Since I bought my MK5 GTI, I’ve had an issue where the clutch pedal will sometimes stick on the way back up again, needing a toe underneath to flick it back up again. It often did this whilst turning/just after a right turn. I knew when it was going to happen as it would feel like it had lost a bit of pressure when I depressed the pedal. I also found if I put my foot a little on the clutch pedal and then started to jab the accelerator, the clutch would pulsate up and down again in time to pressing the accelerator.
I was worried it might be crank walk after reading up a little on the symptoms along with other posts from people who’ve replaced the whole clutch system chasing the same symptoms as I had, only to never fix the fault. I also thought it may be the pressure plate or the clutch slave cylinder.
To start with, I bled the system and changed the master cylinder which improved things a little - but only temporarily.
I then stumbled across a post about input shaft play on the early MK5 GTI’s. What happens is the input shaft bearing starts to eat into the gearbox case, causing play within the gearbox. Symptoms are difficulty selecting gears, whining from the gearbox, clutch drag and, certainly in my case, a clutch that sometimes sticks on the way back up.
The fix is either a new gearbox, or, for £28 and an hour of your time DIY, a gearbox shim kit from these guys
https://www.darksidedevelopments.co.uk/products/02m-02q-gearbox-input-shaft-shim-kit-and-end-cap.htmlIt’s an easy-ish DIY job. Simply jack the car up, remove wheel, remove arch lining, remove plastic end cap from gearbox, remove snap ring from input shaft bearing, insert between 1-3 shims depending on the play (I did 2) , re-insert snap ring, put new plastic end cap on gearbox, fit arch lining, fit wheel and then bask in your own self glory.
I believe this problem affects early MK5 GTI’s rather than the later ones as they had the shim fitted at factory. I think some other VAG cars with the 02M, 02Q gearbox are also affected.
I drove my car for an hour after doing the work and I couldn’t stop grinning. It’s made a massive difference and I have zero problems with the clutch sticking now.
So in summary, if your clutch keeps sticking it might be due to play on your input shaft bearing. For £28 and an hour of your time, you are as well doing this before you start pulling the gearbox off thinking you’ve got clutch slave cylinder, pressure plate, crank walk or dual mass flywheel issues.
Here’s the how to vid;
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6WWChWV9RqwEnjoy, GTiWILL
P.S my car is a ‘55 plate manual with 151,000 miles for reference.
