2000 Polo 1.4 SE - loose clutch pedal

I took my 2000 Polo to V.W Robinsons and they said it would take them upto 4 hours to fix a loose clutch pedal. Charged at £88 per hour, plus £24 + vat for a new pedal box, I decided to wait and get it done elsewhere (hopefully somewhere cheaper) The car is still driveable but, i do need to get it done asap. does anyone know if this is something i can do myself?

any comments welcome,
thanks julian

Hello from Canada, If you come over and shovel, I will fix your clutch. I have a 2meter snow drift to deal with.

Seriously, The cable is self adjusting and they fail. Its a fairly easy do it yourself project. The complete cable assembly should be about 15f,s I can do one in about 20 minutes in my shop. Purchase a meter of light rope. Have an assistant depress and hold the pedal to the floor while you tie the clutch lever in place. Release the lock mechanism above the ball on the end of the cable, and then the rubber bumper parts. Pull the ball through the clutch lever, then the cable out of its holder. Pull the drivers seat back as far as you can, or alternately remove it. The clutch cable ball has a slot in the side of the lever under the dash. Remove it. Carefully from under the bonnet observe the cable routing and remove it. Reinstallation is the reverse process. Allan

Hello Allan, nice offer, rather you than me though Smile

... thx anyway

Many thx for you're reply. I was told my car doesn't have a clutch cable and that the pedal is hydrolic.

Can you advise on this?

Good luck with all that snow! Smile

Hello, Only took an hour to blow, and then it warmed up. Hydraulic clutch, AH some models do. Some do not.
Your system has a air lock. Before panicing, ask your mechanic how much they will charge you to bleed your clutch. This is a simple job. My private email is daemdaem@yahoo.com Drop me a note and I will do my best. It's Monday night tonight, and I am tied up Tuesday night at Toastmasters. Wednesday night I will have time.

Allan

hi allan, many many thx for your advise, you're a big help.

speak soon
Julian

Hi!

I am not a professional mechanic. I own a 2000 vw polo 1.0l. Its not a hydraulic clutch - it has a cable. Its the second instance of this exact model I have driven. Both instances have had similar problems whereby the clutch pedal gets more and more 'spongy' and the bite appears lower and lower (closer to the floor). This symptom in both cases was due to a fracture of the pedal box. This repair job recently cost me 500+ Euro to get done with a VW garage in Ireland. The replacement pedal box part is very cheap but the job is complicated by the need to take out the entire steering column. I patched the pedal box (!! Smile

) on my current car and it lasted for about 8 months before the thing actually broke in two. A mechanic I know offered the possibility of welding it for me without taking it out and hence reducing the job time & cost - that was before I patched it myself. If it is the pedal box (and from what you say the VW garage said to you it could be so) my advise would be to maybe try find a non-VW garage who don't charge so much for labour to do it for you. Also be weary, a VW garage mis-diagnosed this problem for me on my current car (they siad I needed a new clutch) and charged me 70Euro for the 'assessment'. Not so much a danger for you - if they say its cracked it probably is and definitely needs fixing.

Oh, another very temporary measure that can be taken if the pedal box is cracked & you have a clutch cable is to adjust (tighten) the cable - not valid for a hydraulic clutch (right?) but possibly useful information for someone else reading this. This is helpful if the clutch bite is so low it has become difficult to change gear. It will make gear changing easier for a while but ultimately will accelerate the total disintegration of the pedal box. It only takes a minute and may help you get home or to the garage.

Again - I'm not a professional/trained mechanic so take what I say with salt.