I bought a 2000 1.8t over the weekend. Drove it 150 Miles hwy to get it home and as soon as I do, car doesn't wanna move. The clutch wasn't slipping at all. Even under full boost. It was really hard to get into gear. Cpl times I'd try to downshift to 4th and it wouldn't go in. Got stuck at a toll booth for 5 minutes trying to get it into 1st. Finally, when it was parked, in neutral, when the clutch is in, it's fine. Let the clutch out in neutral and i could smell burning clutch. And could hear almost a mechanical grinding noise. Also, the clutch would grab within about an inch or so of pushing it in and it was relatively soft. Any ideas???

 

You probably need a new clutch. Remove transmission & have a look.

 

I'm flatbedding it to my buddy's garage on Saturday and starting the tear down. I've never seen a clutch go like this. I mean, I've seen slipping until it won't engage. But this felt and sounded like something exploded in there. And it's not even a pile. 117kmi on the clock. Original owner with all paperwork and maintenance records. It's not like the car was beat up at all. It looks like it couldve rolled off the dealership lot a year ago, but its a 14 year old car. I did a few 5k shifts on the way home with dbl clutching, but most of the ride was hwy in 5th gear. I'd like to think I was light on it. It started with the gearbox not wanting to go into gear a few times, almost as if attempting to shift without the clutch pushed in, minus the grinding of gears. Just didn't want to go in.

 

I kind of just want an idea of what I migh be getting into here. I don't like nasty surprises.

 

Sounds like youll need a new clutch. With the car off will it go into gear?

When my stock clutch went, it wouldn't shift into gear when the car was running. Turns out my pressure plate broke. There was no way to disengage the clutch and it was always transferring power to the tranny

 

nope. shredded the transmission. turns out whoever worked on the casr last didnt torque the trans fluid filler plug to spec. it was finger tight and just about bone dry of fluid. clutch was toast too. had maybe 3k left on it, if that. i did find a trans for $350 with 160k from an 01 1.8t. it should be identical, right?

 

Check the gearbox number in the parts catalogue to determine if they are the same.

 

sucks. yeah, a 01 1.8t tranny will bolt right up. everything is the same

 

So I got the trans. Now time to pick out a clutch. Bc of the trans, I have a 220$ budget for a clutch, pressure plate, throw out bearing and pilot bearing. Any suggestions? I found a few stg 1 kits on eBay....

 

Do not get a ebay clutch.

If you can, get the ECS tuning RA4 clutch. It is $600, but it will be a nice upgrade