Clutch is very heavy after getting car back from garage

stevejazzx

The car

1999 audi a4 1.6 , 130,000 miles.


I left my car in for an 'idle revving' probelm (it would rev in neutral constantly)

* First I was told the throttle body or throttle sensor was the problem and needed to be replaced
* But the invoice I got says they replaced the air mass meter?

The problem is a lot better but not fixed. It revved to 4000 in neutral at the lights but it was back to normal fairly quickly and now 'seems' to more or less fine in terms of the idle rev problem.

The big problem now is that my clutch is heavy as f**k. It takes quite a bit to get the car going in first. The garage I'm dealing wth is an advanced pitstop place that has always seemed farily reliable but I'm really suspicious about this clutch issue, the car, apart the little problems I had with it before the idle rev problem was always a pleasure to drive. It now drives like a tank? What could they have done to casue the clutch to get so tight and heavy? I'm very worried now. They had it for a week altogether becasue i was away and couldn't pick it up.

Black_Knight

Im guessing your clutch is hydrolicly operated, maybe they mucked about with that. Im no expert at all now, thats just an opinion. It would make it heavy though.
I do have experience with advance though, and I wouldnt use them again. Went in for a simple wheel balancing. Charged me for it, but never fixed it. Went back after about 2 weeks noticing it was still wearing and they said they usually will redo it up to 2 weeks after. Reluctantly they did do it for free and this time they actually did do it, even said that it was tracking poorly. And no, i didnt hit a pothole.

Id suggest going back to advance and saying ever since you fixed my idle reving problem, my clutch is a B****! Hassle them to fixing it and dont accept having to pay for there mess up.

Jonny303

Black_Knight wrote: »

Went in for a simple wheel balancing. Charged me for it, but never fixed it. Went back after about 2 weeks noticing it was still wearing QUOTE]

Generally mate wheel balancing does not affect tyre wear...its far more likely to be the way the car is tracking, the camber or evan poor tyre pressures. When you booked it in to them, did you book it in for a wheel balance or because the tyres were wearing unevenly??

Black_Knight

Sorry, i ment i sent it in because it was tracking. Not for a wheel balancing. told em it was wearing the tires. Anyways, back to the OPs enquiry.

crosstownk

stevejazzx wrote: »

The garage I'm dealing wth is an advanced pitstop place that has always seemed farily reliable but I'm really suspicious about this clutch issue,

They had it for a week altogether becasue i was away and couldn't pick it up.

Personally I wouldn't leave a car with Advance for the sort of repairs you mention. They are fine for bulbs, tyres, exhausts, batteries, etc, but I don't have much faith in them for more complicated diagnosis and repairs. From the symptoms you describe, it easily be the throttle body or the air flow meter (and other components). In any event, none of these parts should have any effect on the operation of the clutch. What mileage was on the car when you left it in vs when you collected it - the invoice should have one or the other printed on it.

Were you driving another car for the week you own one was in for repairs? If you were, it is possible that the temporary car has a much lighter clutch than your Audi and you may need to readjust. That might sound silly but it does happen.

If you do think the clutch is behaving differently since the repairs then you should mention it to Advance. How far you get with it remains to be seen, but I doubt it will be easy for you.

Keep us posted.

mitzy666

i recently bought an a4 (2003) from a 2nd hand dealer, after a couple of days i noticed the needle was spiking between 1000 and 2000 revs and the car felt as if it was lurching slightly. ive since brought it back and its being repaired. that was over two weeks ago and i have no idea what they are doing to the car, every time i call i get a different answer. today they said they were reconditioning the gearbox and that will take longer than two weeks. in the meantime, they've given me an 2001 a3, this car is also revving by itself while in neutral. at this stage, i dont know what to believe, should i look for my money back ? any advice welcome!:)