Clutch issue on Motorway -

[a34me]

hi everybody,
driving a 2006 A3 turbo (2.0 6 speed manual)
i recently was on the highway and my clutch died, i could not get it in any gear and i had to drift off the highway in neutral. I had initially thought that the clutch linkage had failed and there would be no major damage. However after an audi Technician looked at it he determined that the cause was driver abuse. apparently the gears melted..... however, i only drive the car 2-3 times a month (maybe a 100 miles a mont). I do drive fast but i never go past 5.5 RPMs and i keep it below 90.
when i pulled over i found the battery cover in the engine fans (located behind the grill) they were clearly jammed and not working. Is it possible the jammed fan is the cause of the meltage? Any other reasons this could have happened, is audis driver abuse claim valid.
This is not my car and its 3K of damage so any kind of insight would be much appreciated.
Thanks, Jon

[RickT]

This is a strange one..

The fans should of been working, but this would not cause an issue with the gearbox,

Has there been a leak on the gearbox so its just over heated??

Whats the outside temp over there at the moment??

I would get back onto them and advise its not driver abuse as this should not happen even if you was driving it hard!

If that fails.. try another dealer or Audi Customer Services..

let us know how you get on..

Rick

[a34me]

its the end of winter here, maybe it was 45 degrees, not cold enough to have any effect on the vehicle.
thank you for your support, as far as i know, no leak in the gearbox
as far as the warranty it looks like im in for the money, but its also about clearing my name. my parents are convinced i cant drive a stick (its my moms car) and that i must be over revving, I am sure that i do none of this. Thanks again for your help, any further advice?

p.s., its only got about 25 K miles on it

[Abs]

I had a similar issue in that my clutch stuck and the car was over heating, found out the clutch sticking is a common problem with A3s and i had to just pull the pedal up with my foot and the bigger problem was the cooling pack motor failed which is an intergral part of the cooling pack shroud - expensive replacement! Are you sure they said the problems where associated? i'd be suprised, but then again you are speaking to the dealer, i'd try for a second opinion!