OMG Clutch Pedal Just snapped.

[Mr.G]

Hi guys.

I really could do with some help here. While pulling out of a fuel station my clutch pedal snapped. Not got much of an idea when it comes to things mechanical, so if you think you know what could have caused it or if there is a common fault please let me know.

I'm about to use the search now to see if i can find anything.

Thanks in advance.

G

 

[jonny87]

common fault dude, the housing for the slave cylinder arm on the pedal arm is only spot welded in one or two places and just snaps after time, if you're not very good mechanically then i would say take it to a garage as its a fiddly *** job to do

a garage should not charge you more than an hours labour and no more than £30 in parts, pedal is £15-20 iirc so make sure you are not getting ripped off

in the morning go have a look in the drivers footwell and check the slave cylinder arm thats poking through from the firewall, make sure this isnt bent, as there is a chance that snapping the pedal has dammaged it, in which case you need a new slave cylinder, which is a bigger job, fingers crossed you'll be ok though

oh, something else to note is when i replaced my pedal i beefed up the welds on the back to ensure this didnt happen again, whichever garage you take it to to be done i would ask them to do the same, wont cost you anymore and is better to be safe than sorry

 

[Mr.G]

How dangerous is this! Clutch pedal snapping, good job i was just about to pull off.

Parts ordered and will be in on Saturday. No part numbers to list as the Audi Parts Manager did the ordering, but will post them up for others when I get them.

Thanks

G

 

[finesse]

How did you get it home?

 

[Mr.G]

I had a tow from my friend. It's now sat on the driveway looking sorry for itself!

G

 

[mk1chopper]

common fault dude, the housing for the slave cylinder arm on the pedal arm is only spot welded in one or two places and just snaps after time, if you're not very good mechanically then i would say take it to a garage as its a fiddly *** job to do

a garage should not charge you more than an hours labour and no more than £30 in parts, pedal is £15-20 iirc so make sure you are not getting ripped off

in the morning go have a look in the drivers footwell and check the slave cylinder arm thats poking through from the firewall, make sure this isnt bent, as there is a chance that snapping the pedal has dammaged it, in which case you need a new slave cylinder, which is a bigger job, fingers crossed you'll be ok though

oh, something else to note is when i replaced my pedal i beefed up the welds on the back to ensure this didnt happen again, whichever garage you take it to to be done i would ask them to do the same, wont cost you anymore and is better to be safe than sorry

Dont you mean master cylinder, the slave cylinder is located at the clutch itself and is mounted internally, hence why its a big job to change as you have to drop the subframe and remove the gear box. The master cylinder is mounted behing the clutch pedal and isnt a great job to change but not as bad as the slave cylinder.

 

[ALPINE]

im dreadding the day this happens to me. hope you get it sorted matey.

 

[mk1chopper]

Snapped cluthch pedal isnt the one to worry about its failed clutch slave cylinder, this happened to me last week, new clutch, new slave cylinder and new flywheel.

 

[Mr.G]

Yea, I bet that was a real worry. I'm more annoyed that this simple component, one that is relied on to drive is so weak.

Silly design.

G

 

[jonny87]

Dont you mean master cylinder, the slave cylinder is located at the clutch itself and is mounted internally, hence why its a big job to change as you have to drop the subframe and remove the gear box. The master cylinder is mounted behing the clutch pedal and isnt a great job to change but not as bad as the slave cylinder.

ahem, i stand corrected

lol sorry, chopper is totally right, not all bad news then

are you going to do it yourself mate?

 

[Mr.G]

Well i'm crossing my legs, arms, fingers, hair strands, eye lashes etc that my master cylinder arm isn't bent or broken as this puts back the work I have planned for next week in Awesome GTI. Parts are in on the weekend so hopefully with everything crossed it'll be ok and back on the road saturday afternoon.

G

 

[Imteyaz]

Stupid thing is the new pedal will be built in exactly the same way so at some stage it will fail again. Have a look at your new pedal and compare with the broken one and you will see that if VW / AUDI had welded along two other edges during the production, it would minimise the risk of failure to alomost none IMO. I didn't wait for my pedal to break, I ordered a new one, had the new pedal welded and replaced it. It is a pain in the backside to do (chaffed elbows anyone?) due to the limited spaced available but 'do-able'.

Have a look here for more details, the process is similar: http://uk-mkivs.net/forums/p/18012/170853.aspx#170853

Good luck.

 

[chancer]

The job take about 30 mins and is only fiddly as you are on your back in the foot well fitting it.Don't lose the bush or washers when you dismantle. Use a large screwdriver to prise the over centre spring back into position whilst having a helper depress the clutch. It's a straightforward fix and not too costly

 

[s3ollie]

little tip if your doing it your self, get some thin wire, compress the spring and wire it up end to end. Once you have the peadle and spring bolted in place cut the wire and hey presto:icon_thumright:

 

[Imteyaz]

little tip if your doing it your self, get some thin wire, compress the spring and wire it up end to end. Once you have the peadle and spring bolted in place cut the wire and hey presto:icon_thumright:

I used two tie-wraps to do the same thing, that spring is tough to compress, use a vice to compress and whilst in situ, stick some wire / tie-wrap to keep it in the compressed position and slowly release it from the vice, I wouldn't want that to 'unspring' until required!

 

[Dani_B19]

Try having it snap on you pulling out a junction with on coming traffic, that is **** your pants tackle i can tell you

 

[jonny87]

luckily mine went halfway down a dual track, i was over taking someone at the time and was side by side with them when it went, so had to kinda coast in nuetral and pull back in behind them, got some funny looks off the driver of the other car lol

 

[Zenin]

im scared now, is there an easy way to re-enforce the pedal DIY style..

 

[jonny87]

either remove it and weld it

or

wait for it to break

in all fairness the ones that are breaking are the original item and have lasted 10 years which aint bad going seeing as they are only spot welded, ive got a paddle clutch which has made my pedal extremly heavy which is why i had mine welded, but if you got a fairly light pedal then theres no reason why the new pedal shouldnt last another ten years without being beefed up, but while you can, why not?

 

[Mr.G]

Hi all.

Well not a good weekend. In all fairness to my friend who fitted the next clutch pedal assembly it wasn't easy.

Accidentally broke the clutch position sensor, so now car over revs each gear change and drives strangely, can't explain it but it's worse when you put your foot down, not smooth at all. The clutch pedal is now wobbling, feels nasty to drive. And I now think that the master cylinder rod is bent as friend told me it is, so all in all it went well.

To top my weekend off, my Omega Seamaster (watch) has condensation on the inside of the crystal, another expense!

The car is booked into Awesome GTI for loads of work to begin on Saturday so I've already explained that this needs to be fixed as well. I'm a perfectionist and as such all will have to be replaced for me to be happy, a very expensive lesson learned. Only hope is that the master cylinder can be replaced with little effort and without taking subframe off and gearbox out.

We will see.

G

 

[mk1chopper]

Sorry to hear it didnt go well, I think the master cylinder can be changed without dropping the subframe, but clutch will need to be pressure bleed after but awesome gti will be able to carry that out for you.

 

[Mr.G]

Nothing like a good reply to change ones mood!

Thanks. I'm hoping it's not a costly job.

G

 

[chancer]

If the clutch pedal is wobbly you didn't fit the bush back or the spacers.Mine was the same after I bought it. The previous owner had disregarded the bush and spacers and simply put the bolt through the pedal because it was easier.

 

[jonny87]

yer mate, i got the slave/master cylinders mixed up, the master cylinder is the easier of the two to change and the actual cylinder isnt that expensive (£60-80 iirc)

the pedal will be wobbly if, as chopper said, the bushes havent been fitted, easily missed out to be fair

 

[jdas03]

Any signs before it breaks thatll let me know its on its way out? I'm worried now as mines squeaky!

 

[jdas03]

Any signs before it breaks thatll let me know its on its way out? I'm worried now as mines squeaky!

 

[Mr.G]

Yes mine was squeaking for a long while before it finally went. It doesn't squeak anymore but it's useless as it's wobbling. Will be getting Awesome GTI to repair the lot once it's taken there on Saturday.

G

 

[chancer]

If it helps. The master cylinder rod on mine had bent slightly when the pedal had broken. It is still like it but the pedal and clutch operation are perfect. So you may not need the master cylinder. The bend can occur as the pedal starts to give and pushes slightly skewed rather than straight prior to breaking.I hope this all gets sorted nice and cheap for you, it feels awful when the pedal is all over the place.

 

[Smokey_clark]

Just to mention, this happened to me as i was overtaking recently and i had to coast back in behind the car which was quite embarrasing but basically when the RAC guy came out he explained that it is a safety feature to stop the clutch pedal coming up and snapping your ankle in 2 or more pieces as the result of a front end crash, beef up the welds if you like but obviously if you crash you may regret it!
Audi probably spent quite a while working out how much force it should take to break so if it is breaking through normal driving like mine did then it is probably gonna be a problem with the clutch.
Audi quoted me £300 for the new pedal and to change the Master cylinder while they are down there, i am gonna try my local VW/Audi specialist and i'll let you know the final price to fix.

 

[paneristi232]

This happened on my old 1999 1.8T, pulling off the motorway depressed the clutch and it never came back up!! Managed to drive it 100 miles with no clutch and got it welded for £17 at a local garage. Touch wood not had any issues with the S3 but I've probably just put the kiss of death on it!

J