[s-cars] Clutch Master Replaced, difficulty shifting into 1st & 2nd gear now... thoughts?

[James Murray]

Thank you oh very wise Yoda master... Ya, I probably did offend the Audi
gods, but I was in a pickle, and time was of the essence... and I paid
the price for it, the Dealer order the wrong part, I had no car, and had
to travel without anyway, and in the end they charged me $650 to replace
the Clutch Master... and I ended up with 1st & 2nd gear that are almost
impossible to shift into... go figure! if that's not enough to apease
the Audi gods, then I will have to give myself 100 lashes ;-) Hindsight
is 20/20 isn't! 

I think the shift linkage is out of alignment, because it happens when
engine is off, and only on 1st & 2nd gear. Darn it, the gears shifted
fine before this!!! :-( and I hope it's not the clutch it only has ~66K
miles on it. 

I was afraid to start the car in 1st, but live and learn I should have
tried it. I didn't think the start was powerful enough to move the car,
and start while engaged... hopefully there won't be a 2nd time.

Cheers, /Jamu.

-----Original Message-----
From: Fred Munro [mailto:munrof at sympatico.ca] 
Sent: February 25, 2008 7:32 PM
To: James Murray; s-car-list at audifans.com
Subject: RE: [s-cars] Clutch Master Replaced,difficulty shifting into
1st & 2nd gear now... thoughts?

James, James, James....

Obviously you have offended the Audi gods by allowing the unclean to
approach the shrine rather than performing the requisite sacrifices
yourself....

Now to find the appropriate petitions to assuage their anger. You may
have to buy some dispensations....

A few things come to mind..

1. The clutch is not disengaging completely. How close to the floor is
the clutch pedal when the clutch engages/disengages? It should be fairly
high up in the travel. When I did my master cylinder, I had a hard time
getting all the air out of the system, and the pedal started off low and
came up with use as (presumably) air bled out of the system and into the
brake fluid reservoir.

2. The shift linkage is out of alignment. You don't have to get anywhere
near the shift linkage to change the clutch master cylinder, but
stranger things have happened at dealerships.

3. The dealer mechanic took it for a test drive and tried a few power
shifts. I've seen this lock up the UrS 1st/2nd gears at the ice drags.
The fix is to...drive it for a few months until it loosens back up. Go
figure...

4. Check that the dealer set the master cylinder actuating rod at the
correct length. There should be some play ay the top of the travel
before the master cylinder pressurizes the system. If not, you'll need a
new clutch before long. This wouldn't cause your shifting problem, but
it's something to watch for.

If this happens again, you can drive the car home by starting it in
first gear and shifting without a clutch provided you are not in stop
and go traffic. That's how I got my car home when my master cylinder
went. I did drive through the city, but we've got a lot less traffic
than Montreal.

Bonne chance, mon frere.

HTH

Fred Munro




-----Original Message-----
From: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com
[mailto:s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com]On Behalf Of James Murray
Sent: February 25, 2008 11:39 AM
To: s-car-list at audifans.com
Subject: [s-cars] Clutch Master Replaced,difficulty shifting into 1st &
2nd gear now... thoughts?


Hi Guys,
I had my Clutch Master replaced, the pedal went straight to the floor,
got the car back from the dealer (wait before you flame me, I'll explain
below) and now it's difficult to shift into 1st & 2nd gear? any
thoughts?

While driving on the bridge the pedal went straight to the floor and I
was stranded and had to be towed, I was too far out to have the car
towed to a garage that I knew, and I was leaving on a trip so I had no
timje to do it myself, so I needed the car back ASAP... so in haste I
had it towed to the dealer. Well I was quoted $1600 to $3200 for the fix
(they wanted to change everything possible), I asked that only the
Clutch Master be changed (the clutch was already changed 62K miles ago),
but now it's very difficult to shift into 1st & 2nd gear...but the other
gears are okay? what could have happened?

Any thoughts? I'm afraid the dealer will claim there are other issues
that need to be fixed, "we did only as you asked" :-(

Could the shifter linkage be out of alignement? or is there an
adjustment for the Clutch Master (not engaging fully) Cheers, /Jamu.

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