Master or Slave - Clutch pedal no pressure

[Jezmondo71]

Hi I am looking for some advice on next course of action:

Came out to move my van yesterday and dipped the clutch which promptly went to the floor!

No obvious leak at the back of the pedal and all assembly looks intact, slight whoosh sound when operating the pedal by hand but won't repressure.


No indication of leak on bulkhead


Fluid level in the reservoir is unchanged (level is at the seam, no fluid loss).


Looking underneath where engine meets gearbox no sign of fresh fluid leak.


Parked on gravel driveway so no visible pool of fluid underneath (additional question - should there be some kind of engine cover plate/tray under the engine?)


Am I right in thinking if the release bearing/slave had failed I would have lost fluid in the reservoir and or the underside of the gearbox and so this is pointing towards the master cylinder failing?

Van 2018 6 speed manual T30 Kombi and is on 107k mileage, don't have a lot of history with it except belt and water pump changed by the garage where I bought it 18 months ago, they said it was a business vehicle and was regularly serviced but I have no evidence of this to refer to.

Is it prudent to order and swap out the master cylinder as a first step?

 

[whodat]

Could be a either.
But - this happened on my T4.
The fluid leaked into the clutch assembly and the whole clutch assembly needed replacing along with the master cylinder.
It is possible, if it is the same problem, that it leaked near where you parked up before you stopped. Just have a check within a few metres for a small clutch fluid patch on the road.

..
edited.
Bad answer and can't delete post.

Good luck anyway.

 

[Jezmondo71]

So after some more reading and discovering the reservoir has three chambers and you can't really trust the level, I topped off the fluid and tried the pedal again.

This time I was able to get some pressure back into the pedal and I can now see a drop of fluid appearing at the underside of the gearbox and at the photographed hole which I am assuming is some kind of breather/drain?

So looks like the slave after all and an expensive trip to my local independent

 

[Dellmassive]

prob a full clutch kit then. . . . .

 

[Jezmondo71]

prob a full clutch kit then. . . . .

Booked in for two weeks time with local independent £1,200 +vat

 

[Chrishall888]

Same thing happened to ours…
Unfortunately I tried the master first to no avail. Out with the box and full clutch DmF later were mobile again

 

[Bigbrownbear]

We have a T5.1 2011. Bought with 89K on clock and converted in 2016. Now 123K. Clutch went near home after our usual European jolly for two weeks in summer. Called the breakdown guys and due to the belly pan couldn't really see underneath. No sign of leaking at pedal or from DOT4 tank. The levels in the reservoir were a little low.Filled it up but still same issues with pedal going to floor and zero resistance lifting up. Its going into our independent who suspects the slave seals have gone., and prepare for a new clutch DMF etc.. We don't know if the clutch had been replaced before, nothing in the service history so maybe not... but at some point the clutch will need replacing. The issue is there was no way of knowing it was about to go. happily it wasn't half way up a mountain in the Pyrenees

 

[Bigbrownbear]

£1350 later… dmf, clutch , new slave and bits, new drive train os and supports .. /about 5-6 hrs work.

 

[Bigbrownbear]

Just a pointer and heads up regarding getting this done. CHECK the steering wheel is centered while the van is driving straight before you leave the garage. The sub frame is removed..along with joints, drive trains, etc etc and if it's out by a mm when bolting back then the steering can be out. DO NOT try and centre the steering wheel unless of course this is out to begin with. Fortunately i took it back to garage ,explained the issue and they had to have it for a day to re do the subframe mounting and steering....Otherwise you'll need to have the alignment tracking done.

 

[rriley]

Hi, This has just happened to me. went to start the van in the morning, pedal dropped straight to the floor. Puddle under the gearbox and dripping just at the nut as in the picture above. Got a quote from a local garage, £1800 + vat with approx another £150 for the recovery. pressure this will need a DMF, full clutch kit and I noticed the seals advice aswell. Anyone tackled this themselves?

 

[Bigsidavies]

Hi, This has just happened to me. went to start the van in the morning, pedal dropped straight to the floor. Puddle under the gearbox and dripping just at the nut as in the picture above. Got a quote from a local garage, £1800 + vat with approx another £150 for the recovery. pressure this will need a DMF, full clutch kit and I noticed the seals advice aswell. Anyone tackled this themselves?

Seems very pricey when @Bigbrownbear recently paid £1350.
Also, how local are they if transport is £150? That would put me off straight away.
My local VW indi charges £65 plus vat per hour. If the parts are a grand are they saying it's a 13 hour job?

 

[Bigbrownbear]

We were fortunately with breakdown service..long standing cover , and have AA. You could join that for home start.. you will have to wait a few days before that kicks in though. The difficulty you face is the garage doesn't know what's wrong until they get in there, so there maybe savings /or more expense. We ended up needing new suspension parts also in that 1300+ figure...Our garage gave me a breakdown on the parts they paid for at payment. The truth is i could have paid for these myself, and then ask them to fit...but my view is they all need to make somewhere so who are you doing out of business and for what saving. The quote at 1800plus vat does seem high. You could do it yourself..plenty of scary You Tube action to show but you will need a pit/good stands and a very brave attitude, take care to mark up everything before you take either off etc etc etc... the clutch kit isn't expensive..
https://www.autodoc.co.uk/car-parts...ox-7ha-7hh-7ea-7eh/32264-2-0-tdi?supplier[]=6

But it's time, right tools, care oh and expensive gearbox oil as well.(VAG stuff is £50 a litre...!) Not beyond the bounds of human capacity thou. Oh and make sure you mark, measure up the subframe before dropping it out, and taking the utmost care to put back otherwise your steering will be off.

 

[Chrishall888]

Hi, This has just happened to me. went to start the van in the morning, pedal dropped straight to the floor. Puddle under the gearbox and dripping just at the nut as in the picture above. Got a quote from a local garage, £1800 + vat with approx another £150 for the recovery. pressure this will need a DMF, full clutch kit and I noticed the seals advice aswell. Anyone tackled this themselves?

I did mine on the driveway, but I was a mechanic for ten years.
Easy enough job to do, even removing the subframe isn’t too much of a task.
Lifting the box in and out is the biggest pain in the butt, however with a second small jack easily doable

 

[rriley]

Thanks to all for your replies. I am going to phone around to see what other quotes I can get. The closest garage is about 10 miles away, 25 mins drive so an hours labour, fuel, + use of the recovery vehicle doesn't seem too bad when you break it all down. However yes, I agree if it was a days labour say 8 hours, £80hour, the parts from a local motor factors is £550 including all the oil etc I would have thought £1200-£1300 would have been about right. I been told if I do it myself I can't start it before Christmas so have a couple of days to think about it.