UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hi, I was wondering if anyone might have any ideas regarding the problem I am having with my clutch.

When I depress my clutch, ( the pedal seems to travel a long way before engaging), but the car won't go into gear. The car is a 1.0 with 30,000 miles, so I'm thinking the clutch should be ok? It will eventually go into gear, but you can hear it grind when doing so. I have to press the clutch pedal to the floor and even then it grinds. I an hoping it might be low clutch fluid, just trying to find out how to check this. While trying to find the clutch bottle under the bonnet I did notice the brake fluid is on 'min'; am I right is thinking that the clutch fluid bottle should be close to the brake fluid?

Has anyone had similar problems? anyone got any ideas as to what might be the problem.

Thanks in advance for any help,
Mike

Success
Turns out that the brake fluid and the clutch fluid are the same bottle/reservoir under the bonnet; I topped up the brake fluid and the issue was resolved, I could tell as soon as I tried depressing the clutch pedal.

You don't need much fluid to top up the brake/clutch fluid; at Halfords I had a choice of a 1L bottle for £10 or a very well known brand for £9.45 (reduced from £12) this was only a 500ml bottle; I chose the well known brand (500ml). I topped up from the min mark to just below the max mark and didn't even use half of the 500ml bottle.

Happy days!

Hopefully this info can help someone in future.

As a matter of interest, was the brake fluid changed when the car reached three years old?

The first brake fluid change is due on a 2020 Polo at three years old and then every two years thereafter. Assuming it was changed at three years old, and assuming the correct quantity of fluid was used (lots of assumptions ), if you’ve now had to add a approx 1/4 of a litre, that might suggest the system wasn’t bled properly when the fluid was changed, or maybe you have a leak(?).

It would be worth keeping an eye on the fluid level and if it drops, the reason for the level dropping should be investigated.

I have had the car regularly serviced; just checked the last 2 and they did not change the brake fluid.
I will be keeping a eye on the brake fluid level because I was surprised at it being so low.

mike polo67 wrote: Tue Aug 20, 2024 2:51 pm I have had the car regularly serviced; just checked the last 2 and they did not change the brake fluid.
I will be keeping a eye on the brake fluid level because I was surprised at it being so low.

If your car was serviced by a VW dealership, then the fluid change isn’t something that’s done as part of a normal service - it’s a separate chargeable item. I’ve always had to specifically ask for it to be done - the dealer hasn’t reminded me it needed doing, but that seems to be the norm for many VW dealers!

That's interesting to know, my last service was done at a Ford dealership; I will have to remember to have it changed periodically.
I will be keeping an eye on the level, does seem odd for it to have been so low.

It shouldn't drop that far to cause such problems, you might have a leak somewhere. Worth keeping an eye on each time you do the oil and washer fluid checks.

Simonz wrote: Thu Sep 05, 2024 9:13 am It shouldn't drop that far to cause such problems, you might have a leak somewhere. Worth keeping an eye on each time you do the oil and washer fluid checks.

Exactly, something has gone wrong, get it looked at ASAP, adding fluid has not fixed it properly.

Hi , I am interested in this topic, I have a 2020 VW Polo R-Line that has an intermittent issue with the clutch pedal going spongey. I am wondering if anyone else has seen that issue?
I tried to raise a new thread but I don't seem to have the correct access to do so.

JC_Polo wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2024 3:35 pm Hi , I am interested in this topic, I have a 2020 VW Polo R-Line that has an intermittent issue with the clutch pedal going spongey. I am wondering if anyone else has seen that issue?
I tried to raise a new thread but I don't seem to have the correct access to do so.

I'd hazard a guess that you would need to have a minimum of posts before you could could open a new thread, that is true I think for anyone wanting to PM another member, so maybe the same for opening/creating a new thread.