need help, car wont move! is it the clutch?
10-27-2009, 08:25 AM
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need help, car wont move! is it the clutch?
i have a 1.8t 5 speed. i was driving in 3rd gear all of a sudden when i went to accelerate it didnt, so i switched gears and nothing happened i then pulled over and tried to launch the car in every gear including reverse but it wont move just revs. the other thing thats happening is that i can put the car in any gear WITHOUT having to use the CLUTCH PEDAL and it wont stall the car isnt making any noises at all... someone please help me
10-27-2009, 09:49 AM
#2
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Yeah - it appears the clutch has failed - There is the remote possibility that the clutch is has not engaged but I can't picture that happening.
10-27-2009, 10:04 AM
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Yep. Pretty sure that if you remove the inspection cover, you're going to see your clutch disc in pieces in the bottom of the flywheel case. May even find the throw-out bearing and pressure plate in pieces there as well.
Been there, done that. In multiple vehicles. When they fail like yours, it's usually in a big way.
Bright side? If you are doing it yourself, it's not a hard job and typically doesn't require specialty tools. It's also fairly easy to learn and follow in a motor or chilton's manual.
Not so bright side? If you don't have the time or the inclination and take it to a dealer service, they'll get it turned around fast, but it'll cost you.
Silver lining? A dealer or other mechanic will give you a warranty on their work.
Been there, done that. In multiple vehicles. When they fail like yours, it's usually in a big way.
Bright side? If you are doing it yourself, it's not a hard job and typically doesn't require specialty tools. It's also fairly easy to learn and follow in a motor or chilton's manual.
Not so bright side? If you don't have the time or the inclination and take it to a dealer service, they'll get it turned around fast, but it'll cost you.
Silver lining? A dealer or other mechanic will give you a warranty on their work.
10-27-2009, 11:46 AM
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some one said on another forum that the axle could be bad and causing this issue but if it was would i be able to put the car in gear with the car running without pressing the clutch pedal
10-27-2009, 12:20 PM
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Short answer? Depends on how it broke, but it is certainly probable.
It is also possible that you simply broke the pin that holds the gear shift in the transmission, and it's actually stuck in neutral. Doubt it though.
Something broke while you were driving. I've never in my 35 years of driving heard of an axle just coming out of the wheel or breaking while driving, especially on front wheel drive vehicles, unless something major occured, like you hit something, slid into a curb, or someone made a big mistake while servicing the wheels/tires/brakes/shocks.
Now if you were driving an automatic, your torque converter either came loose from the flywheel, OR your transmission pump just blew up. But since you aren't look at the clutch first, gearshift pin second, then jack up the car, open the hood and spin whichever tire is off the ground. Either you'll see the axle turn on that side or you won't. Now do the same thing on the other side.
Good luck.
It is also possible that you simply broke the pin that holds the gear shift in the transmission, and it's actually stuck in neutral. Doubt it though.
Something broke while you were driving. I've never in my 35 years of driving heard of an axle just coming out of the wheel or breaking while driving, especially on front wheel drive vehicles, unless something major occured, like you hit something, slid into a curb, or someone made a big mistake while servicing the wheels/tires/brakes/shocks.
Now if you were driving an automatic, your torque converter either came loose from the flywheel, OR your transmission pump just blew up. But since you aren't look at the clutch first, gearshift pin second, then jack up the car, open the hood and spin whichever tire is off the ground. Either you'll see the axle turn on that side or you won't. Now do the same thing on the other side.
Good luck.
10-27-2009, 04:04 PM
#6
A couple of things to keep in mind.
Your situation doesn't really point to a bad clutch. Clutches generally will slip when worn and give you some type of warning before they go totally bad. Even if it was shattered, the pieces wouldn't have fallen out until you stepped on the clutch. It would hae been followed by nasty noises.
Quattro transmissions rely on resistance to provide output force. It works similar to an open differential in a conventional axle. If you lift one tire completely off of the ground and let out the clutch, thats the only wheel that will get power to it. So, that being said. You could have one of several problems here. You could have a bad CV joint on a drive shaft. If it isn't locking the wheel to the trans or differential, it just spins independently of the wheel. Your center driveshaft could have a problem such as a bad joint or is just broken. The joint at the transmission where the center shaft fits into the "cup" is a weak point and if it wore out or is now broken, you ge tno movement from the car. You could also have a broken pinion gear in either the transmission or rear differential.
Best this to do in this situation is to get the car home, put it up on jackstands and make damn sure its stable and level. Start it and put the car in 5th gear (or D for autos), let out the clutch with just enough gas to not let the engine die. You should be able to let it idle, with the car in 5th gear, and see all 4 wheels spin at about 10mph. You will be able to slow down each wheel one at a time with a heavily gloved (leather welding gloves) couple of hands (this is how I find bad bearings and CV joints). If you get no wheels moving, crawl underneath and look for anything that is spinning. If there is only one shaft moving (outer driveshafts, center driveshaft), you've found your bad one. A bad outer CV joint will be indicated by a spinning driveshaft, but the wheel doesn't spin. If the inner CV joint is bad, the flange will spin but the driveshaft and wheel will not. If nothing is moving at all you have either a busted transmission, bad clutch(not likely IMHO) bad front differetial in the trans, a snapped pinion gear in the transmission, a stripped driveshaft flange, a damaged torsen or a bad front ring gear.
You can see the clutch through the inspection ports int he bottom of the trans. The clutch disk looks like a thin oreo cookie (black outers with a steel center) if you cant see it, the clutch is toast. The black area isn't very thick but if visible, it's pretty much good.
Your situation doesn't really point to a bad clutch. Clutches generally will slip when worn and give you some type of warning before they go totally bad. Even if it was shattered, the pieces wouldn't have fallen out until you stepped on the clutch. It would hae been followed by nasty noises.
Quattro transmissions rely on resistance to provide output force. It works similar to an open differential in a conventional axle. If you lift one tire completely off of the ground and let out the clutch, thats the only wheel that will get power to it. So, that being said. You could have one of several problems here. You could have a bad CV joint on a drive shaft. If it isn't locking the wheel to the trans or differential, it just spins independently of the wheel. Your center driveshaft could have a problem such as a bad joint or is just broken. The joint at the transmission where the center shaft fits into the "cup" is a weak point and if it wore out or is now broken, you ge tno movement from the car. You could also have a broken pinion gear in either the transmission or rear differential.
Best this to do in this situation is to get the car home, put it up on jackstands and make damn sure its stable and level. Start it and put the car in 5th gear (or D for autos), let out the clutch with just enough gas to not let the engine die. You should be able to let it idle, with the car in 5th gear, and see all 4 wheels spin at about 10mph. You will be able to slow down each wheel one at a time with a heavily gloved (leather welding gloves) couple of hands (this is how I find bad bearings and CV joints). If you get no wheels moving, crawl underneath and look for anything that is spinning. If there is only one shaft moving (outer driveshafts, center driveshaft), you've found your bad one. A bad outer CV joint will be indicated by a spinning driveshaft, but the wheel doesn't spin. If the inner CV joint is bad, the flange will spin but the driveshaft and wheel will not. If nothing is moving at all you have either a busted transmission, bad clutch(not likely IMHO) bad front differetial in the trans, a snapped pinion gear in the transmission, a stripped driveshaft flange, a damaged torsen or a bad front ring gear.
You can see the clutch through the inspection ports int he bottom of the trans. The clutch disk looks like a thin oreo cookie (black outers with a steel center) if you cant see it, the clutch is toast. The black area isn't very thick but if visible, it's pretty much good.
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10-28-2009, 05:52 AM
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If you own a quattro then your best bet is that you either broke something in the driveline, not likely the clutch just decided to break while just driving the car normal. Plus when the clutch breaks it tends to cause a problem with getting into gears since the clutch wont release.
Best thing to do is to just check all the axles and the driveshaft to see if any of them seem loose if you try to move them around by hand.
Best thing to do is to just check all the axles and the driveshaft to see if any of them seem loose if you try to move them around by hand.
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05-10-2010, 05:49 PM
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Something broke while you were driving. I've never in my 35 years of driving heard of an axle just coming out of the wheel or breaking while driving, especially on front wheel drive vehicles, unless something major occured, like you hit something, slid into a curb, or someone made a big mistake while servicing the wheels/tires/brakes/shocks.
Good luck.
Good luck.
02-10-2012, 06:23 AM
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I dont know if anyone else has replied to this, and im not trying to sound like a jerk or a know it all, but i have seen many front wwheel drive, and even 4 wheel drive vehicles break an axle shaft and then just sit and not go anywhere. I just had to replace an axle-shaft on a golf, because noone ever thought to look at them, and the passenger side one snapped in half, luckily they werent going very fast, because i have seen some of the damage that a broken shaft can cause.
02-10-2012, 09:19 AM
#10
Guys who think this is a broken CV joint or other driveline failure versus a clutch problem:
How do you explain this?
How do you explain this?