Clutch won't disengage, not cable ????

[bmouthboyo]

Hi all,

Had better days  I must say. I was at a junction today, with the clutch pedal fully down and all of a sudden heard a bang noise, and the engine jump and stall.

Clutch pedal stayed fully at the floor and would not come back up of its own accord. I thought snapped clutch cable but not, tested it with breakdown recovery and the clutch arm (not sure of technical term) in the engine bay lifted with the pedal. The arm moves up and down freely, with little effort.

Cable is fine 

So basically the clutch plate is now always fully engaged, with the pedal lifting the arm in the engine bay but it is obviously not disengaging it.

What could the problem be? Anything I could attempt to sort out / investigate myself being a fairly competent DIY mechanic?

I got the car (Mk3 Gti Anniversary Edition) for £500 2 years ago, but don't really want to spend a fortune on it as probably not worth it. So debating weather to just scrap it and get another car for £500.

[boneybradley]

likely to be the clutch arm ratchet in the box side (under the green cap). they are cheap and quite easy to do (except for access!)but you will need a new cable as the auto adjuster will be finished!

[bmouthboyo]

Ah that's lifted my spirits a little!!

Is that a transmission out job? Any special tools? Big job?

Thanks

[Wayne]

Ah that's lifted my spirits a little!!

Is that a transmission out job? Any special tools? Big job?

Thanks

Nope can be done with the gearbox in.

[boneybradley]

gearbox can stay in although access is tricky so you need to jack the engine up to lower the side of the box enough, and all it takes is a pair of pliers and a screw driver

[bmouthboyo]

likely to be the clutch arm ratchet in the box side (under the green cap). they are cheap and quite easy to do (except for access!)but you will need a new cable as the auto adjuster will be finished!

Do you mean the actuation finger may have cracked and is not begin turned by the splines on the clutch arm?

I am not at all experienced with transmissions, but have read http://www.brokevw.com/releasearm.html.

However shouldnt the heavy springs as seen at the top of this pic, make the clutch arm and in turn the pedal raise up again rather than being flat on the floor if it was the pushrod going through the plate??:

[boneybradley]

the ratchet (or actuation finger!) in the pic have a habit of splitting and with the clutch being an odd design (the flywheel covers the clutch so it works the other way round on these boxes! hence why the pedal falls)

[bmouthboyo]

So in short, if its a broken clutch arm ratchet or release bearing it should be feasible to fix with the trans still in the car?

If its the push rod or rod gone through the release plate then its trans out, and too the scrappy.

Where would I purchase a clutch arm ratchet from at a reasonable price?

Thank you for all the help so far. 

[Leon27]

Happened on my old mk3. The gearbox stays in the car and the arm can be replaced by removing the NSF wheel for easier access. Theres a green VW cap on the gearbox and you'll need to remove it to see what u posted in the picture.

Dont be afraid of VW prices, i rmbr the arm being cheap and you will most likely need the green cap too

[Wayne]

Always better to fit a new green cap.