So today me and my buddies were out for a quick drive. I let my one friend, who is probably the best driver I know, take the car for a quick spin. We were on a back road and when he went to shift from second to third it wouldnt let him put it into gear, so he threw it in neutral and we coasted to the side of the road. There were no smells of anything burning and we didnt see any liquids leaking. We sat for a few minutes and when we tried to go again it wouldnt let you put it in gear at all, so we let it sit for another 20 minutes or so and it finally let it go back into gear. However the clutch pedalis not as firmand instead of engaging at the top of the travel it grabs right away and it wont let you shift gears while moving, so I didnt even try to drive it more than the 50 feet or so we did.Luckily we were right by a parking lot so we just pushed the car in and its sitting there now. Ive been searching around the forum for the past hour and havent found anything to definitive on what the problem is. I would have them take it to the dealership but the closest one is over an hour away and I know if its anything with the clutch, its going to cost a few pennies. The car only has 34k miles and Ive had no problems with the clutch slipping and I let my mechanic drive it before I bought it and he said it feels normal for an audi. Whats could be the problem and would it be worth it to take it to the dealership?

 

Its the clutch. The A4 will usually rip the friction materialright off thedisc before slipping because of the load quattro puts on the friction disc. Eventually the pedal will sink all the way to the floor and won't come back up, thats when you know the friction material fell off the disc.
When you pull the tranny your gonna get dusted with friction material, so wear coveralls.

 

auditech 79, how are you with the 2.8 automatics?

 

so what would you recommend doing? I can have it towed to the dealershiptomorrow, which is an hour away,and have them take a look at it. And if it is the clutch, is there anyway this is covered under warranty? I know clutch is excluded, but Ive had the car for 13 freakin days and it is supposed to be "certified". I'm in a bit of a time jam too and I really need a car, any advice would really be appreciated.

 

audi roadside will tow it for free to the nearest audi dealer....since there are no audi dealers close by where we live in wv, my moms 06 A4 2.0TQM broke down we got towed 87miles for free (two coil packs quit at 11K). i cant believe your clutch went out that early,,, thats terrible! i am at 91K right now and it grabs at the very very very last inch of the travel... GOODLUCK!!

 

My question is, is it even worth having them tow it there because once its there theres now way Im driving it backand Im not about to be ripped off by them. I'm pretty mechanically inclined and I have a bunch of buddies who are too, I have a garage and a good set of tools. Should I just order a new clutch and install it myself?

 

Make sure there is fluid for the clutch. It may not be disengaging when pressed.

 

The fluid for the brakes/clutch is right in the range. SoI decided to have it towed to the closest dealer and they are picking it up tomorrow morning. After talking to the service manager at the dealer where I bought it and the one down here it seems like its either the slave cylinder or the clutch itself. This sucks because normally, clutch isnt covered under warranty... BUT today must be my lucky day. The dealer down here said that they can do it all under warranty since I still have some of the original 4yr/50000 mile left. They also said that they not only will replace the clutch and pressure plate, but they will alsoput in a new flywheel that they said has a much better feel than the one that came with the car new. They were saying something about how Audi changed the part number on the clutch kit for the 04 and that the new one feels a lot stronger and has a lower engagement point. Now I asked how this can be done under warranty, and they said since I have low mileage (34k) and just got the car 14 days ago, the problem is either a failure of the clutch or it was warn from the previous owner and that if it was warn from before, the dealer I bought it from will have to pay for it since they have a 30 day dealer warranty. Man am I glad I bought it from a dealer with some warranty left. Thanks for the responses and I will post with the progress

 

Yeah the dealer is paying for it to keep you happy which is good. There is no chance in hell that audi would cover a clutch, even less chance when the mileage is that low because its usually abuse. Its a good deal your getting, un-less you wanted to upgrade of course. The 1.8T clutch is the easiest there is to do on almost ANY german car.

 

Pretty good, why?