# Clutch problems



## SalmonPatty (Feb 14, 2021)

I'm pretty new to the modding scene but this forum has been a huge help so far! I love my mk7 gti but it has been lightening my wallet a bit much recently. A week and a half ago my slave cylinder went and I had the flywheel, clutch disk, pressure plate and slave cylinder replaced by a local shop. It ran fine for a week but when accelerating I could feel wobbling on the pedal but I heard aftermarket clutches have a rattle sometimes so I figured it was that. But I backed out of my driveway and put it into first and it started grinding when I let off the clutch with no power to the wheels and needed to be pushed back into the driveway. My guess is it is the shift fork but I'm not a mechanic myself, any help from you guys would be super appreciated. Getting it sent to the shop tomorrow so I will update this thread as I go.


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## Gtsetsa1 (Sep 3, 2017)

Definitely send it back to the shop that did the work. If I had to guess, it sounds like they did something wrong. You can't however completely rule out a manufacturer defect. Aftermarket clutches can be noisy, but they should not make your pedal feel wobbly. That is not normal. Could be something simple like they never bled the clutch properly, but I doubt it. Bad shift fork very unlikely (you weren't power shifting for prolonged periods of time). Now when you say you were backing out and then put first gear, I am assuming you stopped first then shifted from reverse to first gear? Which clutch did they install BTW? Some clutches require their own aftermarket throwout bearing with a cap on them; reusing an OEM one could cause issues.


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## SalmonPatty (Feb 14, 2021)

Yes, I came to a full stop before shifting into first after reversing. I had them install a sachs stage 2 clutch meant to be used with the oem flywheel and I purchased a sachs oem replacement flywheel along with a sachs throw out bearing/slave cylinder.


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## SalmonPatty (Feb 14, 2021)

Gtsetsa1 said:


> Definitely send it back to the shop that did the work. If I had to guess, it sounds like they did something wrong. You can't however completely rule out a manufacturer defect. Aftermarket clutches can be noisy, but they should not make your pedal feel wobbly. That is not normal. Could be something simple like they never bled the clutch properly, but I doubt it. Bad shift fork very unlikely (you weren't power shifting for prolonged periods of time). Now when you say you were backing out and then put first gear, I am assuming you stopped first then shifted from reverse to first gear? Which clutch did they install BTW? Some clutches require their own aftermarket throwout bearing with a cap on them; reusing an OEM one could cause issues.


Thank you for your help!


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## Gtsetsa1 (Sep 3, 2017)

SalmonPatty said:


> Yes, I came to a full stop before shifting into first after reversing. I had them install a sachs stage 2 clutch meant to be used with the oem flywheel and I purchased a sachs oem replacement flywheel along with a sachs throw out bearing/slave cylinder.


Shouldn't be related to the throwout bearing then. Let us know what they find, good luck hopefully it's fixed soon.


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## SalmonPatty (Feb 14, 2021)

Gtsetsa1 said:


> Shouldn't be related to the throwout bearing then. Let us know what they find, good luck hopefully it's fixed soon.


So they just got a look at it and apparently the CV joint on the axle failed and separated but they still want me to pay for it :/ the CV joint needs to be disconnected to pull the axle from the transmission so transmission work can be done if I'm correct,which is exactly the work I had done.


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## Gtsetsa1 (Sep 3, 2017)

That sounds weird, the cv joint itself does not commonly fail, especially on a newer car. The main cause of cv joint failure is a damaged boot, where all grease leaks out and the elements intrude. You would have known if this was the case because there'd be grease everywhere and it would be a mess. It could be that the CV axle flange separated from the transmission which results from the bolts not being torqued properly after reinstallation. Some people advocate that these bolts (6 per side) should be replaced whenever loosened/removed for just this reason. I generally reuse them but clean everything thoroughly and torque them to spec down to the NM. In your OP you said that the shop did the clutch replacement for you, correct? If I had to guess they either damaged the axle when they removed it (by letting it hang or by forcing it out); or they never reinstalled it properly. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt whenever I can, but if your axle was fine before they did the work and it failed right after the work was performed, there's a high chance something went wrong there. Unless of course, you have 700 HP under the hood and have been drag racing and you did not disclose this fact.


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## SalmonPatty (Feb 14, 2021)

Gtsetsa1 said:


> That sounds weird, the cv joint itself does not commonly fail, especially on a newer car. The main cause of cv joint failure is a damaged boot, where all grease leaks out and the elements intrude. You would have known if this was the case because there'd be grease everywhere and it would be a mess. It could be that the CV axle flange separated from the transmission which results from the bolts not being torqued properly after reinstallation. Some people advocate that these bolts (6 per side) should be replaced whenever loosened/removed for just this reason. I generally reuse them but clean everything thoroughly and torque them to spec down to the NM. In your OP you said that the shop did the clutch replacement for you, correct? If I had to guess they either damaged the axle when they removed it (by letting it hang or by forcing it out); or they never reinstalled it properly. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt whenever I can, but if your axle was fine before they did the work and it failed right after the work was performed, there's a high chance something went wrong there. Unless of course, you have 700 HP under the hood and have been drag racing and you did not disclose this fact.


Turns out it was the CV axle joint that failed. They had just done work on the clutch so I'm guessing it was put on improperly but they won't admit any fault. I appreciate all the help though.


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## Gtsetsa1 (Sep 3, 2017)

SalmonPatty said:


> Turns out it was the CV axle joint that failed. They had just done work on the clutch so I'm guessing it was put on improperly but they won't admit any fault. I appreciate all the help though.


Let me guess, it was the passenger side axle? Did they replace the entire thing or just rebuild/repair the cv joint? Sucks they wouldn't accept responsibility for the failure because it seems very likely they did something wrong. But anyhow glad you got it sorted out. Now enjoy the car and learn to work on it yourself!


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