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We’ve got a strange very intermittent fault with the clutch - one thing that has only happened when my wife is driving and a different thing with me.
The thing with my wife was the clutch pedal sticking down, so she’d have to lift the pedal back up with her toe. This happened repeatedly, sometimes multiple times in a journey. We had the car serviced, but as it’s a big job getting to the clutch system they just dealt with the fluid and said see if that sorts it - which it did, for about a year.
I then had a problem a couple of days ago where I was manoeuvring out of a parallel parking space - the clutch bit really early and suddenly and the car thus stalled. Over the course of this manoeuvre the clutch biting point dropped lower and lower until even with the pedal hard on the floor it was difficult to move the gear lever because. Fortunately we were in a cul-de-sac so I had a pause for thought, pulled the pedal all the way up with my hand and that sorted it. Now it appears to be fine.
When I told my wife she said the pedal sticking down thing had just started happening to her again. That’s never ever happened with me but I have much longer legs and wonder if the angle we push the pedal at is very different and that affects things. Also, when I had the other problem myself I was wearing a big pair of wellies with insoles and chunky socks whilst I’m normally in barefoot or other pretty bendy shoes, so my foot/ankle movement is probably different. Fluid level appears to be fine. It’s all very odd!
I’ll speak to my garage tomorrow, but any ideas what on earth it is?
Possibly not useful, but we have a 17 plate 1.4t petrol and have had 2 problems with the clutch.
First was a slightly sticky pedal remedied by the garage lubeing the pivots behind/around it. Much cheaper and easier than anything else.
Second was clutch judder when hot (coupled with other issues light engine light unless using a particular fuel and high consumption). Turned out to be a stuck solenoid which controlled a fuel vapour line from the tank. Cheap fix, but hard to diagnose.
Reason for posting was that I'd be tempted to suggest the pedal first, then explore getting a decent diagnosis. Obviously ours is petrol so this may be of limited use.
Master cylinder or slave is knackered. Open the fluid reservoir and see if there's any black residue floating around/in the fluid from the seals. If not it's probably the slave end.
Gearbox out job or WBAC
To add - if it is a hydraulic one then its good that you get it sorted soon as possible. If the slave cylinder fails (the one at the clutch / gearbox end of thr system) then it can piiiish oil all over the clutch. Dont ask me how I know 😖🤬🤬
(It did on a car I had previously- depends where the cylinder is located)
Had this exact problem on my old zafira tourer diesel…happened in the safari park and had to get towed out 🤦♂️ New clutch was over £1000 as the flywheel needs replacing at the same time.
worth checking the vauxhall owners forum as this is a common problem with tourers and insignias.
Thanks guys, this continues to be the most useful forum ever when it comes to anything vaguely technical!
It’s a hydraulic clutch so I’ll check the reservoir and get it booked in for a fix, I know my mechanic said it’s a big job so he’ll need to clear a full day.
It's driveshafts out then gearbox out and as mentioned above you might as well throw a clutch at it (and DMF) when you're spending so much labour to get at the clutch slave.
....or get rid via WBAC
Aha, you mean We Buy Any Car.
Just had a quick look online and it seems the rough cost of repair vs a replacement minus what they’d give us for it (if we stay quiet about the timebomb) is pretty similar.
It’s 7 years old, has done just over 40,000 miles (mostly long journeys to visit family/holidays, neither of us commute by car). Is it worth doing the clutch/DMF for such low mileage or is it more of an age thing? Or so little extra cost once everthing’s disassembled that it’s silly not to, even at this mileage?
It’s 7 years old, has done just over 40,000 miles
Jesus that's not long/old..... Scary!
Wife's golf had a new clutch at 110k/11 years.
I'd be tempted to replace everything if the gearbox is coming out.
We had same car and engine. A 64 plate owned from new and traded in earlier this year at 50k. The possibly helpful news is the intermittent clutch sticking down thing we had for the last 3 years of ownership. But it never resulted in any other issues. Had clutch checked over at VX dealer at least annually over that period and they couldn’t diagnose it and as above said we could go new clutch but weren’t recommending based on cost unless the situation got worse. It was long out of warranty so no reason they couldn’t tell us if was a known issue with the car surely?
we only traded in as car was 9yo and a replacement was in our thinking anyway, not really due to clutch. It was maybe a once or twice a month event at most. No pattern as to when or why.
I used to enjoy driving Zaffies, we had a very abused one as our pool car, and it seemed to just go forever, despite the abuse; however there was one issue I always found with manual Zaffies, and that was a very heavy clutch with long travel. Any time I got stuck in heavy, slow moving traffic, I would always have to use my left hand to push my knee down, because my weak knee just didn’t have enough strength to hold the clutch down for very long.
Never had any problems with any other Vauxhall at all, or other makes, for that matter. 🤷🏼
A friend of mine has just had a very similar thing with her Zafira (I think 67 plate). Occured when her partner was driving. They thought the clutch had gone, and booked it in for a replacement, but the garage said there was nothing wrong with it and it must be his driving style(!)
Our golf is about to go in for the same issue. 50k miles on a 65 plate. The cost is high as you'd expect (even more so when I suspect they will find the clutch is burnt). Symptoms exactly as you describe. Been doing it for just over a year (5-7k miles in that time) but is definitely getting progressively worse. Wife oddly has never noticed it. Is it worth it on a 8 year old car, maybe not but otherwise we like the vehicle, have had it from new and the potential replacements all lack in one way or another.
I had a 1.9 tdi Zafira.
Great in terms of the volume of stuff I could carry with the 2 rearmost joke seats folded down.
Comfy for the 3 of us, especially with the daughter getting a proper nice seat in row 2. And I quite liked the interior.
BUT... what a complete dog it was mechanically. And not a cute cuddly lovable labrador or golden retriever puppy dawg. But a nasty bad breathed flakey skinned one that,just like XL Bullies, shouldn't have beem allowed to exist to begin with. Just EVERYTHING seemed a bit shit or a lot shit.
Air con sizing is compromised vs the size of the car.
Heating compromised similarly.
Access to work on anything under the bonnet... compromised.
Change a bulb ? FFS needs 1,000,000 years of evolutionary development to grow an extra joint half way between the wrist and elbow.
Rear light clusters would double up as goldfish bowls until I red-hotcoat-hanger-wire'd a small hole in the bottom of the plastic lens to act as a drain hole.
As for all the added claptrap to manage emissions... utter PITA and mega unreliable.
Even the laqueur on the bonnet paint crazed and eventually flaked off / eroded to nothing.
The replacement Skoda Octavia was an absolute joy to behold after that nail.
Hydraulics most likely. Clutch and dmf might as well be done if you're getting the slave cylinder replaced.
Bleed the fluid again, better still flush it all out with fresh. Then see what happens.