downindenver

I'm not sure how he did it, but he couldn't get my 6sp AR up the hill out of the garage. He ran up to me and said he was having trouble with the clutch. So I walk down into the garage with him and smoke is coming out from under the hood, etc. Ugh.

I get in the car, slide it into 1st gear, and drive right up the hill. WTF?

Now there's a slight shudder/shake when engaging the clutch in 1st gear (also in 2nd if I'm accelerating hard and slipping the clutch a little). Of course I filed a claim with the valet service and plan to follow up on it today. Did the valet warp my flywheel? What am I looking at here?

bjwhite

He probably just melted it a bit trying to get up the hill in 3rd gear (probably what he was doing). It should smooth out over time, but her certainly took a few thousand miles of wear off the thing...

bizmonq

I had similar shuddering after backing a trailer up a hill while slipping the clutch... I thought my clutch was (burnt) toast but after a few months the shuddering went away and the clutch now seems as smooth as ever. Not sure how it healed itself but I'm sure happy it did! Good luck!!

downindenver

I've never liked valet parking myself, but really -- you'd assume that they know how to drive a stick. Oh well, maybe I'll end up with a new clutch out of this...

jav

That shuddering you're feeling is likely the result of some glazing on the clutch material from idiot abuse (don't suppose the parking brake was set when you got in the car, was it?). By the time you got in it, the clutch had cooled down enough to work properly.

Hmmmm....what would I do. Bleed the clutch first of all. Get the valet service to pay for a new clutch (and pocket the money if not needed) and drive it for awhile. If it's glazed it will wear off after a few days or weeks and all will be good again. If not, new clutch (and maybe more).

Good luck.

jav
'02 allroad 6-speed