I just upgraded from a 00 S4 to an 05 S4 with 48,500 milles. After two days, I was going through the gears and the clutch stayed on the floor. Still had warranty and took into the dealer. Dealer took the tranny out and the clutch slave cylinder was melted and there were clutch fibers in the bell housing. Their initial assessment is that the car was abused and that it is not covered under warranty. Could the failure of the clutch slave cylinder have caused the clutch to shave off some of the clutch disc lining? How could abusing the car cause the slave cylinder to melt down? They didn't take the clutch disc out to see the condition of it, but I'm going there in the morning to watch them take it off and see how bad it is. I don't expect them to replace the clutch at 50K, but I would expect them to replace the slave cylinder and eat the labor. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Only two days and it takes a dump? Isn't there a lemon law against that or something?

 

Bought it in Tennessee, no 3 day buyers remorse law.

 

s4vols -

Out of all curiosity, what was the outcome? I ask only because I experienced the exact same problems you describe and there is no way, given my driving style, that I would have caused the damage the dealership is saying I caused. My car is a 2005 S4 with 23,300 miles so practically new.

Thank you very much for sending any additional information as I am in a bit of a back and forth with the dealership.

Best,

ero

 

FYI, the clutch fibre in the bellhousing is normal. As the clutch disc wears, the material has to go somewhere. It stays in the bellhousing.

 

i sure hope this is covered under warranty for you... it's close huh...isn't this type of thing covered under the 3 year or 60k warranty? ... i wouldn't consider the slave cylinder to be an item/part that has normal wear like pads or clutch... and if they didn't even take out the clutch disk how can they say that the car was abused and wore that much quicker?...

...keepfighting them... they still get paid if warranty work is preformed... bring a hot friend along or something...lol

 

pdq 5oh: Thanks for you note. I suppose that does make sense - the fibre has to go somewhere. Unfortunately I don't know enough to know where else it might or should go.

JETSPEED333: Although my car is well within warranty, they are claiming without doubt that this is driver-error and is therefore not covered. The thing that remains puzzling is that I never drove the car as hard or abusive as they are claiming on would have to in order to inflict this type of damage. Thus, we are at a bit of a standstill as I try to figure out what other breakdowns in the car might have caused this problem other than driver-error. Thank you for your note and I will try the 'hot girl' tactic if all else fails...

If anyone knows or has heard of a similar case where driver-error was not the ultimate problem - please do let me know. Thank you in advance...