Clutch at 45k?

[TheHeggi]

Hey guys, just got my car back from the dealership. Did the 45k service and some odds and ends, but they reflashed as well. It felt ok leaving the dealership a couple days ago, but today at WOT, especially in 1st, it felt very underpowered so I turned the radio down and did some runs. 1st gear does it 90% of the time and 2nd, 3rd do it half of the time. The engine seems to pull normal, but the speedo climbs at about 3/4 of the speed as the tach. This tells me clutch slip, but could it be the reflash cutting power or I think I read something about the tumbleflap, but I didn't think that would affect WOT. Any insight? And if it is clutch, is this covered under warranty still? Thanks

[Sly Raskal]

Torn DV?

[TheHeggi]

Also, I would cruise up to ~3500 rpm and then punch it, and that's when it felt like the engine just fell on it's face all the way to redline. If I roll into it and not WOT, the power is there and it pulls normal. This also makes me think clutch, besides the fact that there is no CEL. Would a torn dv throw a CEL 100% of the time? I would also think it would be a consistent boost leak, not run fine 2 of 5 times, ya know?

[AudiWxGuy]

When I had a loaner TT from Audi that was exactly what happened to me when the clutch was breaking. The RPM's were getting really high and the car was going nowhere. get it to your Audi dealer ASAP. I had NO CEL with this either.

Also...does your clutch feel any harder to depress than usual?

[TheHeggi]

That's what I was afraid of. I pretty much know how a slipping clutch feels, I was just hoping that wasn't the problem ....unless of course it's under warranty, in which I'd be happy to get a new clutch

[UrKurt]

But if not, time to replace that piece of crap with one of those nice sachs sport clutches! All told, I'd consider that a win.

[AudiWxGuy]

+1. I'm doing that when mine goes. If I've gotta pay for a clutch, it might as well be a good one.

[TheHeggi]

I'm with you guys, if I do have to pay for it, it's not going to be OEM. I'll give it a couple more days and see if anything changes, I've still got ~4800 miles until the warranty's up so I've got a little time to experiment.

[cdemartino]

My clutch went now too long ago and I got one for free. We fought it because 10k miles after we purchased the car it went. They wanted to charge us $3200 but in the end we fought w/ AoA and got it for free.

These clutches suck. My friend works as an Audi tech. and he tells me atleast twice a week he installs new clutches on cars w/ 60k miles and under.

When my clutch was going I was able to tell. I often smelt a burning rubber type smell, and car would slip into gear roughly.

I also blew the the DV valve before the clutch. (The CEL light came on) I would punch the car, the RPMs would rise but the car didn't move much. That was under warranty.

[b6onboost]

Clutch is wear and tear, not warranty covered unless you fight AoA. A stock clutch can last 100k miles or it can last 15k. Depends on the driver, plus the mods/power of the car, but mostly the driver.

[Alkemix]

If lets say my car was abused as the test car before I bought it, could that have seriously limited my clutches life? I'm afraid that might be the case for my car. It had 60 miles at the dealer. Normally, I drive it alright, but nothing that on it's own would seriously limit the clutches life. I do tend to ride the clutch in reverse and in heavy traffic situations. What do you guys think? Do you guys think I will go the way of the under 60k clutch replacments?

[Kevin2772]

Too many factors go into a clutch going bad. And with it being a costly repair to some degree Audi will try and find a way out of paying for it. I figure with my chip im only lessening the life of my clutch. In my 2000 A4 1.8T i had the car until 85K and never had a single clutch issue or had it replaced. Like everyone said before, jsut matters how you drive it. I try and rev match mine as much as possible. I just want it to last until my warranty is up!

[Alkemix]

rev matches are a MUST . I guess downshifting a lot doesn't help either.

[Kevin2772]

rev matches are a MUST . I guess downshifting a lot doesn't help either.

The the downshifting is a problem of mine, I cant stop! I had SMG in my last car which automatically rev matched my downshifts and it makes it so much more fun!

[Zebman]

Wait.... dealerships are re-flashing? Oh fuck. The closest place to get my car chipped again is 200 miles away. Ahhh, I need my PCV valve replaced!

[TheHeggi]

Wait.... dealerships are re-flashing? Oh fuck. The closest place to get my car chipped again is 200 miles away. Ahhh, I need my PCV valve replaced!

Depends on if your dealer is mod friendly, my advisor asked me if I was chipped when I got there. She said just let her know if I'm chipped when I come in and she'll let them know not to flash it if it's not completely necessary.

So I knew the clutch sucked, but this pretty much sucks. It could be the DV as well, but my question on that is, wouldn't it throw a CEL or can it happen w/o throwing one? That would be a tell tale sign since I have no CEL. Also, it doesn't do it EVERY time and I would think the DV would be a consistent leak/ lack of power instead of being fine sometimes, and leaking other times....am I wrong or am I wrong?