2 year old Audi A3 / 33k miles = clutch gone :(

lemonade said:
Wrong about what? I didn't even go into details in the first instance, my follow up post should have explained what I meant, if you want to be pedantic then you can start by saying I was slipping the clutch too and entertain yourself pointlessly.
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Why get all defensive? I am not being pedantic at all.

You said "I was pretty much riding the clutch all the time, when waiting in traffic I would be in gear clutch down"

I just pointed out that this was not riding the clutch in case you were mistaken. You then replied and said and i quote "It is"....but it is not. Why write "It is"? Why not say "i am sorry i didn't mean what i wrote/it wasnt clear what i wrote, what i actually meant was...."

No need to get all fed up about it.
 
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The number of people I see riding the clutch in stop/start traffic on inclines is absurd.

All it would take is a previous owner who had an uphill commute to work and, rather than using the handbrake, just rode the clutch as he made slow progress and it'd be toast in no time.
 
gettothechopper said:
Had this car about 3 months - its been perfect the whole time - went to drive to work this morning and clutch has gone

Just got it dropped to the Audi garage, they say car is still in warranty and are going to take a look at it today

reading horror stories online now about dual mass flywheels and clutches and Audi not covering things and worried that it could be up to £1600! to fix

crappy warranty (that was probably worthless anyway) with place I bought if from ran out last week :p

its a 1.6tdi a3 2013, with the start stop thing

anyone any got experience of this stuff ? costs / time etc

it was fine on my drive home last night, when parking up clutch felt a bit light - i thought maybe it was the heat :rolleyes:

drove round a few corners this morning and it went from working to completely gone within half a mile
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My dmf and clutch was replaced under warranty after 5000 miles on my 2014 a3 1.4 saloon, I put it down to a faulty component, I have not read of any clutch issues on the main audi forum either...
 
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Janesy B said:
Sure it wasn't an ex Bill Plant driving school car? They seem to use 1.6 diesel A3s exclusively.

My instructor told me to hold the biting point at traffic lights, I was more than happy to burn his clutch out if that's what he wanted...
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This is worth following up on.
 
Poor advice from a driving instructor, you should be taught to apply the handbake every time you come to a halt..
 
Jono8 said:
Why get all defensive? I am not being pedantic at all.

You said "I was pretty much riding the clutch all the time, when waiting in traffic I would be in gear clutch down"

I just pointed out that this was not riding the clutch in case you were mistaken. You then replied and said and i quote "It is"....but it is not. Why write "It is"? Why not say "i am sorry i didn't mean what i wrote/it wasnt clear what i wrote, what i actually meant was...."

No need to get all fed up about it.
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I'm not getting defensive about it, unless you have Asperger's or something your comment was condescending and not very clear, if I wrote something wrong or wasn't clear than comment on it more clearly rather than a four worded sentence.

Perhaps you can elaborate on what is exactly meant by "riding the clutch" than, as my understanding is quite different (not the bit about having "clutch fully down in traffic", should have wrote "on biting point").

This is pretty much my understanding of it: http://www.drivingtesttips.biz/ride-the-clutch.html
 
chriscatt said:
Poor advice from a driving instructor, you should be taught to apply the handbake every time you come to a halt..
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They do, but most of them tell you to stick to first and on the biting point with hand on the handbrake ready to set off when traffic moves, its more to take it easier for the student when learning. Thats how I was taught anyway, and when I passed I did the same except use the handbrake.
 
lemonade said:
I'm not getting defensive about it, unless you have Asperger's or something your comment was condescending and not very clear, if I wrote something wrong or wasn't clear than comment on it more clearly rather than a four worded sentence.

Perhaps you can elaborate on what is exactly meant by "riding the clutch" than, as my understanding is quite different (not the bit about having "clutch fully down in traffic", should have wrote "on biting point").

This is pretty much my understanding of it: http://www.drivingtesttips.biz/ride-the-clutch.html
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You said you used to ride the clutch all the time - you would wait in traffic with the clutch down.

I then highlighted what you said about waiting in traffic with the clutch pedal down / clutch disengaged and explained that this was not riding the clutch.

You then responded saying "it is" then went on to describe different behaviour and what was actually riding the clutch.

Then some other guy and you jumped down my throat.

Nothing more to say really :confused:
 
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All somewhat irrelevant really, it's clear to me a previous owners done the damage, not the OP.
 
What we have here is a case of severe pedantry, common in motors really.

He said I ride the clutch, stop in traffic clutch down, people assumed fully depressed and said that isn't riding the clutch.

At the end of the day, if he says he rides the clutch, go with the statement not the literal definition of clutch down, as it's likely he was lazy in describing it and knew what it meant.

Most people I have been in the car with ride the clutch at junctions when the handbrake would be better, which is why, imho, most people would be way more suited to automatics for daily use. I know I prefer auto's for daily use :D

The previous owner of this A3 was clearly in need of an Auto.
 
No pedantry. All i said was that waiting in traffic with the clutch down is not riding the clutch. I was only trying to be helpful in case he thought that was riding the clutch or wearing it down prematurely.

He then disagreed, saying it was even though it isn't.

As usual though on forums, there is no point trying to be helpful in case someone is mistaken.
 
Jono8 said:
No pedantry. All i said was that waiting in traffic with the clutch down is not riding the clutch. I was only trying to be helpful in case he thought that was riding the clutch or wearing it down prematurely.

He then disagreed, saying it was even though it isn't.

As usual though on forums, there is no point trying to be helpful in case someone is mistaken.
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Well it was "your" (or whoever initially responded's) choice to word a response that way, when "you" could have asked, 'do you mean fully down or on the bite point, as that is the true meaning of riding the clutch.'

That would likely have elicited the response of "on the bite point" and avoided the aggression that followed.

It has become second nature to jump on someone for the tiniest error on this forum, which I get due to the number of BS'rs this forum has to cope with, but maybe sometimes we don't have to jump on the attack quite so fast?

PS. I haven't blamed you here as I can't be bothered to look back and see who started it, I am using YOU generically :D
 
You should put the car in neutral as well if you're stopping as otherwise holding down the clutch wears out the thrust bearing.
 
Jono8 said:
No pedantry. All i said was that waiting in traffic with the clutch down is not riding the clutch. I was only trying to be helpful in case he thought that was riding the clutch or wearing it down prematurely.

He then disagreed, saying it was even though it isn't.

As usual though on forums, there is no point trying to be helpful in case someone is mistaken.
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I disagreed because when I wrote what I wrote it was about riding the clutch or at least in my thought process, I accept my post wasn't clear as I wasn't bothered to write in detail as my post was not about the finer details of riding the clutch, was just making the point that its more than possible to burn out a clutch at 30k.

You might have been trying to help or clear something out, which I appreciate, but as Dr Who accurately pointed out, its all too common to find people who are either condescending in their comments or will jump at anything to attack in Motors, I found your comment rather condescending and not very helpful as you was vague in your post.

Anyway will leave it at that as its silly to argue on such a small issue.
 
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