A3 3.2 V6 Gear change issues (Manual)

[Doodly]

Hi all, looking for a little advice on a gear changing issue that has just developed.

Everything was fine, I overtook a car and accelerated rapidly in third, tried to shift to fourth and I could not get the shifter into gear (turns out that I can shift gear if I force the shifter quite hard - it is also slightly more difficult to take out of gear than it was before), it is difficult to get the car into any gear now when driving and the faster the car is going the harder it is to shift to any gear, when the car is idling then the shifter will go into any gear effortlessly. There is no noise or grinding from the gearbox and there is also plenty of oil in the gearbox and the clutch is not slipping.

Any idea what I have broken :-)

 

 

[cliffcoggin]

10:1 the clutch needs either adjustment or renewal. Your clutch may not be slipping, but neither is it opening. Where is the bite point of the clutch pedal when it starts to engage?

[Doodly]

Just over halfway, if it was the clutch wouldn't this also make it difficult to go into gear when idling?

[cliffcoggin]

Well halfway up is right, and if there is no problem at idle there must something else going on, though it's hard to imagine why clutch opening should be speed or load dependent.

I wonder if the splines of the driven plate or the input shaft are damaged so that the driven plate can not slide when under load. That's pure speculation of course, and I've never heard of it happening, but I can't think of anything else at the moment. Perhaps Gareth will have an idea.

[Doodly]

Quote

If it shifts smooth at low RPM, but it blocks you at high RPM, there is a clutch problem and it must be fixed immediately!  When a transmission blocks you from a gear, you are experiencing what we call ‘clutch drag’.  This means the clutch is not letting go of the disk fully and dragging on the assembly.  An adjustment might need to be made, or the clutch could be excessively warped at the pressure plate.  If the transmission won’t go into gear at all, the clutch is severely warped or broken, STOP and do not drive the car or transmission damage will occur!

    Shift the car into 1st gear.
    Rev the engine up, while the clutch pedal is depressed all the way to the floor, until you feel the car start to move forward.

If the vehicle moves forward below the rev limiter, your clutch is dragging.  Do not drive until the problem is fixed, or your synchros will be ruined!  Unit will also be hard to shift, so DON’T DRIVE OR FORCE IT INTO GEAR!  If everything is correct, the vehicle will not move.

Just found the above information online, perhaps I should give the suggestion a try to see if the vehicle moves forward before hitting the red line?

[Doodly]

So I just tried the above - does NOT move in first with clutch down and the revs at the red line......
Pulls away in 3rd or 4th gear from stop with high revs, revs are not climbing rapidly (e.g. Revs are not increasing - sitting at 2K when pulling away)

So I take it this means the clutch is ok?

[cliffcoggin]

Frankly I don't see what red lining the engine in that test achieves that can't be achieved at idle speed, but that's by the by. If it was my car I would now get the clutch out as the only way to be certain of its condition, and if the clutch proves to be OK I would at least be half way to getting at the gearbox.

[Doodly]

Clutch and gearbox coming out on Monday, will keep you updated - thanks for the input

[Magnet]

Hello David,

If renewing the clutch then I would only use LUK replacement clutch components (no exceptions - in caps) if not using the daftly expensive? Audi parts. 

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Doodly]

Thanks Gareth, that's the plan

[Magnet]

Well done David! 

[Doodly]

Well the car is in the garage, old clutch out, old gearbox out and I get a phone call that the DMF has a lot of play. So new DMF too £££££ 🤑

[cliffcoggin]

Ouch! That's going to hurt the wallet. Thanks for letting us know.

[Doodly]

Europarts have a 40% off coupon "HEAT50"

Was thinking of just going with the SMF - £240 for the kit, VAT included!

A3 3.2 SMF conversion

But that's Transmech - obviously I'd want the LUK clutch

[cliffcoggin]

I didn't know such conversions to solid flywheels were available. Incidentally I see it comes with a clutch included which makes the price of £365 very attractive.

[Doodly]

Apparently the conversion kit does not fit the A3 3.2 Quattro, they just told me the information on their site is wrong!.According to Europarts "We don’t do a conversion for anything over 150 BHP as it will rattle engine apart" 😕

[cliffcoggin]

That's unfortunate. I suppose it shows the DMF is essential for smooth running.

[Doodly]

Got the car back 🙂

New DMF fitted :-

https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/luk-flywheel-336440980

New Clutch fitted :-

https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/luk-clutch-kit-637442030

and reconditioned gearbox fitted

Got the above DMF for £411 (Vat inclusive) and above Clutch for £130 (Vat inclusive), gearbox was £360

Just waiting for the labour bill now - lol. All considered I think I got a good deal.

 

 

 

[cliffcoggin]

I hope the clutch is working properly after all that expense.

[Doodly]

Seems to be, gears are shifting smoothly now whilst in motion, it seems more difiicult to get the shifter into first now though (even at idle or engine off).e.g. I found if you put too much leftward pressure on the gear stick whilst trying to move into first it just will not go (physically blocked), if you put light leftward pressure on the shifter it slides into first no problem. Maybe requires some slight linkage adjustment.