Hey all,

I bought my '02 A4 1.8T Quattro 2 years ago with 48k on the odometer. When I bought the car, i noticed that the clutch disengaged almost immediately when pressing the clutch pedal (versus 2-3 inches before disengages for most other manual cars i've driven before). However, the dealership that performed the pre-sale inspection assured me that that was normal.

Fast forward to last year at 55K on the odometer, and the clutch began to slip. Seeing as I had no idea what the previous owner's driving style was, I assumed i just needed to replace the clutch, which i did at a well-reviewed independent shop (which charged less than half of what the stealership was quoting). After the clutch was replaced, everything seemed fine, albeit with the very early disengagement again. The independent shop assured me this was normal, and that the A4 clutches were self-adjusting, so there was nothing to be adjusted.

Now i'm at 63K on the odometer, in the middle of a long roadtrip (10 more driving hours to go), and AGAIN i am getting clutch slipping (happens in 5th if i accelerate hard to freeway speeds, but doesn't slip if i accelerate very slowly). I don't drive like an idiot, and the only mod I have is a Revo stage 1 ecu upgrade, so i have no idea what could be causing this. More importantly, will I be able to make the remaining 10 hours if I just drive carefully without accelerating hard, or am I almost certainly doomed to lose the clutch before i make it the rest of the way?

 

When you had the clutch replaced did they replace or resurface the flywheel? If they did not do either and just threw in a new clutch that could be the problem, doing this will cause the disk to wear quickly.


Yes you should be able to make the rest of your trip, just try not to put the car into high load by running it at low rpms in a very high gear like 5th, just down shift and to reduce the load. If it is a stock clutch it is an organic disk, if it starts to slip just allow it to cool down and it will hold again.

If or when you need a upgraded clutch let me know, I can help you save some money on a better clutch.

 

Well, I made it without breaking down. Plan on taking it in to one of the shops in Dallas sometime tomorrow to see if they can figure out what is going on. Unfortunately I don't remember what was replaced at 55K, but i assumed it was everything, and my paperwork is still buried in the moving truck.

What do you think is a fair price for a full clutch/flywheel replacement including parts/labor? Would it be an aftermarket clutch/flywheel be better for me/same price as OEM?

 

A fair price? Depends on what clutch you're putting in. If you get it from mike (up above) installed should be around $1,100 for a stage 2 clutch from southbend or something close to that. Im sure the flywheel is still good at that mileage, just needs some messaging.

 

It wasnt installed correctly.. Prolly something like the tranny cocked to one side... Just went through this with my bro-in-law. He did it twice with the same results and thought it was normal (disengage @ 2" pedal travel). 3rd clutch I did...

 

If the shop resurfaces the flywheel incorrectly they can cause the clutch to disengage much higher at the pedal because it will take less movement of the pressure plate to release the disk. I have seen plenty people post up with this issue and to find out that the flywheel was resurfaced wrong.


Labor should run you around $500, basically it is a 5-6 hr job.

If you need a clutch here is a link to my site
www.ringer-racing.com/category.sc?categoryId=4


I offer stock flywheel resurfacing when buying a clutch kit and I also offer CM clutch/flywheel packages specials.