Clicking from clutch pedal

[Airbus]

Hi all,

Is anyone having their clutch pedal clicking when it's pressed or depressed on their Golf Mk6? The sound is like an irritating biro pin noise you click to annoy people with.

I had it checked out with the dealer and they said it's the clutch pedal switch, albeit a little more noisy than usual. After some more research I found that the switch is a close proximity design so doesn't make any noise!

After a little more research I see there is a TPI for Sciroccos for this very same noise Here, something to do with the clip on the pedal not having a tight fit and suggesting the use of felt and refitting the clip. But can't find the TPI online and the dealer can not find it either apparently (perhaps it's not on the Golf list for the UK market).

Would anyone in the know have access to this TPI? Also can the clip be released and refitted with the pedal in situ I wonder. I am confident that the issue is to do with the clip as there is a little play in it within the pedal when it clicks.

Thanks.

[zagato]

I was getting a problem like this on my 2006 Passat 1.9 Tdi. Clutch pedal clicking and sticking. Car still perfectly driveable with no issues other than the pedal not normal and only returning half-way. Turned out the plastic shaft on the clutch master cylinder had snapped where there is a ball on the end inside the master cylinder. Absolute bu*&er of a job to fix as need access inside back of engine bay behind heat shield and access in upper footwell necessitating removal of a lot of the dash. Parts cost £35!

[Keithuk]

Mine is similar. Clutch pedal pulsating/vibrating

[Airbus]

Mine is similar. Clutch pedal pulsating/vibrating

Hi Keith, yours is vibrating when pressed, but you're not getting any clicking noise right?

[Airbus]

I was getting a problem like this on my 2006 Passat 1.9 Tdi. Clutch pedal clicking and sticking. Car still perfectly driveable with no issues other than the pedal not normal and only returning half-way. Turned out the plastic shaft on the clutch master cylinder had snapped where there is a ball on the end inside the master cylinder. Absolute bu*&er of a job to fix as need access inside back of engine bay behind heat shield and access in upper footwell necessitating removal of a lot of the dash. Parts cost £35!

Hi, thanks for the input. I think mine is definitely the clip and not the master cylinder plastic shaft. Got one of those mirrors down there so could see what was going on from the other side. And clicking is concurrent with the white clip moving.

I am currently trying to live with it. Grease has helped as the click only happens as soon as I press the brake pedal, where the clip has some force against it from the plastic shaft.

I don't really want to rip out the dash area or knee airbag to change the clip at this stage, as I will probably create another issue... If only the clip could be changed with the pedal/trim in situ, oh well I guess it was never designed to be removed later on in its life.

It would be interesting to see if anyone not more adventurous than myself has done a DIY for this fix. Pictures speak a thousand words...

[MrPT]

First post (and a big bump!), but thought I'd post back here, since this thread was one of the ones I looked at for help before buying a mk6 1.4TSI with a clicking clutch. A replacement plastic retaining clip was £3.50 from eBay (part number 1K0721357A) and it can be replaced in under an hour without any special tools. It does require some footwell gymnastics, however!

The clutch pedal needs to be removed to replace the clip. I vaguely followed this guide, but a lot of steps can be skipped. The procedure was:

1. Disconnect the battery. Not strictly necessary, but if the knee airbag triggers it'll take your face off
2. Remove the main, under-dash trim panel that fits around the pedals
3. Remove the small cubby hole below the headlight controls on the right of the steering column. At this point it's worth getting some good illumination up into the footwell
4. Use the access enabled by step (3) to unscrew and remove the plastic vent ducts (T20 torx) - see Picture A, below

Picture A.jpg

5. Loosen the damping foam around the clutch pedal - there are two push-fit clips that you can lever off easily with a small screwdriver - and pull it back to expose the pivot point of the pedal
6. Get yourself positioned right, lying in the footwell looking up at the pedals, and use a pair of 13mm sockets to unbolt the pedal - Picture B, below

Picture B.jpg

7. Remove the 13mm nut and pull the bolt out, being careful to keep track of the bits that will fall out. There is 1 x long metal bush around the bolt, 2 x yellow plastic end caps and 1 x large, over-centre spring
8. This is the hardest bit, unless you have the specialist tool VW recommends (T10005). You need to find a way to push the two white blocks on the sides of the white retaining clip inwards - see Picture C, below - and then pull the pedal away from the clutch master cylinder shaft. If yours is like mine was, your clip may be broken into two pieces (Picture D shows it next to the replacement) and will just fall out, leaving the greased ball end of the master cylinder shaft exposed (Picture E). Everything is pretty robust, so you can use a lot of force without worrying about damaging anything (except your face/hands, maybe)

Picture C.jpg
Picture E.jpg
Picture D.jpg

9. Place the replacement clip over the ball end and click it back into place in the pedal. Putting the over-centre spring and metal bushing back in place is very fiddly (I used some tape to hold the bush in place), but you should find that you can pivot the pedal on the master cylinder shaft, now that it is held securely in place by the plastic clip, and jiggle the pedal bolt back into place
10. Tighten up the 13mm nut and reverse the above steps to complete the process

Apologies if this has already been posted elsewhere. I found so many examples of the issue across VW, Skoda and Audi forums but no DIY guide, which was a bit annoying since the fix is cheap (and reasonably easy) and I imagine a dealer might charge you >£100 for the pleasure.

[Keithuk]

Mine is similar. Clutch pedal pulsating/vibrating

On a side note to my problem. Its a long story but I asked my dealer for a list of all jobs they have done on my Golf.

Warranty 31/03/2010 1,137 Claim number: 21881/1 Clutch pressure plate, Out-of-round, out-of-balance 1 Value 374.20 WARR Warranty 17/01/2011 5,103 Claim number: 355522/1 Digital gear indicator not showing in MFD. They plugged the car into their computer to send a report to VW. I went back the next day to have Software update and now it shows DMS Warranty 14/03/2011 5,605 Claim number: 36708/3 Tailgate Trim Panel. Excessive E PLAY (LOOSE WORN SLACK) Value 27.52 WARR Warranty 27/07/2011 8,653 Claim number: 43692/1 Engine earthing strap MECHANICAL FAULT CRACKED, DEFORMED, DAMAGED Value 58.16 WARR Warranty 17/02/2012 12,145 Claim number: 51857/1 Front seat padding MECHANICAL FAULT CRACKED, DEFORMED, DAMAGED, Right, Value 322.47 WARR