastic fittings just fell out, but are still in perfect condition. MC still works fine, but now my clutch rest point is about 10" further up than normal which is "different" - at least it works and I still have my car to drive.

New pedal on order from Skoda - was impressed how cheap it was, and when it arrives Friday, I'll go grab it and hopefully it will fit fine, and hook up to the master cylinder rod/piston thingy, and be fine.

This is the first time I've been impressed with the AA - top work from their chappy who came to the mongrel's rescue. (and he also wanted to know about my mods )

This is the first time I've been impressed with the AA - top work from their chappy who came to the mongrel's rescue. (and he also wanted to know about my mods )

i bet you bored the pants off him :P

Bad news about the clutch pedal,my partners clutch pedal dropped to the floor this afternoon on her seat arosa and when i went to look at it the metal bracket that holds the clutch cable has snapped off and to replace the pedal box plate that its mounted to required me to remove the entire dash and steering column,so could of done without that,was expecting a snapped cable but ended up having to strip it down completely,appears to be a poor design,hoping the new part will be stronger

Glad to hear it's quite minor

Not perfected clutchless driving yet Jason?

I managed to drive a scirocco from central Birmingham to New Oscott (5-6 miles ish) without clutch operation to get to a VW dealer for a clutch cable, and changed it on the car park at the wife's work. Interesting, and it takes some practice.

Not perfected clutchless driving yet Jason?

I managed to drive a scirocco from central Birmingham to New Oscott (5-6 miles ish) without clutch operation to get to a VW dealer for a clutch cable, and changed it on the car park at the wife's work. Interesting, and it takes some practice.

I don't fancy even trying it, never having tried to before. I need to ensure this gearbox lasts for a little while longer yet.

PS: You can access the fabia clutch pedal fine just removing the lower trim from under the steering wheel - Was a bit of a pain for me due to the NOS/LPG switchgear being there. It looks like a right bird's nest now! (and the light switch is hooked up loosely in one of the "gaps"

Bad news about the clutch pedal,my partners clutch pedal dropped to the floor this afternoon on her seat arosa and when i went to look at it the metal bracket that holds the clutch cable has snapped off and to replace the pedal box plate that its mounted to required me to remove the entire dash and steering column,so could of done without that,was expecting a snapped cable but ended up having to strip it down completely,appears to be a poor design,hoping the new part will be stronger

There was a recall for that on Lupos and Polos- VW dealers will often replace them on 'goodwill'. The pedal box was revised to strengthen it.

I don't fancy even trying it, never having tried to before. I need to ensure this gearbox lasts for a little while longer yet.

Like someone said in the thread Chris linked to, it's something you learn in a works van or a hire car, in case you ever need it. It came in useful for me as the cable was dealer-only and I had no breakdown cover back then. It's hard in Birmingham traffic though, even back in 1994.

I know it's something to do with matching the revs for the gear you want, or blipping the revs a bit to get out of a gear back into neutral, but I don't fancy it.

My old sierra use to always snap the clutch cable. thankfully never happened far from home. So stick it into second. Start car and drive.

To drop people of was a case of the passenger having to open the door. Prep himself. Then run like mad and shut the door after them