Clutch issue

[Radu Nastasa]

Hi,

I was waiting to enter a roundabout, I pressed the clutch, put it in first gear and when I released the clutch, it grabbed a lot sooner, right after a slight release of the pedal and with a soft feedback. In the past it was grabbing after the first quarter and with a firm feedback.

Then, I started the Engine, put it in first, and managed to take of, with this new clutch behavior.

Due to trafic jam, I had to stop after few meters(inside the roundabout😄), and when I pressed the clutch to take it from first to neutral, it felt stiff, but managed to put it in neutral.

Then when I pressed the clutch again I was not able to put it in first gear. I retried 3 times without success. It was not entering first gear. Every time I pressed the clutch pedal it felt different then normal, it was more stiff this time.

I decided to restart the engine and this time I was able to select first gear. This time, the cutch was not stiff when pressing the pedal, it felt soft.

I continued to drive at slow speed, but noticed that the clutch was now engaging later then before, in the last quarter of the travel, in comparison to before when it was engaging after the first quarter. Again with a soft feedback.

I noticed that the brake fluid level had risen in the last 6 months, about 2cm.

Please can someone tell me what could be the root cause?

Thank you!

[Radu Nastasa]

I forgot to mention, the brake pedal felt normal. I could not do a hard brake test as I was driving at slow speed during trafic.

[Bobr]

I had a similar problem on a previous car and it turned out to be the clutch slave cylinder.

[Radu Nastasa]

Hi, thank you so much for the information!

[Radu Nastasa]

Update:

The dealer said there was some air in the clutch hydraulic line. They said the clutch master cylinder could be broken and if it happens again to replace it.

After this the clutch pedal worked better. Also reverse gear was more easy to engage. Strage event, I noticed one time the clutch pedal was stiff before I tried to start it. This was after the car stood in the sun and got worm inside the cabin for the first time this year. After I started it the clutch pedal felt normal.

[RattusRich]

Hi Radu I had a similar issue last month, it was air in the hydraulic system due to a faulty top hat seal behind the battery housing. It could also be the seals on the slave cylinder or as your dealer has said the same issue on the master. Getting to the slave cylinder can be a pain as it's inside the bell housing, with my issue I had the slave cylinder and clutch replaced before the true location of the leak was found. 

[Radu Nastasa]

On 5/19/2023 at 12:50 PM, RattusRich said:

Hi Radu I had a similar issue last month, it was air in the hydraulic system due to a faulty top hat seal behind the battery housing. It could also be the seals on the slave cylinder or as your dealer has said the same issue on the master. Getting to the slave cylinder can be a pain as it's inside the bell housing, with my issue I had the slave cylinder and clutch replaced before the true location of the leak was found. 

Hi Rich, thank you for sharing your case.

I visualy checked the hydraulic line from slave to master and noticed a possible leak around the slave cylinder where the line connects. It was there since i bought the car but can't tell if it's a real leak or it's just fluid from a previous system bleed. At the master cylinder area I didden't notice any leak but I will monitor it.

Every day I drive with the feeling it will happen again. Hope that not in trafic :)).

For now, I only noticed a stiff pedal before I start it, also noticed a slight catch when I take it out of first gear and reverse is again hard to engage.

I'm glad to hear it could be a small problem. Hope that it will be solved without a new cluch.

Thank you again!