Advice Needed

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Casbantam
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Drives: 1.2 TSI Match
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Advice Needed

Post by Casbantam »

Just wondering if anyone could help with my predicament?
I have a 1.2 TSI 2016 4700 miles that I have had for just a week. I thought I would be used to driving it by now but I'm really struggling to get a consistently smooth set off in first gear.
It seems like the accelerator pedal is mega sensitive so it's difficult to add the right amount of gas for setting off. Even just resting my foot gently on the pedal results in the revs racing up to about 2000rpm and often has me shooting forward.
Question is is this normal for this car/engine and if so how do you get on with it and can you offer any advice on how to tame it a little. Or is this not normal and has anyone else had this issue and can it be remedied? I wonder if the car can be programmed to be less sensitive??
Any advice is greatly accepted. Cheers
gtsportms
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Re: Advice Needed

Post by gtsportms »

Its just normal for this engine..
Joeistheking
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Re: Advice Needed

Post by Joeistheking »

Just sounds like a characteristic of the car. Try wearing different footwear with a thinner sole until you get used to it
d-ash
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Re: Advice Needed

Post by d-ash »

Similar to mine, and it bogs down momentarily if you don’t give it enough revs. A bit of a balancing act 😉
Casbantam
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Re: Advice Needed

Post by Casbantam »

Thanks for replies.
Was just reading on internet about mods on pedal to make less sensitive. Interesting!!! If not dodgy.
Might drive in socks tomorrow see how that goes.
Cheers
albob
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Re: Advice Needed

Post by albob »

I had a similar problem with my new (2016) car, except it was with the clutch. Give it some time, and you will adjust to it.....
Casbantam
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Re: Advice Needed

Post by Casbantam »

There's such a small biting point I cannot set off slowly and smoothly. I basically have to take a leap of faith by giving it a fair few revs and lifting the clutch quite quickly. This is okay most of the time but not ideal in slow moving traffic.
I might go back to the garage and drive another one to see if it's the same. Not sure this will help the clutch long term?
veteran
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Re: Advice Needed

Post by veteran »

I drive a 2017 TSI Match 1.2 and experience none of what you describe, Casbantam. I do not consider what you describe as normal. My getaway in first is certainly not oversensitive compared to any other previous car I've had. Believe me, if it was I'd be complaining like **ll, both on this forum and to the dealer from whom I bought the car!

Sounds like some sort of clutch issue but I can't think what, precisely, as you shouldn't be having a biting-point problem on a vehicle that's done just 4700 mls. If I'm not mistaken, the clutch will be actuated, as on mine, via an hydraulically-operated slave cylinder mounted on the battery end (lefthand, topside) of the gearbox. Could it be that there's some air in that line? If so, might be worth bleeding that slave cylinder; its bleed nipple will be visible to you; you'll need something to catch what fluid gets expelled, and you'll need some DOT4 brake/hydraulic to top up the master cylinder, which you'll find as a polycontainer situated by the engine-compartment bulkhead, in front of the driver's position. Before doing that, though, check the status of the hydraulic fluid in that master reservoir. You may have possibly been losing some, due to, say, a minor leak in the clutch hydraulics line. If your master cylinder/reservoir is anything like mine, it's not easy to see the level of fluid in that reservoir, as the non-removeable filter basket in that reservoir and the fluid are both yellow. But persevere. Don't stick your finger in it, BTW, as the fluid's not good for your skin, and don't let any of it get on to the car's paintwork, as it doubles as a very good paintstripper!

A common mistake perpetrated by both DIY owners of these Polos and VW workshops is to overfill the engine with its requisite oil, so that's something else you could check. What's the level like at present on the dipstick? It needs to be below max. Withdraw and wipe dry the dipstick then use it to see what the level's like. Do it with the car on a level surface and at least 30 mins after the car's been driven at all, as otherwise you'll get a false reading. You see, if some idiot's overfilled it the excess may well have, over time, blown past the primary seal between engine and clutch-housing and contaminated the latter. This could then cause the clutchplate to stick and not disengage properly. See if you can look or feel around the bottom of the engine, at the front where it joins on to the bellhousing/gearbox. If you find traces of oil there, it may well be some of that excess engine oil, dripping very slowly out of the bellhousing. If you do find any and the dipstick level is high, you could try letting out a little of the engine oil via the oil drainplug. But do understand that that alone wouldn't instantly cure any contaminatory issue with the clutch (if that's what it is), except perhaps in the longer term, when hopefully the worst of the contamination will have burnt off the clutchplate. Normally, the remedy for an oil-contaminated clutch is to have the gearbox whipped off and, at the very least, the clutch parts degreased and a new clutchplate fitted. Hopefully, the cause of your problem won't be that, though. All the same, worth doing some visual checks around the engine and gearbox.

Well, those are some thoughts to be getting on with. Incidentally, does the spring pressure at the clutch pedal feel right? Am wondering whether perhaps the spring mechanism on the clutch pedal has somehow become disengaged or otherwise broken. If so, that could certainly give you some binary-like operation. What's it like changing into other gears, other than first? Are the changes smooth and are they without baulking?

An afterthought: what if you double-declutch, ie. put the clutch pedal to the floor a few times before finally letting it into first-gear? Does that help? Is the transition then smoother?
Casbantam
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Re: Advice Needed

Post by Casbantam »

Thanks for the comprehensive reply veteran most appreciated. I bought this from a Das Welt dealer and after a few days of struggling reported it but they said I would get used to it. This can't be one if the 142 checks?
Anyway after a week I am still struggling and am trying to over compensate but don't think it's right. After doubting my driving ability I got a friend and fellow vw owner to drive my car and low and behold he couldn't. I have 4 weeks to exchange the car so think that is what I might do.
I hate the whole it's a characteristic of the car spiel that you get from the garages. It's good to be able to come on here and get a real answer from real owners thank you.
Just to clarify then, can you get a smooth set off every time by adding a little gas and releasing the clutch slowly?
Answering your question above the other gears seem ok maybe a little clunky at times but not sure of the term baulking. Cheers
veteran
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Re: Advice Needed

Post by veteran »

"can you get a smooth set off every time by adding a little gas and releasing the clutch slowly?"

By 'you', do you mean 'me'? If so, I can't really answer that here, on the spot, as moving off in first, or reversing, is something I do instinctively and I'm not conscious of increasing the gas and releasing the clutch especially slowly. But I may well be doing just that.

BTW, how long have you been driving, if you don't mind me asking? Someone who's not long passed his driving test could conceivably still be in the throws of learning clutch control.

If you're utterly convinced it's not your technique that's causing the issue, then I'd urge you to perform the checks under the bonnet that I've suggested. They wouldn't take very long to do, and if everything looked in order at least you'd be able rule out some, or indeed most, of the more-obvious mechanical reasons.

Given that it's a secondhand car, I'd think it more likely it's nothing to do with you but is possibly a clutch problem that existed when the previous owner sold the car back to the VW dealer, or was, say, a testdrive car within the dealership that had acquired a clutch problem. As for the ubiquitous 142 checks, don't make me laugh! The dealer's workshop minion probably just walked around the car and kicked the tyres. No thorough checks had been done on my car when I first acquired it, and the problems that existed, of which leaking gearbox oil was the worst, were in due course fixed by me!

'Baulking' (in the context of car gear-changing): 'extreme notchiness in the feel of the gears through the gearlever; difficulty in the gears sliding from one to another'.
Casbantam
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Re: Advice Needed

Post by Casbantam »

Hi veteran,
I will try the double clutching that you suggest shortly as I have booked in at the garage this pm for a test drive in a similar car.
Been driving for 30 years and never had this issue. Friend at work drove it Friday and said it was horrible and was like bucking bronco so that made me feel better. It does feel a bit clunky in the gearchange and often difficult to get in reverse but that's not uncommon in many cars I have driven.
Oh well at least they offer a 30 day exchange option. Might need it!
Thanks - Casbantam
veteran
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Re: Advice Needed

Post by veteran »

It could be the clutch slave cylinder leaking, you know. I've been told that, on these Polos, sometimes the actuator seal on the slave cylinder can get damaged when it's first installed and can subsequently leak. If the leak were bad enough, then whenever the car's been standing for a while and you try to put it into first, there'd not be enough throw left in the so-called fork bearing that the slave cylinder's rod bears on and which operates the clutch mechanism, lifting the clutchplate off the flywheel and allowing you a smooth transition from one gear to another, especially from neutral to first. Indeed, if it were permanently leaking, air could have entered the line. Do check underneath the gearbox bell-housing, as that's where any of the hydraulic oil will migrate to.

Extreme difficulty of getting into first and of having little or no leeway in the biting point is usually indicative of either a completely worn-out clutch (which clearly it can't be, in this instance), an oil-contaminated clutchplate, or a defective fork/fork bearing.
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