Clutch problem

[Paul70]

I am looking for some advice, not for my Clubsport but for my daughter’s Up!, which has a clutch issue. A few months ago the clutch started to feel weird. It would go through phases of feeling very spongy. I checked the fluid and it was fine. I flushed the brake fluid (all wheels) but did not bleed the clutch line. The issue cleared up but tonight I had to recover the car. It was driveable (just) but it feels like the clutch isn’t fully engaging even though the pedal travels fully up. Anything other than a quarter throttle or less and the clutch starts to badly slip, almost like you’re riding the clutch. The pedal feels really weird too.

I am being very optimistic and will remove the battery tray and bleed the clutch but I very much doubt it is air in the system but I have never known a clutch to start slipping so quickly. It drove fine yesterday. Any thoughts and feedback will be appreciated.
 

[madstaff]

Very spongy feeling is normally a sign of air in the system, but how has it got there in the first place??

I would try bleeding the clutch system first, you have nothing to lose by trying this.

Ive seen debris in clutch and brake lines before, and it might be that some has got lodged somewhere perhaps not letting the slave cylinder fully retract, hence the slip.

[Paul70]

Thanks Madstaff, I’ve just taken the battery tray out or moved to one side (as the ECU is riveted to the back of the tray and I can’t get to the ECU cables to unplug) and have access to the clutch bleeder. Hopefully bleeding it works.

Not sure about air - I thought it could be really old fluid as bleeding g the brakes helped with the clutch feel before but I never bled the clutch system previously so fingers crossed it works!

I think the golf is easier to work on than the UP! Which feels was designed by the bean counters!

[madstaff]

When previously bleeding the brakes you didnt let the fluid get so low in the reservoir as it could've introduced air into the clutch master cylinder fluid feed line??

[Paul70]

No, I used a brake bleeder and that was 3 months ago and it was fine until yesterday. I bled the clutch but the clutch is knackered. Thanks for your feedback Madstaff.