Possible clutch issue?

[lawquattro]

Starting off in first, no issues. However, whenever full throttling in second gear, there is major vibration/shuddering starting around 3k thru maybe 5k rpms. In the gears afterwards, there is no vibration, but there are definitely odd fluctuations in the rpms where it quickly increases then decreases faster than how quickly the car is actually accelerating. I don't know if it's turbo lag or if the clutch is actually going bad. No burning clutch smell that I'm aware of.

My 6MT 2013 a4 quatrro only has about 26k miles on it, so I can't imagine the clutch going bad already. I did buy it used at 13k miles and don't know how the previous driver was at driving manual, but still, only 26k miles? Note that I am completely stock, do not drive like I stole it on a regular basis, and definitely do not ride the clutch.

I did a search and did not find exactly this issue, so any thoughts are highly appreciated. Thanks in advance.




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[seangrimes590]

That sounds like what I've experienced before with a slipping clutch. However, if you can floor it in 5th or 6th and not have any slippage that would be weird, from my experience at least.

I'm totally unimpressed with every single thing about the clutch in this car; I think it's the worst clutch / flywheel / linkage I've ever touched my foot to. I have seen some posts over on the 'other' Audi form about early clutch deaths -- specially in Europe, but don't recall seeing your specific symptoms. If you haven't yet done this, go find a hill and reverse up it and/or get to about 2000rpm in 5th and floor it. If the RPMs rise faster then they should, it's definitely slipping. If there's no signs of slippage there and this issue really is only limited to 2nd gear then I don't have any suggestions. If it's a CPO take it into Audi, if the clutch is dead you may be able to get them to replace it at their cost considering you've only owned it for 13K miles and if the clutch was this bad when they sold it they should have caught that in their CPO inspection process.

[lawquattro]

That sounds like what I've experienced before with a slipping clutch. However, if you can floor it in 5th or 6th and not have any slippage that would be weird, from my experience at least.

I'm totally unimpressed with every single thing about the clutch in this car; I think it's the worst clutch / flywheel / linkage I've ever touched my foot to. I have seen some posts over on the 'other' Audi form about early clutch deaths -- specially in Europe, but don't recall seeing your specific symptoms. If you haven't yet done this, go find a hill and reverse up it and/or get to about 2000rpm in 5th and floor it. If the RPMs rise faster then they should, it's definitely slipping. If there's no signs of slippage there and this issue really is only limited to 2nd gear then I don't have any suggestions. If it's a CPO take it into Audi, if the clutch is dead you may be able to get them to replace it at their cost considering you've only owned it for 13K miles and if the clutch was this bad when they sold it they should have caught that in their CPO inspection process.

Thanks for the reply.

I already have an appt with the dealer this Friday for the crankcase pressure regulating valve service campaign, so I'll have them check out this possible clutch issue. I'm still under the 4 year 50k new car warranty, but I've read that the clutch is not something covered under it, so we'll see. Can clutch wear be visually inspected without dropping the tranny?


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[seangrimes590]

Thanks for the reply.

I already have an appt with the dealer this Friday for the crankcase pressure regulating valve service campaign, so I'll have them check out this possible clutch issue. I'm still under the 4 year 50k new car warranty, but I've read that the clutch is not something covered under it, so we'll see. Can clutch wear be visually inspected without dropping the tranny?


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The disk itself isn't covered under warranty, it's considered a wear item, but the linkage and other internal components are covered as far as I know. I've read about at least 2 people who got a new clutch / pp / flywheel under warranty due to improper fitment that lead to slippage like symptoms. A warranty replacement is rare but it's not an impossibility.

I don't know of any way to visually inspect the clutch without dropping the tranny, though there may be a port that you could fit a borescope into...if there is I don't know about it off the top of my head.

Regardless, if the previous owner did so much damage to the clutch in the first 13K miles that you're having issues now, the dealer IMO should have noticed a high engagement or a lack of 'stickiness' on engagement. With that said, the clutch pedal in the A4 offers doesn't offer much feedback and barley any resistance with an already relatively high engagement so it's definitely possible to miss the signs of a worn clutch if you're not very familiar with 'normal' for a specific model. With the lack of manuals being sold these days I'd be surprised if the techs got a lot of opportunities to drive 6 speed A4s.

[lawquattro]

The disk itself isn't covered under warranty, it's considered a wear item, but the linkage and other internal components are covered as far as I know. I've read about at least 2 people who got a new clutch / pp / flywheel under warranty due to improper fitment that lead to slippage like symptoms. A warranty replacement is rare but it's not an impossibility.

I don't know of any way to visually inspect the clutch without dropping the tranny, though there may be a port that you could fit a borescope into...if there is I don't know about it off the top of my head.

Regardless, if the previous owner did so much damage to the clutch in the first 13K miles that you're having issues now, the dealer IMO should have noticed a high engagement or a lack of 'stickiness' on engagement. With that said, the clutch pedal in the A4 offers doesn't offer much feedback and barley any resistance with an already relatively high engagement so it's definitely possible to miss the signs of a worn clutch if you're not very familiar with 'normal' for a specific model. With the lack of manuals being sold these days I'd be surprised if the techs got a lot of opportunities to drive 6 speed A4s.

This is good info to have for when I 'negotiate' with the dealer. Good point about the infrequent opportunities for techs to work on 6MTs.

Thank you for your time!


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