Biting Point

[DubDriver]

Since acquiring my VW Sharan 1.9 TDI 6 speed in Sept. 2003 when the car was six months old, I have had difficulty engaging first gear at junctions and changing to second in a hurry without baulking / crunching.

 

I am aware that this gearbox has something of a reputation for not being the smoothest of changes but the problem seems to be that the clutch is not clearing properly.

 

There is a lot of free play in the pedal and the biting point is very close to the floor.

 

I returned the car to the dealer who bled the hydraulic system and adjusted the gearchange linkage. Problem seemed to be solved but after a few months returned.

 

Having lived with the problem for almost a year I decided to return the car to another dealer closer to home. They diagnosed that the clutch and flywheel were faulty. These were changed under warranty but upon collecting the car I was told that they were having problems bleeding the air out of the clutch and would have to keep the car for a further day.

 

The car was subsequently delivered back to us but the free play in the pedal was worse and the biting point even closer to the floor. I complained to the dealer who collected the car and then diagnosed that a new gearbox was required.

 

I have just collected the car from the dealer and guess what, it is no different.

 

I am absolutely disgusted that the dealer can waste so much money and time and still not resolve the problem.

 

Can anyone tell me what their experiences have been with a similar problem?

 

Has anyone had similar problems with their Galaxy/Sharan/Alhambras?

 

Where typically is the biting point on Galaxy/Sharan/Alhambras?

 

Having had 11 VW's prior to the Sharan this is definitely the worst car for niggly faullts, A/C not up to job, rear windows gradually opening themselves, hesitancy at junctions when cold, 'minor bird' chirping sounds from under the bonnet on acceleration/deceleration when cold, clunking from front anti-roll bar ( fixed under warranty), just to name a few which the dealer cannot resolve, anti-roll bar excepted.

 

Sorry for rambling on but I hope that somebody can shed some light on the problem.

[johnb80]

Without physically seeing the vehicle it's difficult to comment, your diagnosis of clutch drag seems to fit with the symptoms. Taking the clues onboard i.e. biting point just off the floor would suggest a master cylinder problem or a mechanical linkage problem, such as slave cylinder adjustment, bent arms etc.

 

Regards - John

[Masked Marauder]

Try a different dealer as it is clearly a clutch hydraulic problem.

[Jeff115]

Hi DubDriver and welcome to the forum,

 

Unfortunately I can only empathise with your problems:

 

Your first visit to the original dealer seemed to have sorted the problem, albeit temporarily, which seems to suggest a faulty seal in cluthch hydraulic circuit.

 

Subsequent visits to other dealers who:

;) replaced clutch and flywheel under warranty

:huh: installed a new gearbox

 

seem to have been a total waste of money and your time, as you suggest.

 

However it seems crazy that a complete replacement of clutch, flywheel and gearbox has not sorted the problem unless it's something simple such as an air leak at the master cylinder?

 

This would not surprise me as some 'technicians' cannot think out of the box and unless the diagnostic software tells them the prolem they:

;) refuse to ackknowledge it

:lol: go to extreme measures, at other's expense, to overkill

when an old-time mechanic would analyse the symptoms.

 

My own experience of an ABS fault on a previous VW Passat demonstrated this for me.

 

Anyway, back to the empathy ;)

 

I've a gearbox problem also. Mine clunks into second and scrunches into third if the revs are anything but low. A refill with ATF could fix but as the problem has got worse then componet wear is suggested which to me is crazy on a 25K miles gearbox. ATF fill will also invalidate Ford liability.

 

I'm delighted to see your mention of

'minor bird' chirping sounds from under the bonnet on acceleration/

as I've experienced this but not when engine is cold.

In an older car I would have suspected a dry speedo cable!

 

Another rant that I will air at the moment is regarding the booster heater which has all the design intelligence of a lawn mower but which still refuses to work despite my efforts to fix i.e. not glow plug, not air temp sensor... I must get a VAG-Com interface

 

Anyway this rant is very long for a pleasant Saturday morning, catch you later, atb

Jeff.

[tim-spam]

The original problem is clearly a clutch actuation problem - slave / master cylinder or hydraulic lines. Why on earth did the dealer change so many expensive parts??

I think the answer almost certainly has something to do with the word "warranty". To put it simply, dealers make a fortune out of warranty by doing expensive and largely unnecessary repair work. What then makes matters worse is the appalling standard of workmanship - are all hoses, harnesses, etc properly clipped after such major work? I think we all know the answer to that! This then leads to further problems. Most of us are probably familiar with the aircon woes - I guess that most of these problems are due to this warranty scenario. 1) Systems loses charge over winter due to non use. 2) Dealer doesn't (want to) understand system and starts to replace loads of parts. 3) Due to poor workmanship, further problems follow. 4) Failure to refit or replace all clips, fasteners, etc leads to further breakdowns, rattles, etc. The list goes on, but the manufacturers really need to get hold of these dealers making their fortunes from unnecessary warrantly work and sort them out. The reason that these vehicles suffer more than most is that the factory has 3 manufacturers' dealer networks to deal with (although I guess that VAG and Seat can be classed as 1).

Well, I'm glad that's off my chest!

Tim

[Masked Marauder]

The reason that these vehicles suffer more than most is that the factory has 3 manufacturers' dealer networks to deal with (although I guess that VAG and Seat can be classed as 1).

They will not do each others warranty work, nor will they do things like keys etc. or model specific parts like badges or badged parts.

[seatkid]

Where typically is the biting point on Galaxy/Sharan/Alhambras?

Mines about half way...

 

let me see...[sound of whirring CD drive...]

 

Hard shifting...Possible Source(s):

 

[DubDriver]

Thanks Tim - Spam

 

Think I have got a problem following all the dismantling.

 

Wife has just come and asked what all the smoke is coming from under the car?

 

It is coming from the aux. heater.

 

Is this a usual fault? Hasn't done it in the last 18 mths, or has the stealer scr***d up?

 

Can't wait to ring them tomorrow with this and mention that the g/box swap has made the gearchange worse and not solved the original problem!