devinsixtyseven

2004 BEL 2.7T 6spd manual, 155k, stock, owned since 98k.

Happened yesterday.

As I was leaving a parking lot, did the usual clutch in/brake in/neutral from 2nd gear and went to engage 1st, stick wouldn't move far enough forward to engage the gear. Since I've noticed the transmission occasionally takes some force to grab 1st, and is easier if I throw it to 2nd then forward to 1st, I try 2nd, with the same result--stick won't move far enough to lock in.

Grabbed the hand brake (car was sitting nose-low on the ramp from the lot), left the engine on, tried every gear on the rack, clutch fully in, stick would not move far enough to engage any gear.

Turned the car off to sit for a minute and consider my options.

While the car was off, depressed the clutch, and to my grumpy surprise, found I could engage all seven gears again. Threw it in 1st, turned the engine over, pulled around back to the lot, parked it (level surface), and with engine running and clutch in, verified I could engage every gear. Had a friend follow me home, but had no trouble driving home, 1st-5th and reverse (didn't take the highway, but I assume 6th would've been no problem).

The clutch maybe felt light earlier in the day, with a slight vibration near fully depressed. I wrote it off, since if it was lighter, it wasn't by much.

The brake light has been intermittently flashing, with three beeps, for a while now (flashes for a minute, then goes off, some days doesn't flash at all, sometimes seemed associated with hard turns/braking, happens primarily when cold outside, never an ABS light tho, and ABS is still working). I assumed from older threads this was precursor to a failed ABS unit and let it go, but more reading and talking to a buddy w/manual A4 this sounds like it may have been low hydraulic fluid, and I did notice the line to the clutch cylinder is higher on the reservoir than the brake MC.

An older thread mentioned clutch throw is long enough that a single press is enough to bleed the system.

The reservoir is so cloudy, and has that damn filter on top, I can't see the fluid level even with a flashlight. I topped off the fluid this morning, but it didn't take much at all before the level was above the sieve and I *still* can't see the fluid level by looking at the reservoir from the outside. Clutch felt normal, every gear engages. Got a ride to work anyway and will mess with the car later.

Could these symptoms be caused by air in the clutch line? Failing clutch master, maybe?

Can that stupid sieve on top of the hydraulic fluid reservoir be removed without breaking anything, so I can actually see the fluid level? Brake pedal feels normal, btw...no spongy feeling I'd associate with air in the lines.

I do have VCDS, will look for codes this evening.

Does anything need to be removed to bleed the clutch hydraulics? An older thread claimed a halfshaft needed removed, this sounds ludicrous. Others suggest everything can be accessed from the engine compartment and under the car.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

-Sean

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(Leaving myself links here for reference)

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho...4&postcount=28

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho...33&postcount=4

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho...t=bleed+clutch

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho...php?p=14827979

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho...93&postcount=4

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho...t=bleed+clutch

georgeb944

Your clutch is not releasing properly. While it might be a hydraulic problem, it also might be a mechanical problem or the clutch disk might be coming apart.

B6-3.0L

I had the same thing happen to me on my A6 at 219,000 mi. I also initially thought it was going to be hydraulic with the clutch master cylinder or slave unit so I bled it three times with no improvement. And yes, you can bleed the slave unit without removing anything by reaching down the firewall. Your slave unit will not be the only thing to bleed, your forearm will too...

Anyway, that's when it became clear that it was a bigger issue, meaning time for a new clutch. I ordered a new Luk OEM kit and got to work. Turned out that several fingers of the pressure plate had cracked off and lodged themselves between the friction plate and the pressure plate preventing everything from disengaging when the clutch was depressed. Made sense in hindsight, I had heard a weird metallic tinging sound coming from the bell housing area just prior to it failing when I had floored it in first gear and then suddenly I couldn't get it into any gear.

It took 16 hours of labor split over two days to replace, but well worth it. I've put another 22k+ on the new one in the past year with no issues - knock on wood!

Good luck with your situation.

devinsixtyseven

Thanks for the advice.

As far as I can tell, it was simply low brake fluid and air in the clutch line, in other words it's about time to change the front brake pads.

-S