Clutch pedal travel

[EmmaK1]

Hi Guys,

I need a little advice about my 1993 Audi 80 Avant 1.9 TDi please. The clutch works fine. The action is near the top of the travel. It engages fully and won't slip but...

From a cold start with the pedal on the floor I can't get it into any gear. Sometimes it will go into reverse then after moving a few inches it will reluctantly go into 1st. Once it warms up it seems to work fine although it sometimes takes a firm push to get into 1st gear when stationary at junctions.

Any suggestions or links to old threads (that I have failed to find) would be most welcome.

Thanks in advance.

[Duffy3074]

Hi Emma

Has the clutch system been bled at any point? These are hydraulic and if there’s air in the system it can give you the symptoms you have

Wear on the clutch itself is another possibility

[EmmaK1]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. I have done a bit more research and (I hope) found the problem.
The clutch master cylinder has no reservoir. Instead it is fed from a connection on the side of the brake master reservoir which is a wide shallow cylinder. As the brake pads wear the level drops and if you fail to top it up (!) eventualy air is drawn in... Mine was actually just below the minimum.

I guess that the large surface area allowed the fluid to slop away from the connection just as I changed gear. It was my intention to replace the brake fluid before the MOT. I'm just going to have to do it sooner. In the mean time I will top up the reservoir and bleed the clutch circuit.

I'll post an update on here.

[Duffy3074]

Cool

:-)