Slippy clutches on TDIs

[Androo]

Well I've had my B5 115bhp TDI saloon for about 18 months and 40k miles now. When I bought it at 100k I was glad to see that the cambelt and clutch had both been recently changed at a smidgen under 100k miles. The car's done 140k now, so is more or less run in.

Thing is, the clutch seems to be beginning to slip a bit - when I get to the meaty section of the revs (between about 1.8k and 3k rpm) and I'm pressing the accelerator right down the revs seems to run ahead a bit, as though the clutch was slipping a bit - when I ease off the accelerator a bit the revs drop (perhaps only about 150rpm) down to where I'd expect them to be.

The last clutch on the car lasted 100k miles, this one has only been on the car for 40k miles and furthermore most of my mileage is gentle motorway cruising. I questioned whether I was imagining the whole thing on my way home yesterday and tried to get the clutch to slip in 5th gear but it seemed to be okay that time. It hasn't done it since but I've been driving very symapthetically.

Since the cambelt service replacement interval is 40k (why? other PD engines go 60k between cambelts) I've got to get that changed soon, so it seems like I'm looking at a (guessing here) £6-7-800 servicing bill - scary!

Should the clutch need changing so soon?

Is there any adjustment on these clutches that I could do?

Is this normal on these torquey TDI PD engines/am I imagining it/smoking too much crack?

EDIT: I don't actually smoke crack, that was just a flippant remark. I don't think I've imagined this, I think however I might be in denial or hoping the problem will just go away.....

[stevegrass777]

Well it could be the clutch.
How long will a clutch last?
This depends on how you drive it and or the quality of the clutch.
If I was selling my car I would put a cheap clutch in if I was keeping it I would fit a sach's.
If the car is held on a junction up a bank using the clutch instead of the handbrake it won't last very long.
Also starting off in second is no good either.
These car's are heavy and have lots of toque thats why the sachs clutch is expensive £130.
Sometimes the master cyl or slave cyl can hold pressure when worn out and keep the clutch from releasing properly.