clutch pedal broken & plastic bits lying around - wtf?

[2seas]

yesterday i heard a crack while trying to move off and the clutch on my audi a3 (1.8 ST) has jammed against the floor. the RAC guy says this is common in slightly older cars (mine is 2001) and the plastic built into the clutch pedal can get brittle over time and break. apparently it's there as a safety mechanism to stop your legs breaking in an accident. according to him it's a simple case of replacing the clutch pedal.

i called the garage and they however think it's a problem with the master cylinder (based on my description of the problem). a google search hasn't helped much other than to indicate this is a common problem.

any ideas guys? the reason i ask is i want to make sure the garage wont try to bum me for any unnecessary work - i'm a bit paranoid due to bad experiences in the past...

[simps22]

This has happened to me before on my Audi S3 (2001) and it was a small job. I thought the clutch had gone but like you there was a bit of plastic that had snapped. It was less than an hours job to do at my local garage. I had expected far worse!

[2seas]

well an update for everyone else is that apparently there's a plastic clip on the clutch pedal that commonly gets brittle in old age and can break. The fix is simply to fit a new clip (~ £5) and labour (~ 1 hour's worth as it's apparently a fiddly job).

however the garage has called to let me know that both my front tyres are illegal and that something is wrong with my steering column. so total bill for me is ~ £450!!!

Balls.

[GerV]

Hey 2seas

I encountered the same issue with my JCW, do you still have any info on the 'plastic clip' near the clutch paddle?

Thanks in advance

(hope this message reaches you )

[eybic]

It was on an A3, over 8 years ago so not sure it will be of much help to you

[MadMarkM3]

2seas said:

well an update for everyone else is that apparently there's a plastic clip on the clutch pedal that commonly gets brittle in old age and can break. The fix is simply to fit a new clip (~ £5) and labour (~ 1 hour's worth as it's apparently a fiddly job).

however the garage has called to let me know that both my front tyres are illegal and that something is wrong with my steering column. so total bill for me is ~ £450!!!

Balls.

How did you not notice?