Manual clutch problem

[Erik van Vilsteren]

My problem has a bit of a long intro:

April this year I heard a strange kind of rattling sound form my clutch/gearbos area.
Because my car (Seat Cordoba 6L), it has a manual shift, has got some miles in it I thought it could be the clutch.
So I exchanged my clutch assembly for a new one ( the then newly posted Ford Focus clutch replacement video was very helpfull by the way!! ).
Within two hours after replacing the clutch, my sound was back…
So I had to go to my local dealer for a rebuild-gearbox…
A new one was not possible because I then had to wait 3 weeks(!) and my vacation was within a week…
With the ‘new’ gearbox fitted the sound was gone….
Within a couple of days I noticed my shiftstick sort off seemed to jump from 2nd to 4th gear…
So, again, I had to go to my local dealer…
Luckily they agreed this was not good, and I got another rebuild gearbox….

Now about my current problem…

I’ve driven about 4000 miles now with the ‘new’ gearbox and the following occurs.
When the engine is cold this problem is not present by the way, only after about driving 15-20 miles, but this is not always the case(!), on some days my problem does not come up!!

When I want to pick up speed I notice that it seems that the clutch slips.
I went to my local dealer thinking the gearbox might (again) have a problem.
The head mechanic from the dealer was quite certain it is not my gearbox.
His opinion is that my clutch assembly is the problem, his reason for saying this is that I did not buy it at the dealer…
So I went to my parts guy and he told me the manufactorer of my new clutch assembly is the same as Seat has, so it can not be my clutch….
They suggested looking at the clutch operating assembly.
I looked at it yesterday, the hydrolic lines are clean ( parts under it do not show drops of fluid, so my guess is that there is no leackage). I dismounted the receiver (the part on the clutch), this part was clean and looked almost new…

Before looking at the sender (the part beneith my clutchpedal) I intend to check if there is possibly any air left in the hydrolic system…

Does anybody have any suggestions what could be my problem or have any suggestion for a solution of my problem?

Thanks for your help!

Cheers, Erik

Topic

[college man]

if you feel the clutch is slipping.you may have air in
the hydraulic system.try bleeding the clutch master and slave
cylinder.here is some videos to help.

[dreamer2355]

Great post above.

I would also make sure the clutch disc has no type of contamination either when it was installed.

[Erik van Vilsteren]

Thanks for your post.

I know I had no contaminations when I installed the clutch assembly…
My problem is that I don’t know what the dealers mechanic did when the gearbox got switched twice.

And because my problem only occurs after some time (when it occurs) and is not there immediately (and continuous) my guess (and also that of my parts guys) is that the chance of a probable contamination is very small. The troubleshooting guide of the clutch manufactorer also suggests bleeding the hydrolic operating system.

But thanks fo reminding, maybe at the end I do have to take the whole thing apart…

[Erik van Vilsteren]

Thanks for your reply!

The manufactorer of the clutch assembly also suggested this.
Als otha nks for the video links, eventhough I have seen them several times already, now I don’t to look for them 🙂

[EricTheCarGuy]

If you feel the clutch is slipping it’s not likely to be a transmission problem or a hydraulic problem. That said it’s important to use the correct fluid in the transmission for proper operation so be sure you have the correct fluid in there. That said a clutch is a wear item and it really depends on driving habits how long they last. I’ve replaced clutches at 10K on some peoples cars. Also if it’s slipping the hydraulics wouldn’t come into play because they are only active when you engage the clutch so if that was a problem you might have difficulty shifting into gear, NOT a slipping problem. Lastly you might want to check into an engine performance issue. If there’s an issue there it could cause a problem that ‘feels’ like a clutch slipping. If you have any check engine lights on or anything like that it’s probably worth looking into, repair it, then recheck for the problem.

[Erik van Vilsteren]

Thanks for the reply Eric,

On my previous cars I replaced the clutch after drivin about 200 000 miles, my drivin style is not so that I need to replace it after this short amount of miles, that is why I am so surprised about this problem…

My first thought about the hydraulic system was as you mention, hydraulic problem would mean not being able to engage to clutch.
Then I thought there might be an air bubble in te system which gets bigger when the engine gets warmer ( this would confirm why my problem only occurs whe the engine is warm and is not present when my engine is cold/ cooled down).
But that said, I find it strange that this now occurs, after driving about 4000 miles without any problems whatsoever…
Maybe the mechanics who exchanged my gearbox did not bleed the hydraulics? I do not know that.

About engine performs: as far as I can see/feel is that it performes as it should, there are no ‘dips’ or ‘jumps’ in the performance of the engine. Also no warning lights that light up… Its a real mistery for me…

Another thought: Could it be that the gears, inside the gearbox, are slipping on their shafts?
Because it is a refurbished gearbox, I thought this might be a cause….
This was one of my first thoughts about this problem…

[EricTheCarGuy]

No to all your questions. It’s not really possible for the transmission to cause a ‘slipping’ feeling. In addition if the problem happens when you’re not on the clutch then the hydraulics have nothing to do with it either. It could be you have a pressure plate failing or something like that but I would rule out the clutch hydraulics and the gearbox altogether.

[Erik van Vilsteren]

Thanks Eric,

You confirm my worst thought, of having to take the whole thing apart again…
But if that is the case I will get dirty!
Next weekend I’ll go and get busy so you will be hearing/reading from me!

Again thank you for your assisstance!

[EricTheCarGuy]

At least you’re only looking at replacing the clutch and not having to rebuild the transmission. Keep us posted.

[Erik van Vilsteren]

Hi Eric!

Today I got dirty 😉
This week I again spoke with my parts guys about my clutch problem.
They also suggested that maybe my clutch release lever might not come back as it should.

in the photo I am pointing at the lever (shown from the outside, when the clutch slave cylinder was taken out

So I desided to take the whole thing aapart (again)!
To my amazement my problem was of a diferent kind!
It turned out that the seal on the axle inside of the gearbox was leaking!

So on monday I will go to my dealer and show him my findings and he can fix it in waranty 🙂

[college man]

Good find. keep us posted.

[EricTheCarGuy]

Agreed good find. Often that leak is actually the result of a worn out input shaft bearing so be sure they check that to make sure that it’s not the cause of the leak. Keep us posted.

[Author]

Replies