Mk V golf gti clutch issue

[Scott1990gti]

Hello all, new to this; so hoping it gets seen and responded to by someone who can help!

So, I recently bought a  Mk V golf GTI and I've noticed the clutch pedal returns slowly.  I've had the system bled through, multiple times by a friend and by the VW Dealers.  Also, had the master cylinder replaced by VW; which has not solved the issue.

Seems that when it's cold before reaching 90 engine temp, the clutch pedal will return as expected - springs back no problem.

However, when the car is warmed up, and under load or Boost, the clutch pedal comes back very slowly - so if I wanted to do a sharp fast gear change, the pedal won't let me because it's returning too slowly and sticking.. as if you had the clutch in half way while accelerating.

The other thing I notice is that it's only happening under high pressure/speed or RPM. If I drive it with lightly, with gear changes under 4k RPM, the clutch comes back okayish.

Dont think I've experienced any clutch slip, it pulls well in all gears, no rattles or grinding, although I havent put my foot down and proper pressed the cars power- I wouldn't want to hammer a 19 year old car that I don't know much about yet and this clutch issue probably wouldn't help it.

I am hoping someone has knowledge on this, and if I've explained it clearly..  just don't fancy the £2.5k bill from VW if they have to drop the gearbox and change the slave, flywheel, clutch and possibly anything else that may be an issue.  BWA engine if that helps, 114k Milage so could be on the original clutch as there's no history.

Thanks for reading

[Lewo]

Where abouts are you?
There's a chance that someone on here will know a good independant garage near you.
I've used AKS, Rtec & a place in Swansea when I had my gti.

[GVK]

There is a thread on here about this kind of fault , it requires the end float measurement of the gearbox to have shims to reduce it. Link below

[GVK]

https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=121344.0

[dennis10]

I had this exact problem on my Edition 30 last year when I bought it.

I did a number of things which sorted the issue and I've not had it since:

1. Remove the flow restrictor in the clutch bleeder block (on the front of the gearbox from front of engine bay).  (It's a little tiny piece of plastic with a hole in it)  It is designed to slow down the clutch engagement to allow for people who cannot drive very well and to engage and disengage in a slower manner.  It's not needed and with it removed, the gear change feels fantastic, direct and you can feel everything the clutch is doing compared to the wooly, dead feeling it has as standard.  This also helps with the flow of the brake/clutch fluid, especially if the fluid is old and doesn't flow as well, less restriction.  You could also replace the clutch bleeder block with an aftermarket performance one, but this way is cheaper and makes it exactly the same ie without restrictor.

2.  After removing the restrictor, I reverse bled the clutch using a gun / pump to push the fluid back up to the brake fluid reservoir from the clutch bleeder block (Look on youtube at reverse clutch bleeding method ) I then sucked out anything that looked dirty as it came back up to the reservoir.  Bleeding the normal way often doesn't work very well as air bubbles don't want to travel down, they want to go up, hence this method.

After doing this, my clutch issues were cleared.  I also looked into shimming the gearbox, and I still have the parts to do this, but I found that to not be my issue.

This is an aftermarket clutch bleeder block:

https://www.awesomegti.com/shop-by-car/volkswagen/eos/hel-performance-clutch-bleeder-block-mk5-6-7-golf-type-chassis-etc/

And here is a useful thread showing the OEM one and restrictor:

https://www.vwroc.com/forums/topic/12185-tutorial-clutch-delay-valve-removal-manual-cars/