My friend is looking to buy a 2005 Jetta TDi with 1.9L motor, 5-speed, ~65K miles. The shop that's selling it put a new clutch in it. There's some noise when the car is neutral that sounds to me to be the throwout bearing (goes away when pedal is in). The shop, of course, is telling my friend that it's normal. I'm skeptical. Anyone familiar with these cars? The sound is not horribly loud, but it's there.
Thanks...
Anybody? Shall I call out the name of the famous fictitious movie character who engages in truancy with his neurotic friend and HAWT girlfriend to spend an amazingly adventurous day in Chicago, self-chauffeured in a fairly nice little red sportscar that, during the day, is borrowed by these guys:
If the sound goes away with the clutch depressed, I don't think it's throwout bearing related. Maybe trans mainshaft?
Flywheel. They are all bad. I bet the shop did not replace it when they did the clutch.
John Brown wrote:Flywheel. They are all bad. I bet the shop did not replace it when they did the clutch.
Hmm, supposedly they replaced the flywheel, too -- maybe they put in a used one.
The car has been purchased. The seller will put in writing that the noise is normal and warranty it for a year. Not sure if that's the best outcome, but oh well. Along with Subaru and Prius owners, it's tough to swing a dead cat in Seattle without hitting a TDi owner, so surely he'll find a good shop to take care of things if they go south...
They probably put in a lightweight flywheel. I don't know about the TDI, but the 1.8t in that chassis has a spring-dampened flywheel that cannot be resurfaced and costs $750 to replace. Nobody likes to replace it when they can swap in a solid flywheel designed for a Corrado, which bolts right up and costs $110.
I did that with my 1.8t, but I kept the stock weight because lightweight ones cause clutch chatter. It makes it a little harder to drive the car smoothly but supposedly has no other side effects. I didn't want my car to feel like a hooptie.
