basically one night my clutch pedal decides to stick the floor and my car will not go in gear. initially i thought it was the clutch master cylinder. it seemed like it. the clutch pedal once pulled back up had VERY little resistance. and still would not go into gear at all.

so today i have it towed to my local dfw audi service/dealer. the mechanic tells me its 100% not the clutch master cylinder. and that to diagnose it he will have to drop the transmission. at $100 an hour im thinking drop it just to diagnose it? why cant you tell me what you think it might be by the symptoms right? well the thing it now that its on the hydrolic lift at audi it freely goes into any gear with or without the clutch pushed in. i dont know if thats just because its lifted or not. i know for a fact it WOULD NOT go into any gear the day before that.

what could this be? please help. clutch? clutch/shift fork? my car knowledge is too limited.

 

Stuck in a parking lot with the same exact issue. Having the car towed to a local independent shop for diagnosis. Will update once they have a look at it.

 

sounds like a slave cylinder to me...

 

yeppppp, I up on the slave cylinder. Is it leaking? Is the hydraulic fluid low? If you had trouble with the clutch pedal and you were unable to shift into gear I would say your clutch fork is not being pushed on by the slave cylinder. I've replaced them before, not frequent but its a possibility. Either that or your clutch is toast, just can't see it completely go out that quickly. you can also have a broken pressure plate...rare as well but possible. You couldnt get the car into gear with the motor turned off?

 

Thanks for the quick responses.

I pushed on the pedal, it hit the floor, and then ZERO return. No pressure, nada. Just flat against the floor. Lost all pressure, so hopefully it is the cylinder and not the whole clutch. How involved of a repair? Any suggestions for good OEM parts online minus a dealer?

Fluid on the ground after the tow truck pulled it up was clearish yellow, looked and smelled like clear brake fluid. Prolly right about the clutch cylinder. Although the clutch has been "okay". Meaning you would floor it, and have to let the clutch out quite far before it would fully engage. Seemed odd compared to a friend's Honda which felt overly responsive when I drove it (although I bet his was fine and mine has/had issues).

I'm a new Audi owner. Had a '97 850GLT, Volvo & '98 S70 for several years, both repliable with little replacements here and there, but generally solid. Decided to try Audi this time. Do most of my own maintenance minus engine block/tranny work.

 

everything you say sounds like a slave to me... audi clutches grab high as hell anyway... most new owners think there is something wrong when there is not. part should be pretty cheap, but the install can be a pain in the ***.. GL

 

If the pedal felt a little hard right before it hit the floor then the slave cylinder body cracked or the end came off.

Installing the new one is very simple. You put it in before hooking up the hydrolic line, this way the rod can push into the slave. After it is in hook up the line and then bleed the slave.

 

+1 on mike. Just make sure no matter what that the rod from the slave cylinder is in the grove in the clutch fork. Otherwise the rod's gonna pop off and fall into your bell housing and then your takin the trans out. NO fun!

 

This quote backs up the slave cylinder diagnosis:

"If the clutch master cylinder or clutch slave cylinder fails, pressure will not be generated when the clutch pedal is pressed. When the driver tries to change gears, the pedal may stay on the floor, making it impossible to put the vehicle into gear."

http://repairpal.com/clutch-slave-cylinder-replacement

 

i know its a long shot, but u may also want to check your bolts where the tranny connects to the motor. i was doing a motor swap on my old car (not an audi) and found that the tranny bolts somehow made their way loose and so whenever i pushed in the clutch pedal, the slave cylinder rod was pushing out the entire tranny rather than just the fork, causing the tranny to not shift gears. it took me a long time to figure out this was the problem because i was working alone and therefore couldnt tell that the entire tranny was moving when i pushed in the clutch pedal since i was inside the car