clutch keeps going

laney85

posting for a friend

If anyone knows anything about vehicles I'm trying to get any useful suggestions or info on the appalling problems we're having with my husband's VW Transporter... This is a bit of a saga but please bear with me cos we're completely stumped & need help urgently!!!!

Gaz bought his T28 174 TDI new in Aug '05 He's in the building trade (doesn't carry much weight in the van tho) & does a lot of miles. The van's 4 years old in 2 weeks & has done nearly 163,500 miles. The vast majority of his driving is motorway, with the cruise control on.

We had a turbo pipe & water pump replaced under warranty, no quibbles from Murrays, to give them credit where it's due. Then, at 120,000 miles in April last year the van broke down on the motorway, with a complete loss of transmission. It was towed back to dealer who replaced the flywheel & clutch, which cost us £1444.50 + VAT.

Then the fun & games started!.... In December '08 the clutch went again. Exactly the same, complete loss of transmission, except this time the clutch had only done 23,000 miles. The van was towed back & they said it was due to faulty parts & replaced the clutch & flywheel again under Parts Warranty.

This time the clutch lasted til June '09, and had done 16,700 miles. It was again towed back to Murray's who had by then moved their commercial section to Valley Road, Plympton. They stripped it down & in the Service Manageress's words "it's gone exactly the same as last time but it's not a Parts Warranty issue, it's down to driver abuse".

Since the warranty ran out we've had all our servicing done by an independent mechanic so we got him to have a look at it. So did the mechanic from who'd towed the van to dealer for the RAC. Both these men had to (reluctantly) agree they thought the damage was down to bad driving/poor gear changing as the centre plate of the clutch had been ripped out & they'd only seen damage like it on clutches from rally cars, etc. The Service Manageress obligingly supplied me with photos of the damage so I could show my husband how he'd been abusing the van & we had no choice but to pay another £685.00 + VAT. This time they didn't replace the flywheel.

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Unbelievably, the van broke down again on Saturday. My husband had just gone through a contraflow on the M5 & went to accelerate out of it - no transmission. I'd driven it to Plymouth on the Wednesday before to get new brakes & our mechanic drove it at that time & it was fine. No judder, nothing.

THIS time it's done 3,300 miles & the clutch lasted 5 weeks. It's been towed AGAIN to ddealer & after 3 days they deigned to ring me to say that they will, as a goodwill gesture, replace it FOC..... Sorry???? Goodwill???? They have no idea why it keeps going like this, they say. VW Customer Care Centre weren't much help either, saying their Technical Dept wouldn't want to venture an opinion????

I informed the Service Manageress their offer's unacceptable. The previous clutch which cost us nearly £800.00 obviously WASN'T caused by Gary's driving & I want that reimbursed. Also, I suggested it wasn't much good them keep replacing the clutch when each one lasts less & less time. She said to leave it with her so I need info so we can fight our corner.

Does anyone have any idea why this is happening and what should be done to stop it happening again, please?

aqueoushumour01

maybe it is the technique - i had to change my clutch after few miles and i've found out that it's because of resting my foot on the clutch while driving. I'm gradually getting out of this habit so I hope i've done so in time to avoid having a second clutch done!

Brooker_Dave

laney85 wrote: »

what should be done to stop it happening again, please?

Get hubby a van with an automatic geabox.

qetu1357

It is incredibly easy to kill clutches. You can do it in a day if determined enough.

OP. Has the driver had clutch problems with any other vehicle?

If so, sorry, but get an automatic or have some driving lessons with someone who can spot the driving which is causing the problem. The problem is normally keeping the clutch depressed or bad gear changing. Put the clutch into neutral whenever you can (when standing still for example)

laney85

As i said, posting for a friend, and this is the first vehicle this has happened with in over 20 years of driving

pinkshoes

SueSueSue wrote: »

So three different people have said your OH is destroying clutches due to abusing it and you think a FOC replacement isnt acceptable.

Maybe you should suggest your husband seeks some driving lessons as if he is too blame they will keep going.

As the driver managed 120,000 miles before the clutch went for the first time, they can hardly say it's due to his driving, and this would be a reasonable milage for a cluch change.

To have the clutch go three times in 40k miles is ridiculous, and would suggest that when it was repaired for the first time, it was perhaps more damaged than initially thought.

I would want an independent examination of it, to see if there are any other faults that could be causing this.

Volcano

This is pretty unusual. The only thing I can think of is clutch misalignment, though it would have to be assembled out of line or somehow 'slip' out of alignment over time.......

To 'prove' something is amiss such as a faulty batch of clutches/sudden change in his driving style/mechanical fault with vehicle etc is going to be extremely difficult and/or expensive to do. You're looking for a resolution and if they choose to fight it then the onus will be on you to prove their product is faulty.

Personally I'd cut my losses by paying for a new clutch, then selling the van.

(Thought: He doesn't let anyone else drive it does he? Malicious/disgruntled work colleagues would happily trash the clutch for a laugh......)

needaspirin

I cannot see this being caused by clutch misuse as the plates would become worn out first and only massive torque forces would destroy the membranes in so short a time.

Looking at how the hub has completely torn away from the clutch disk I would guess that there is some kind of misalignment between the gearbox shaft and the engine. Every rotation of the engine would cause the clutchplate membranes to flex hastening their destruction in the same manner as bending a piece of wire back and forth until it snaps.
Have a look around the bell housing and see if you can see anything amiss. The housing should mate to the engine block perfectly with no gaps. I can’t think of anything else unless the gearbox shaft is bent.

needaspirin

Also, highly unlikely but "clutch"ing at straws:

Incorrect installation of parts

• Wrong parts fitted
  

dylan1273

iam wondering if when they first replaced the clutch and flywheel they put a wrong flywheel back on and when the clutch has gone again they have just replaced the flywheel with what was fitted. i would try going to a dedicated vw users forum and seek advice from other owner drivers who may have suffered a similar problem to yourself

oldagetraveller

A friend had similar problems to the OP with clutches from Vauxhall a number of years ago. After two of them fell to bits much like those shown in pics Vauxhall denied any responsibility, those pics do look scarily familiar. Strange after over 100k miles on the original with the same driver a new plate would fail after less than a further 10k on each of two occasions. They said initially that the fitting must not have been correct, he did them himself. Bblamed him for the problem.
Vaux had to pay up eventually and fit a brand new clutch FOC themselves as it transpired the parts they were supplying were exchange basis recon items. He did some investigation and also had the parts which he refused to exchange to an independent assessor. It almost got to court when Vx caved in. So all Vx were doing was relining the friction plates and cleaning the steel up to look new. Hence the friction material was new but the remainder of the clutch e.g. the "leaf" springs etc. could have done many operations and thousands of miles. Hence fatigued to within an inch of their useful life.
I wonder if VW are following this path of supplying reconditioned parts and not brand new? If the parts were factory fresh and new then disregard the above!