Odd feeling clutch when stop and go

[Orangepeel]

My 2021 Jetta gli clutch was not happy tonight. We took the kids to see Christmas lights and the area is a huge drive through ordeal. Well they have some steep hills and people are supposed to keep a steady pace. They didn't! They kept stopping repeatedly on the hills etc so I had to ride the clutch to keep it from stalling. It also has that hill assist which makes it even worse. So after doing this dance several times the clutch pedal started to feel sticky and the clutch felt less grabby. I'm not sure if it was the clutch getting hot or the clutch fluid getting hot. I didn't smell burning clutch. I decided to wait until the folks in front of me topped the hill before proceeding which the minivan behind me didn't like but owell.......is this a case of clutch to hit or is it possible the master cylinder fluid got to hot? After I let it cool off it was fine and went back to normal. Definitely won't be going back to that place though!!

 

[warnerwh]

I don't know your car however I do know that clutch disc material can lose it's ability to grab when it gets hot especially if the surface becomes glazed. Brakes will also fade if they get too hot. On a race track it's something you notice a lot even with beefy brakes. My experience is with american cars from some years ago.

 

[Vitamin Yoda]

We took the kids to see Christmas lights and the area is a huge drive through ordeal.

The "Festival of Lights" at Tanglewood Park?

 

[demarpaint]

It's possible the clutch is glazed. Over the years I've done this for a few friends who were learning to drive and glazed their clutches. It worked, and it might work for you. While stopped try taking off with your right foot on the brake, and release the clutch with your left foot a little faster than normal stalling the car. Try that a couple of times. If the clutch isn't badly glazed that may break the glaze. I learned that trick years ago from a few old timers that drag raced, and a good buddy of mine confirmed it as well. Good luck.

 

[eljefino]

^ Yeah I had clutch chatter once and a redneck mechanic told me to park my car up against a tree trunk and pop the clutch. It worked!

 

[tbm5690]

How many miles on the car? The clutches on these commonly need replacement around 40-50k miles so it's possible yours may be showing symptoms.

 

[meep]

A few starts in 2nd gear helped me deal with a Subaru clutch which was known for shudder tendencies. Not sure if this might help too.

 

[Orangepeel]

How many miles on the car? The clutches on these commonly need replacement around 40-50k miles so it's possible yours may be showing symptoms.

31k why are they failing so soon? I've never had to do a clutch before 160k

 

[Orangepeel]

I wanted to clarify the clutch isn't shuddering but you could feel it in the pedal it felt sticky. Once I let it chill out for a couple of minutes it came back to normal.

 

[someonesomewhere]

I wanted to clarify the clutch isn't shuddering but you could feel it in the pedal it felt sticky. Once I let it chill out for a couple of minutes it came back to normal.

Yep, just hot clutch. Best not to constantly inch forward everytime traffic inches forward, as you discovered waiting for the van to create the hill before moving. Applies on flat ground, too. To hell with the annoyed behind you. They're not really going anywhere anyway. Haha

 

[tbm5690]

31k why are they failing so soon? I've never had to do a clutch before 160k

You are probably ok then and it was just some temporary heat issue or glazing. They are barely adequate for the stock power on these engines and tend to wear quickly, even more when tuned.

 

[SHOZ]

Maybe the throw out bearing getting hot and binding on the shaft or dried grease.

 

[someonesomewhere]

Maybe the throw out bearing getting hot and binding on the shaft or dried grease.

Bit extreme of a take here. Given the conditions and the symptoms, it's just hot clutch.

 

[SHOZ]

Bit extreme of a take here. Given the conditions and the symptoms, it's just hot clutch.

That's what my problem was a couple years ago.

 

[someonesomewhere]

That's what my problem was a couple years ago.

From a one-off occurrence under very specific circumstances on a 2 yr old car with 31k miles? Color me shocked!

 

[SHOZ]

From a one-off occurrence under very specific circumstances on a 2 yr old car with 31k miles? Color me shocked!

I learned to never discount any possible cause until I knew what the actual problem was and to start at one end or the other.