Clutch Pedal Feel Fault

Clutch Pedal Feel Fault

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Lewis's Friend

Original Poster:

1,038 posts

197 months

Monday 25th July 2022
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Hi All

I was hoping for a little fault finding help. On my wife's VW Up, there is an intermittent problem whereby the clutch pedal suddenly loses its normal feel and only seems to engage at the bottom of its travel.

By that I mean the normal progressive feel of the clutch changes to have very little resistance when depressed until what feels like near the end of its travel. The clutch still works fine and will then act normally again. The issue is very intermittent, which makes fault finding tricky!

My first thought was a hydraulic issue, but how to isolate where the problem may be without just replacing parts and hoping seemed difficult. The fluid is shared from the brake reservoir and has not gone down at all. I would also have expected a master/slave cylinder letting by to be a more constant fault than I’m seeing.

Any thoughts would be appreciated, though I fear I may have to wait until the issue gets worse before I can try and fault find.

GreenV8S

30,487 posts

291 months

Monday 25th July 2022
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The intermittant symptoms sound very strange and seem to rule out most of the usual suspects.

The only thing that comes to mind is a self-adjusting clutch which is slipping, but that's really a stab in the dark.

Lewis's Friend

Original Poster:

1,038 posts

197 months

Tuesday 26th July 2022
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I agree. All the clever theories I have don't really work for an intermittent fault...

I'll have a look online regarding a self adjusting clutch, but I'm not sure if a VW Up has one. A good idea though, thanks.

The Wookie

14,041 posts

235 months

Tuesday 26th July 2022
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I'd check for any obvious leaks or weeps from the slave or the master cylinder, also check that the hose linking the two isn't too close to the exhaust or making contact with it.

Failing that just try bleeding it, there's no rational reason it would fix it but sometimes you do get a bit of unlucky air trapped

If none of that works then I'd be inclined to say master cylinder rather than slave, they can sometimes start to fail before they fail properly

sunbeam alpine

7,081 posts

195 months

Tuesday 26th July 2022
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The Wookie said:
also check that the hose linking the two isn't too close to the exhaust or making contact with it...
This would be my thought - possible internal damage to the hose causing a flap of rubber which acts as a temporary non-return valve, or simply that the hose is no longer structurally strong enough.