RE: Subject: Re: Firewall Giving Way

["Buchholz, Steven" <Steven.Buchholz@kla-tencor.com>]

> Was the clutch replaced in either of these (your) cars?
> If so...was it truly shot, or was it preventative maintenance?
> 
> I hear of people saying their clutch lasted over 200k miles, but maybe
> their firewall cracked along the way as the pedal got more stiff.
>   My odo says only 110k so there's precedent to think the clutch may still
> be good.  I probably need to test out the pedal on another car with newer
> clutch to see how it feels.
> 
... I bought the '85 4kSQ with 204K miles and a bad clutch ... as far as I
can tell there was no damage to the firewall ... You're welcome to drive my
car if you'd like, but it'd be an expensive test drive for you I'd suppose
... :-)

My ur-q has a hair over 100K and the clutch actuation force was just fine
... to the point where the spring on the pressure plate broke ... :-)  :-(
... but I'm not going to bitch too loud about a spring in that much tension
giving out after 15 years ... !

Many folks say that the extra force required is due to the change of the
geometry of the clutch mechanism as the clutch wears ... which may be
correct.  What I know from replacing the clutch on a couple of Audis is that
the plastic throw-out bearing guide sleeve that was originally installed
gets pretty ratty after all those years ... and actually could be
responsible for the TOB not fully disengaging the clutch fingers.  In all my
years of driving Audis I have only seen one clutch go out due to the
friction material wearing down ... even the 4kSQ at 200k+ did not have a
slipping clutch!  What I usually see is TOBs losing lubrication and wearing
the fingers off of the pressure plate ... and a rather worn TOB guide sleeve
...

Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)