Clutch pedal vibration/judder after clutch and flywheel change

[chadvaliant]

Hi

I just had my clutch, slave and dual mass flywheel replaced in my 2007 8P S3 and now I have problems that I can't explain. I was hoping you good people could shed some light on it.

Problems are...

1. Every now and again there is a big miss in the power and then it boots me in the ****. It feels like a big jolt almost like someone has just rear ended me slightly. (The mechanic said it was the ecu relearning after the battery being disconnected.)

2. There is a droning/vibration happening whenever I decelerate through 2500 rpm. It kind of sounds like a big bore exhaust except the noise is coming from deep in the engine bay somewhere. (The mechanic said it could be the ecu controlling the exhaust flap differently after the battery being disconnected.)

3. It is much harder to get into 1st, 2nd and 3rd gears. It used to be so silky smooth to use those gears and now I dread changing gears. (Mechanic said that I should get the gear oil changed despite the fact it's only 9000km old and genuine VAG gear oil.)

4. I went for a long drive three days ago and near the end of my drive I put my foot on the clutch pedal very slightly and there was a massive vibration/judder. It seems to be intermittent because I've been trying to replicate it without much luck. Sometimes it vibrates a little but never like that one time. (Mechanic told me that it feels fine to him.)

Does anyone have any idea if these things are related or what could be causing them?

When I dropped my car off to get the flywheel replaced originally I asked if I could look at my new dual mass because I was curious as to what one looked like. I played with it and I noticed it had a lot of slop. The top mass would slop around by about 10mm completely freely in an axial direction and about 2 to 3mm in a perpendicular direction. I told them I thought it looked suspect and they agreed. They sent it back to their supplier but the supplier returned it and said it was perfect.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

p.s. I did google the vibrating clutch pedal problem but most of what I found was about diesels.

 

[OVRA3]

Ive not had a new clutch but I get the vibration and judder too. I am thinking its one of two things the release bearing most probably or possibly engine mounts. I get a vibration when pulling away and at biting point when changing gear its annoying but I dont have any clutch slip or anything so just going to leave it for the time being.

 

[DJ-S3]

The vibration on deceleration is the propshaft due to it being old! Well that's what Statllers told me when I had my clutch and flywheel replaced but I've got a smf. They said you need to get a new prop to stop it from happening! But at the price of the £1200 I said I'd live with it. Happens from 2500rpm down to 2000rpm. Sounds like you said, a bore exhaust but vibrates the whole car.

My advice, just change gear to avoid that rpm range on deceleration. Haha

 

[NobberUK]

The vibration on deceleration is the propshaft due to it being old! Well that's what Statllers told me when I had my clutch and flywheel replaced but I've got a smf. They said you need to get a new prop to stop it from happening! But at the price of the £1200 I said I'd live with it. Happens from 2500rpm down to 2000rpm. Sounds like you said, a bore exhaust but vibrates the whole car.

My advice, just change gear to avoid that rpm range on deceleration. Haha

I have the exact same issue with mine since installing the LOBA/Sachs 550nm SMF kit. It really bugged me at first but I now I tend to drive round that rev range whenever possible.

Never knew it was the prop shaft, good to know.

 

[DJ-S3]

I have the exact same issue with mine since installing the LOBA/Sachs 550nm SMF kit. It really bugged me at first but I now I tend to drive round that rev range whenever possible.

Never knew it was the prop shaft, good to know.

Exactly same clutch kit. Statllers said they've had it on s3 before with the same clutch kit and some how they managed to get the prop replaced under warranty as the car wasn't that old. It solved the vibration but it would come back eventually. Mines a 2007 so no chance of me getting it under warranty!

Does yours do it up that part of the rev range as well as down? Mine does.

 

[max69vk]

Propshafts can be reconditioned and rebalanced for a hell of a lot less than the cost of replacement. Do a search & you'll find loads of info on the site.

 

[bmh.01]

1 and 2 the mechanic has broken something if it wasn't doing it before. 2 is possible damaged the prop bearing doing the job.

3 he hasn't aligned the gear cables properly which seeing as its the easiest most well thought out way to align them possible would worry me.

Either way take it back if you still trust him to work on the car.

 

[NobberUK]

Exactly same clutch kit. Statllers said they've had it on s3 before with the same clutch kit and some how they managed to get the prop replaced under warranty as the car wasn't that old. It solved the vibration but it would come back eventually. Mines a 2007 so no chance of me getting it under warranty!

Does yours do it up that part of the rev range as well as down? Mine does.

Yeh mate. Does it on the way up and down. Is worse in 4th, 5th and 6th as your working things much harder.

3 he hasn't aligned the gear cables properly which seeing as its the easiest most well thought out way to align them possible would worry me.

Either way take it back if you still trust him to work on the car.

I'm guessing that's the same problem for me then?

 

[DJ-S3]

Must be. Mines fine engaging gears

 

[chadvaliant]

Thank you everyone for you replies.

So what it sounds like is the mechanic damaged the driveshaft whilst working on it. Then put the gear linkages back wrong. This car is my worst nightmare. I've only just had to take another mechanic to court for ruining my diff.

Has anyone got any idea about the power surge?

Has anyone got any idea about the vibrating clutch pedal? I mean it was just the clutch pedal, like a hydraulic feedback thing. Not the whole car shaking and me just feeling it in the pedal.

I was kind of hoping it was all because of a bad flywheel. I get the impression from your answers that it's probably not. It would be easier for me to blame a faulty part than to tell the mechanic that they messed up the driveshaft and gear linkages and probably the clutch install too. Maybe even the wastegate for the power surge problem. Does that have to be touched when doing this procedure?

 

[chadvaliant]

The vibration on deceleration is the propshaft due to it being old! Well that's what Statllers told me when I had my clutch and flywheel replaced but I've got a smf. They said you need to get a new prop to stop it from happening! But at the price of the £1200 I said I'd live with it. Happens from 2500rpm down to 2000rpm. Sounds like you said, a bore exhaust but vibrates the whole car.

My advice, just change gear to avoid that rpm range on deceleration. Haha

Is it strange that a drive shaft vibrates at a certain rpm as opposed to a certain speed? I'm not saying that you or Statllers are wrong but doesn't it seem strange? Does it just happen to hit a resonance with the engine at that rpm?

 

[Jonse]

Exactly same clutch kit. Statllers said they've had it on s3 before with the same clutch kit and some how they managed to get the prop replaced under warranty as the car wasn't that old. It solved the vibration but it would come back eventually. Mines a 2007 so no chance of me getting it under warranty!

Does yours do it up that part of the rev range as well as down? Mine does.

Same Clutch here aswell and i get the same. Could this not just be something to do with the SMF?

Thanks

Ryan

 

[DJ-S3]

Same Clutch here aswell and i get the same. Could this not just be something to do with the SMF?

Thanks

Ryan

I think it's probably because the smf can't absorb the vibration.

 

[Jonse]

Yeah probs right. I also get chatter on idle

 

[DJ-S3]

Mines fine from the inside. But if you stand at the front of the car you can hear it chattering. Doesn't bother me though.

 

[c_w]

There's a reason for the DMF, as annoying as they are they are designed to smooth out vibration, more so in the diesels but the petrol models too so there will be a resonance frequency that you might be feeling at 2500rpm.

Also might be worth checking the engine mounts, sounds daft but if they are put under tension then it can affect NVH; I found a measurement from an AUDI bulletin somewhere online (can't remember where now!) about a specified gap on the top and gearbox mount.

 

[chadvaliant]

There's a reason for the DMF, as annoying as they are they are designed to smooth out vibration, more so in the diesels but the petrol models too so there will be a resonance frequency that you might be feeling at 2500rpm.

Also might be worth checking the engine mounts, sounds daft but if they are put under tension then it can affect NVH; I found a measurement from an AUDI bulletin somewhere online (can't remember where now!) about a specified gap on the top and gearbox mount.

Engine mounts is an interesting idea but do you think it could be causing a power surge or rough gear changes? Also would it cause just the clutch pedal to judder?

Or have we stopped talking about my car and just moved on to DMF vs SMF? My car is factory dual mass. SMF was brought up by someone else.

Also, I'm not sure what NVH is, sorry. I want to guess natural vehicle harmonics but that would be a very wild guess.

 

[chadvaliant]

I just re-read my last post and I realised that it might have sounded sarcastic or facetious, sorry if it did, it was genuine.

Does anyone think engine mounts could cause all four of my new problems?

Also I don't have a single mass flywheel, it's an LUK dual mass one, like the factory one. Could that not be causing all the problems? Could it not be a dud flywheel? Would that not cause hydraulic feedback to the pedal, power surges and stiff gear changes? Maybe not the droning noise but I really don't know.

 

[c_w]

Ah right! I got confused by later responses and then got the impression you'd gone for a single mass setup.

I adjusted an engine mount clearance on my 2.0TID and it did make a difference in how the engine felt when taking up drive. I think I found the details on elsawin or something, it shows a diagram and a specific distance on an engine mount. NVH=noise, vibration and harshness).

I get loads of feedback through my pedal on my TDI, it has varied on all 3 TDIs I've had but would expect a petrol engine to be fairly smooth/none.