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clutch advice
bigdood2 - October 16th, 2008 at 08:30 PM

So I was driving home after a really bad day at work and when pulling up at a set of lights the clutch pedal seemed to snap to the floor,after narrowly avoiding ramming the ass of a BMW,my first thought was a snapped clutch cable,have'nt had a chance to get in and have a look as it took 2 hours to get a tow home and was dark by then.
It's a 75L bug,anyone know what else it could be?
Is replacing the cable easy?


Notch Nut - October 16th, 2008 at 08:45 PM

I have had a similar problem with my type 3. There are 2 nuts located at the back of the clutch cable. The second nut is a locking nut and if this falls off, the movement of the clutch loosens the other nut to the point where it is still attached but the cable has so much slack in it, the pedal drops to the floor and is useless.
On the type 3 it is a real bugger to get acces to (even worse as mine is lowered). I don't know what it is like for a beetle but I am assuming it might be the same.

If you are mechanicaly inclined and have this problem again in the future while driving. Rather than jacking the car up, park the LHS front & rear tyres on a gutter and while the LHS side of the car is higher, makes it easier to gain acces to the underside of the car. Works a treat if you are in a hurry and alot safer than being under a car with the standard VW jack and no axle supports.

Hope this helps ya.
:dork:- Adam


ancientbugger - October 16th, 2008 at 09:18 PM

If you're lucky it'll be a snapped cable. It can be a bit messy to replace but not difficult. If you're unlucky it can be a buggered clutch fork which can destroy the thrust bearing and pressure plate, either way that will be an engine out job. I have had both happen so trust me, hope it's just the clutch cable.


amazeer - October 16th, 2008 at 09:58 PM

although cables arent nice to replace either!

could also be the hook on the pedal, but most likely cable.


bigdood2 - October 17th, 2008 at 12:29 PM

Thanks for the info guys,it turned out to be a broken clutch pedal hook as amazeer suggested.Did you replace yours amazeer or did you reweld it back to shape?

Cheers


1303Steve - October 17th, 2008 at 12:59 PM

Hi

I had the same problem years ago, I always travel with spare pedal now. Most VW shops sell profile cut hooks that you weld on.

Steve


General_Failure - October 17th, 2008 at 11:09 PM

Glad you found the problem.

I actually had the clutch lever come off the transmission once! The pedal hit the floor when I was changing gears to make a turn in town. Talk about a rare failure.

Come to think of it my VWs have had just about every type of clutch failure except actually wearing out!


NuZo - October 18th, 2008 at 08:31 AM

this happend to me about 8 months ago... turned out my clutch was spilt in two!!!! lucky u got the easy option :D mine cost me a bit to replace!!