Audi a1 clutch failure

neilmcl

Ianr1111 wrote: »

Driving style is cautious, pull away smoothly, change gear appropriately, use handbrake when car is parked. Have driven for 30 years and never had a problem, at a loss at the moment and waiting for a call back from audi uk. Just wondering if anybody else had a problem like this with this model.

Just keep on at Audi UK. A clutch going at just 22K and within 18mths from new is unacceptable and in my experience you should get a positive outcome from Audi.

Strider590

OddballJamie wrote: »

OP states they do mostly motorway driving. Am I right in thinking driving in the wrong gear ie too low revs can knacker the DMF?

I'm sure a garage mentioned it to me back when I had a diesel.

I'm not convinced that any particular driving habits cause DMF failures, possibly rapid gear changes could shock the springs on the DMF, labouring the engine would increase vibrations, which could affect the DMF as it's designed to absorb vibration. Poor quality fuel could cause a slight misfire condition and vibrations.

Personally think it's just a matter of time before a spring lets go and once it does the imbalance will sure as hell destroy the rest quite rapidly.
Potentially if the springs were produced to a poor spring rating tolerances or different batches used on the same DMF assembly, this could cause an early life failure through imbalance.

Retrogamer

Strider590 wrote: »

I'm not convinced that any particular driving habits cause DMF failures, possibly rapid gear changes could shock the springs on the DMF, labouring the engine would increase vibrations, which could affect the DMF as it's designed to absorb vibration. Poor quality fuel could cause a slight misfire condition and vibrations.

Personally think it's just a matter of time before a spring lets go and once it does the imbalance will sure as hell destroy the rest quite rapidly.
Potentially if the springs were produced to a poor spring rating tolerances or different batches used on the same DMF assembly, this could cause an early life failure through imbalance.

DMF damage & increased wear can arise from driving around at really low revs (constantly laboring the engine), bump starting or stalling the engine in gear, harsh gear changes etc.

BeenThroughItAll

Resting the left foot in such a position as to put any pressure on the clutch pedal *could* cause premature wear.


That may not even be a symptom of poor driving, could just be big feet/shoes in a tiny car with little room in the footwells.

mattyprice4004

Strider590 wrote: »

I'm not convinced that any particular driving habits cause DMF failures, possibly rapid gear changes could shock the springs on the DMF, labouring the engine would increase vibrations, which could affect the DMF as it's designed to absorb vibration. Poor quality fuel could cause a slight misfire condition and vibrations.

Personally think it's just a matter of time before a spring lets go and once it does the imbalance will sure as hell destroy the rest quite rapidly.
Potentially if the springs were produced to a poor spring rating tolerances or different batches used on the same DMF assembly, this could cause an early life failure through imbalance.

Driving in too low a gear causing excess engine vibration is well-known to exacerbate DMF issues - it's been documented many times.
I have a friend who changes down to near-idle and accelerates hard, you can feel the roughness through the car. That's going to put a lot of stress on the springs of the DMF.

Ianr1111

Hi all, thanks for the replays. Audi uk have now been back on and stated the clutch is worn but they have spoken to the dealership and come up with the following. They have said most of the cost was for labour and have agreed with the dealership for me to pay for fifty per cent of the labour, dealership to pay fifty price cent and audi will cover the parts which leaves me a bill of £576. Spoke with dealership who say no problem with flywheel, worn clutch only. Will have to take their word for this as a flywheel problem would have explained the high quote. Will pay for now but will keep on at audi as don't believe the clutch has worn through wear and tear. Thanks again all.

harveybobbles

It's only 280 miles a week.

Clutches can wear out very quickly.

In response to how you drive, no one is ever going to say "I hold the car on the clutch at traffic lights and junctions, roll out of road ends in 3rd and let the car plod upto speed, then get into 6th at 30mph... I also use the clutch as a foot rest inbetween gear changes.."

Everyone says they are a good driver. But in 15 years of sitting in the passenger seat with other people, I've yet to see one..

Has the OP owned the car from new or recently bought it?

welfayre

Ianr1111 wrote: »

Hi all, has anybody had a problem with an audi a1 1.6 diesel clutch. My car has done 22000 motorway miles from new and the audi dealership are saying the clutch is worn and is not covered by warranty and have quoted me 1400 pounds for replacement. Is this a common problem on these cars and is this normal, have been driving for 30 years and never experienced anything like this. Am amazed a clutch can wear so quickly and audi saying not covered on warranty, car is 18 months old. Anybody have any idea how I resolve this.

That's your problem right there in bold. Manufactures stick a diesel engine in without upgrading the clutch to accommodate the higher torque. First came across this with a 1.4 diesel 307. Customer had done 18,000 miles from new and then found out the Peugeot only have a 6,000 mile warranty on the clutch of that model. Nice cheap way round a known problem for the manufacturers instead of fixing it :mad:

Retrogamer

Retrogamer wrote: »

What are the symptoms of your worn clutch?

Seeing as it's not been answered, i'll guess it's slipping.

You can burn a brand new clutch out in about 5 minutes if you wanted on purpose, so it would be hard to prove to the garage it had worn out prematurely and it wasn't the cause of your driving style.

The 50% discount sounds better than nothing but might be worth pushing them a bit to see if you can get a bit more (60 - 75%)

Ianr1111

harveybobbles wrote: »

It's only 280 miles a week.

Clutches can wear out very quickly.

In response to how you drive, no one is ever going to say "I hold the car on the clutch at traffic lights and junctions, roll out of road ends in 3rd and let the car plod upto speed, then get into 6th at 30mph... I also use the clutch as a foot rest inbetween gear changes.."

Everyone says they are a good driver. But in 15 years of sitting in the passenger seat with other people, I've yet to see one..

Has the OP owned the car from new or recently bought it?

Car has been owned from new