Good evening all
After a few months of enduring the unbearableness of my clutch failing to return after pushing it down, and sticking between gear changes i decided to have it investigated. Upon researching (again) into further problems with the pre-facelift 140 BKD's i found alot of people talking about the clutch/DMF issues they have come across. I decided to bite the bullet, knowing it would cost a fair bit of cash and have this looked at. Chances are it was the slave cylinder that had gone as the Master had just recently been replaced and ruled it out. Sitting at the unit and watching this experienced bloke fondle my car to pieces i learnt a little bit about how my car is put together and how the clutch, gearbox and parts of the drivetrain work. this is what we found :-
First up, a gearbox. a little dirty, but a gearbox none the less.
a slightly tired looking slave cylinder.
a pretty worn clutch plate. Considering the car is on 161K and i have absolutley no receipts/evidence to show that the clutch has been replaced in the lifetime of the car, im guessing its done quite well with no slipping.
a DMF! My service schedule appears to contradict what i had been told by Wayside Towcester (the dealer at which this car had been serviced prior to my ownership) who say the DMF was replaced at 95K in 2010 under a safety recall whereby VW Customer Services advise me it had been replaced at 30K in 2006 under a safety recall...
Looking at the gearbox, some slight play was detected. I was pretty alarmed at this, but the mechanic told me that it was expected of a car that had done that much mileage, and was not uncommon as such. I guess these things arent completly indestructable huh... but looking at the gearbox, that wasnt the only thing that had play...
Im no technical expert, but looking at the slave, clutch plates and DMF decided to get them all replaced. So a quick phone call and mug of tea later...
Old and new...
again old and new...
new on the left, old on the right...
my new slave...
and whilst he had taken apart most of my engine, i thought id get the Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor replaced aswell. That would be sure to get rid of the god damn emissions light (why the hell the emissions light man?!) once and for all!
before putting the subframe back in he advised me to get my engine mount replaced next time i come in as it looked a little something like this...
and whilst he was putting it back together again i thought id ask him carry out the subframe bolt mod just in case.
So in summary, just over £800 got me a new DMF, clutch, slave cylinder, ECT sensor, subframe bolts, fresh gearbox oil all fitted and with VAT. Yes its a large expense, but heck ive done it now so may aswell run the car down to the ground like i originally planned. As a direct result of this, my car feels brand new. Not only that, the engine shudder i got on idle has now completley disappeared!! who wouldve thought it would be the DMF? theres me thinking it was an injector/glowplug problem!!
a effing huge thank you goes out to Alex at AKS Tuning for all his hard and honest work on my car. Absolute legend and as stated before, will be the first port of call for ANY work done on the MKV for the foreseeable future.
Keep your eyes peeled for more updates, im sure 2013 will churn them out thick and fast!
