Sticky Clutch?

[Cosmo Kramer]

I have a Passat 2007 2.0TDI and until now I haven't had any issued with the car, and the car has had all the required services throught the years. I was driving yesterday, and suddenly my clutch got stuck when I changed gears. Stuck at the bottom. So I had no idea what to do, I manually poked the clutch with my toe and pulled it up again, wasn't hard to do, just a little pull did the job. This happened again today, and I pulled it up again with my toe. Now, I have never experienced this with any of my cars, I don't know if it's the clutch fluid, or the mechanism itself, or even the cruise control?
Anyone know what this might be? Or experienced this? Thanks.

[martin1810]

It usually means clutch is worn to limit and needs replacing quick. The pedal action is going "over center"

[MiniMental]

Has it ever had a new clutch? What mileage is it on? Sounds like a pressure plate or release bearing issue to me... My b5.5s first clutch wore down that far it was biting/driving on the arms that hold the friction material, though saying that, the DMF had also gone and it was also driving on the flywheel bolts. Never had that happen though... Was just awful to drive..

[Cosmo Kramer]

Has it ever had a new clutch? What mileage is it on? Sounds like a pressure plate or release bearing issue to me... My b5.5s first clutch wore down that far it was biting/driving on the arms that hold the friction material, though saying that, the DMF had also gone and it was also driving on the flywheel bolts. Never had that happen though... Was just awful to drive..

Hi, thanks for the reply. The milage is 150.000 kilometeres. No, never replaced the clutch. But recently the entire car was inspected, all the brakes were replaced, and all the filters, oils, fluids. The gearbox is in amazing condition, no sign of usage. And when the clutch is not sticking it also feels great, springs back as normal. Strange. What can I do to solve this? Change the DMF? Also, these cars tend to have issues with the cruise control, could that be something that's causing this?

[DMitch16]

The slave cylinder piston could be getting stuck. On most it is a hydraulically actuated piston that pushes on a lever lifting the release bearing away. 150000 kilometres is a fair stint for a clutch if it has not been changed before and it may possibly need changing now along with the DMF (it would be wise to do them both considering the amount of work required to get the gearbox off).

[MiniMental]

Good run anyways for a DMF that, but it's worth doing it all whilst it's off like Mitch said. I've had my box off twice since August. Once to do clutch and flywheel, once week before last to change box... all on the drive and axle stands. Lol.

Slave would be where I would start as you can get it off with gearbox in situ. If you've got patience and long arms you can do it from topside if you take coolant tank and intake piping off. Helps heaps if you grease the hole/boot when you try to push it back in.

[Cosmo Kramer]

Hi, thanks for the reply, i'm taking it to the shop tomorrow and taking a look at the slave. Bleeding the system might be the first thing we try though, i have a master and slave part ready if needed. i'm taking the whole thing apart. A mechanic friend of mine said it might be something as small as a worn out grip. But no harm in giving the whole clutch a runthrough right.