Sachs clutch to bed in or not to bed in that's the question?

Sammyfat

Sammyfat

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Hi
Just got my s3 clutch done (ouch) what I want to know is does it need bedding in?
i asked the specialist who is jabbasport and the said it doesn't need bedding at all if anything a slight thrashing to bed in.
i have read many threads on here that state it needs keeping off turbo and being very gentle on throttle to bed in.
so I'm very confused?!
any thoughts much appreciated!
 
Never bedded a clutch in, just use it as you wish
 
I've had 2 of these kits in 2 different tfsi's and soon to put one in my S3
Usually you take it easy for 500 miles to bed in, my findings are this on the 1st car I took it easy for 500 miles and it juddered and stank when reversing in the end I drove it normally and it bedded in within 200 miles
The 2nd I took it easy for 100 miles then drove normal and it bed in quicker and the new owner is still happy with it 25k later.
Drive how you like just don't do any traffic light grand prixs yet.
 
The advice on mine from AMD was to give it at least 500 miles before giving it any hell.

That worked very well as the clutch lasted up to around 440 lbs before it gave in.

Thrash them early and they may not last.
 
S3Alex said:
The advice on mine from AMD was to give it at least 500 miles before giving it any hell.

That worked very well as the clutch lasted up to around 440 lbs before it gave in.

Thrash them early and they may not last.
Click to expand...

You'll probably know the answer to this..

Why do you need to bed them in, not just to make it last but is the top layer of a clutch got some sort of preservative on or something like tyres do when they are brand new?
 
I was going to get my Sach clutch installed from darkside develpments based up in Leeds when I drive up from London next month. Does that mean the 250 mile journey could have an impact on the clutch on the way back or not at all?
 
Bedding clutch material in is the same principle as bedding brake pads in. Not all clutch's need bedding in, generally the harder the friction material the more it needs to be bed in so to speak. But its not always the case. I've fit paddle clutch's before at the side of a track and then the cars gone out and been given death right from 0 miles and no problems.

I gave mine 500 miles of normal driving before I put my toe down. You don't have to granddad it every were just don't stick the clutch in then go directly to santa pod.
 
Cheers for the replies, I think I'm going to drive normally for couple hundred miles and work it in from there.
 
smurfworth said:
You'll probably know the answer to this..

Why do you need to bed them in, not just to make it last but is the top layer of a clutch got some sort of preservative on or something like tyres do when they are brand new?
Click to expand...

My understanding of it is this.

The Sachs is an organic based clutch and if you overheat it early on it disintegrates sometimes or you simply ruin the friction material.
 
Last edited:
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I have taken it easy for about 800 miles to help bed my Sachs and new dmf in. It feels really good now but I still get a little paranoid when I hear of some peoples failing although this might be due to their driving style. I dont do any race starts and hitting the limiter. I am at revo stage 1 and would like to go to stage 2+ soon but I only do 3000-5000 miles a year so hopefully this will last a few years as I don't really want to fit a smf.
 
AdriansS3 said:
I have taken it easy for about 800 miles to help bed my Sachs and new dmf in. It feels really good now but I still get a little paranoid when I hear of some peoples failing although this might be due to their driving style. I dont do any race starts and hitting the limiter. I am at revo stage 1 and would like to go to stage 2+ soon but I only do 3000-5000 miles a year so hopefully this will last a few years as I don't really want to fit a smf.
Click to expand...

Mine lasted through Stg2+ and into Stg3 but like you I don't do race starts.
 
That's good to hear Alex. Do you remember how many miles you managed on it before it gave up at stage 3
 
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AdriansS3 said:
That's good to hear Alex. Do you remember how many miles you managed on it before it gave up at stage 3
Click to expand...

It's not the mileage that finished it but the torque.
It was fine up to around 440lbs but began to slip fate that so we had to back the boost off a bit until the Spec clutch arrived.

It had easily covered about 10 000 miles at Stg3
 
just fitted my sachs racing clutch and new flywheel to my tdi rated at 550 nm so I wont have a problem with that not racing about for 600 miles to run in I think .
 
Hi hello my name is Fabio and I would like to say hello to everyone on the forum thanks for letting me be a part of it .
I'm a owner of an Audi a4 2.0 tdi 170 b7 I ordered a organic Sachs clutch kit and Dmf from darksid developments mechanic installed it on Friday but I think something is wrong in 1 gear the car shakes alot when setting off it doesn't shake if I rev engine up and the same happens in reverse gear I've done 100 miles of easy going below 3500 rpm please if someone can give me some info if it's normal or not I appreciate any help thanks
 
fabs19 said:
Hi hello my name is Fabio and I would like to say hello to everyone on the forum thanks for letting me be a part of it .
I'm a owner of an Audi a4 2.0 tdi 170 b7 I ordered a organic Sachs clutch kit and Dmf from darksid developments mechanic installed it on Friday but I think something is wrong in 1 gear the car shakes alot when setting off it doesn't shake if I rev engine up and the same happens in reverse gear I've done 100 miles of easy going below 3500 rpm please if someone can give me some info if it's normal or not I appreciate any help thanks
Click to expand...

Perfectly normal and will behave like a normal clutch after a bit of time. Thought my car was going to fall apart when mine was first put in it was juddering that badly but it's fine now.
 
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smurfworth said:
Perfectly normal and will behave like a normal clutch after a bit of time. Thought my car was going to fall apart when mine was first put in it was juddering that badly but it's fine now.
Click to expand...
OK thanks how long did it do this before being normal ? At the moment in 1 and reverse the car it's like falling apart and front wheels judder too
 
fabs19 said:
OK thanks how long did it do this before being normal ? At the moment in 1 and reverse the car it's like falling apart and front wheels judder too
Click to expand...

Few hundred miles, still slightly juddered and stank after 500 miles.

Still judders ever so slightly in first now at times when no throttle is applied and that's after a few thousand miles under its belt.
 
OK and you think it's normal ?? Or should I take my car to the mechanic thanks
 
You should always bed in a clutch. If you overheat it the surface will glaze and its holding power will be massively reduced.
 
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OK update on the problem mecanhic dropped gearbox he thought it was a bad flywheel bought new one same as the one that came with the kit from darkside dev paid £240 to Euroeurocarparts assembled everything back checked the torque of the flywheel bolts and pressure plate after all of this nothing changed so I don't know
I've got pics of pressure plate and clutch thanks
 
fabs19 said:
OK update on the problem mecanhic dropped gearbox he thought it was a bad flywheel bought new one same as the one that came with the kit from darkside dev paid £240 to Euroeurocarparts assembled everything back checked the torque of the flywheel bolts and pressure plate after all of this nothing changed so I don't know
I've got pics of pressure plate and clutch thanks
Click to expand...

Like I told you.. It's normal. It's the hardness of the new clutch material bedding in. It will resolve its self.

The only other option is take it out and put a standard clutch in to resolve your "issue" which isn't actually an issue.
 
Yh I mean I will use this kit until it fails but never again I will use this type of material it's the worst thing I have ever done to my baby loool I bought the kit for stage2 power so as soon it beds in like you say maybe I like it this is like a nightmare of oil pump but all is good thanks mate
 
Fabs19 - I know it's not ideal to judder on a new flywheel/clutch setup but if it bedded in within a few hundred miles it wouldn't last 5minutes in the scheme of things. I posted a similar thread about 18months ago when I fitted a SACH DMF and clutch kit; had really bad judder - I had to check the engine mounts were ok. Advice on here was to bed it in - I wasn't convinced but it turned out to be true - after a few thousand miles (yes that long for me as I don't do a great deal of town driving).

Judder or not though, you should bed in a clutch - as S3mat said, if you thrash/slip a virgin clutch it could superheat small areas of the flywheel creating hard hotspots which will lead to long-term judder and lower clutch performance.
 
OK thanks I will take it easy and see how it goes thanks that's give me confidence at the moment I'm having an argument with rob at darkside dev maybe I should apologize and shut up lool thanks cw
 
smurfworth said:
Perfectly normal and will behave like a normal clutch after a bit of time. Thought my car was going to fall apart when mine was first put in it was juddering that badly but it's fine now.
Click to expand...


I 100% agree and could not of said it any better..... I remember you asking the same questions
 
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I never bedded mine in. Nothing whatsoever on the manufactures page either about bedding in. Ive had no probs at all with mine. Although sometimes when I reverse up my street at home, there would be a smell like rotten eggs from it. My street is quite steep. I dont know if thats normal or not.
 
I have bedded mine in slowly over the last 1000 miles and haven't really driven her that hard.
It's only been the last 4 weeks that I've given her some welly every now and then :)
 
To be honest I have probably unintentionally bedded mine in, as I dont drive her "hard" that often, nor do I partake in the traffic lights grand prix.
 
Getting my clutch installed next Wednesday and then Blyton Park all day the Friday after so we shall see! Personally I don't think it's the amount of miles you put on it as someone could do 300 miles of lots of stop starts. Someone could then do 1000 miles with very few gear changes and stop starts. Sounds like it needs a few heat cycles and the friction plate getting a bit of use.
 
When I say bed in, I mean do not overheat the clutch. This means no prolonged slipping, fast shifts at WOT, full boost WOT or launches. Day to day driving and none of the above for 500 miles at least gents. I don't know about you guys but if I dropped 1500 quid on a new clutch only to spank it racing the day it was fitted and have it slip I would be wounded.
 
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Thing is the Sachs with SMF set up we know can take 440lbs or more. People with TTE'420's run it and Alex ran it with a big turbo and it held. Stage 2+ puts out 400lb ft on some APR maps. So you can see how close it would be if the clutch was mistreated.

I just don't want anything reading this thread going away and thinking its OK to drive hard from the get go and facing another huge bill to change the clutch again.
 
S3_Mat said:
Thing is the Sachs with SMF set up we know can take 440lbs or more. People with TTE'420's run it and Alex ran it with a big turbo and it held. Stage 2+ puts out 400lb ft on some APR maps. So you can see how close it would be if the clutch was mistreated.

I just don't want anything reading this thread going away and thinking its OK to drive hard from the get go and facing another huge bill to change the clutch again.
Click to expand...

But the Sachs organic is rated to 400 lbs ft as far as I know..
 
The rated torque specs on clutches are never going to be to the lbft accurate. Some hold more and how its treated in its early life plays a factor with how much it will hold. Perhaps manufacturers conservatively rate them. Id rather not take the risk. A bit of patience and mechanical sympathy and its bedded in. You could do it in a few days if you wanted to.
 
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Had mine in for around 1200 miles now, was told that i didn't need to bed in, i took it steady for first 500 ish miles regardless and tbh apart from the occasional smell in the first few days it has never given any vibration of any kind and is holding nicely on 2+.
 
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S3_Mat said:
Click to expand...

Very good video. So I was right, I did unintentionally break in my clutch, as instructed in this video. I was lucky with that. I think it would be good for this to be more common knowledge.
 
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