clutch on the floor - not the pedal - need some help :)

[Simplicity]

Hello all,


Well i have had an eventful morning, on my way to work in rush hour traffic i cam off a round about and the clutch pedal went to the floor and refused to come back up. I managed to limp the car to a pub car park out of the way.


I initially thought, "i know what this is - the dreaded S3 broken clutch pedal", however upon further investigation its all fine. I then popped the bonnet and i have a fluid lead on the small circular disk on the bulk head (where 2 pipes fro the clutch linie seem to meet.


Has anyone had this issue too? and if so did you manage any easy fixes to get the car home?


Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[Ste_Nova]

drive it home without using the clutch

 

[Simplicity]

thats the plan i think, its the other side of the city from where i live so im going to get it late tonight so the traffic will be quieter and the drive nicer.


Any tips for clutchless driving?

 

[Administrators]

Sounds like the Clutch Master Cylinder...

 

[vrbob]

Clutchless driving is a weird thing the main prob is getting into first and getting moving but once moving if you can try to avoid stopping eg crawl towards lights etc thats will make things easier.

as for actually changing gear you can push the gearstick towards the gate of the gear you want and as you go through the revs it should find a point where it will slip into gear but i have no idea if this is good or bad for the car as i havnt tried doing so since i had my old pug 205 about 12 years ago.

 

[beanoir]

Mine has done this a few times, but normally when I get in and start the car the clutch is fully depressed but then comes back up and works fine with a quick reverse flick of the end of my foot.

Driving without a clutch varies in difficulty from car to car (and i've not tried it in my Audi yet), but generally you might find slipping the lever into gear at a certain revs will work, it's finding the right point in the rev range where the gear will engage with a bit of (not too much) persuasion), so when driving keep a bit of pressure on the lever towards the next gear you want to engage and you should feel the lever give at the right point in the revs. The problem you're going to have is pulling away from standstill. My experience is the older the car the easier it is, it's a piece of cake in my XR2!

EDIT: Beat me too it, what Vrbob says!!

 

[[Dave B]]

I hope it's not your slave cylinder, but it sounds a lot like when mine went: http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-forum-8l-chassis/121864-clucth-slave-cylinder-expired.html

 

[Ste_Nova]

pulling away is easy, just start it in 1st gear

 

[Simplicity]

I can see where the fluid is leaking from so im pretty sure its not the mater or slave. It looks like a pipe comes from the master cylinder across the bulk head to a large circular piece of metal (junction box??), another pipe exits the other side and heads off to the slave on the gearbox. The fluid is leaking from the pipe leaving the junction box which then heads to the slave/gearbox.


Im fairly sure its simply the pipe that has split / cracked (fingers crossed). Its strange as i initially thought was this must be the pedal but as thats fine and i have a fluid leak that must be the issue.


Thanks for the tips on driving clutchless - this evening might be funny having to cross newcastle

 

[Simplicity]

forgot to add the small junction box is on the pass side and you can see it on the bulkhead behind/lower than the TIP

 

[Pacetree]

forgot to add the small junction box is on the pass side and you can see it on the bulkhead behind/lower than the TIP

Hi Guys, Does anyone know what this part actually is?

Mine has gone in my S3 and my friendly mechanic is telling me it's an £80 part. It looks ****** simple but I have no idea what it is. He suggested it's a Clutch Regulator Valve or something.

Any help greatly appreciated!

 

[cjsuk]

Mine stuck down when i bought it in march, but putting my foot under to lift it worked lol, it did it for a week or so then just cleared up not had it since and 1000's of miles later all fine.

Changing up without a clutch is ok, it's just when it comes to changing down (crunch)

 

[S3 TAM]

Are you talking about the abs unit, square bottom with black cylinder top?

 

[S3 TAM]

do it look like this?

 

[Pacetree]

fluid leak on the small circular disk on the bulk head (where 2 pipes fro the clutch line seem to meet.

It's exactly as Simplicity says - It's mounted on the firewall has a pipe (from Clutch fluid system) coming in one side, a small circular disk on the front (maybe about 1.5 Inches diameter from memory) and another small pipe coming out the other side.

It's much smaller than the ABS unit. (I need one of those as well!)

 

[Pacetree]

Funny,

I just noticed that it is indeed in that image you posted;

 

[aragorn]

Changing up without a clutch is ok, it's just when it comes to changing down (crunch)

If you do it right theres no crunch.

pull the box into neutral, rev it up past where the RPM's will be in the new gear, let off the throttle and as the revs fall hold the stick against the desired gear and it'll drop in as the falling RPM's match the new gears speed.

Obviously it helps to know roughly where the revs are going to end up.

 

[Pacetree]

Sorry to Bump but does anyone actually know what this thing pictured above is called or part number? Should I be paying my Mechanic £80 in parts?

 

[<tuffty/>]

Sorry to Bump but does anyone actually know what this thing pictured above is called or part number? Should I be paying my Mechanic £80 in parts?

ABS pump...

<tuffty/>

 

[Pacetree]

Thanks Tuffty. No the bit described in this thread and pictured above in the red circle with the arrow going to it.

 

[Pacetree]

Thanks Tuffty. No the bit described in this thread and pictured above in the red circle with the arrow going to it.

Does anyone know what that bit encircled in red is? (NOT the abs unit).

It's attached to the firewall, pipe from clutch fluid system in on one side, small disk facing outwards, another pipe out the other.

Click on the picture entitled "absunit.jpg" if it's not showing (I don't know how to attach pictures!?) and there it is highlighted in red in the bottom left of the ABS Unit picture.

 

[Pacetree]

Well I paid for it anyway and it's come back as simply "tube" P/N 1J2721465BA

 

[cjsuk]

If you do it right theres no crunch.

pull the box into neutral, rev it up past where the RPM's will be in the new gear, let off the throttle and as the revs fall hold the stick against the desired gear and it'll drop in as the falling RPM's match the new gears speed.

Obviously it helps to know roughly where the revs are going to end up.

Gonna have to have a go at that lol, for years I have tried changing down but crunch lol, works van is the candidate for the job though lol