Jump to content

The definitive Pedal Box Thread


Recommended Posts

As no-one apart from you, no one on the forum has has one break, the gti has a hydraulic clutch not cable so doesn't suffer the same problems as some of the other models.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As no-one apart from you, no one on the forum has has one break, the gti has a hydraulic clutch not cable so doesn't suffer the same problems as some of the other models.

If it's not the pedal box, what is it? Car started normally, after about two miles engine started racing, after three miles it lost power and clutch pedal seemed to be stuck down. Stopped on hard shoulder. When I restarted the engine (to see if I could limp to the next junction) there was no power transmission at all.

If it makes any difference, when I bought the car (about 5 years ago), it was (relatively) cheap because it had been recovered (after being stolen was what we were told) but we believe it had been in a quite serious accident because, for one thing, we found that one of the doors was steel not aluminium! Could the normal GTi clutch and pedal box been replaced with a cable one then, perhaps. I don't know what I'm looking at here, but my OH says it certainly looks like a cable clutch, not a hydraulic one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

my local stingy dealer said they wouldn't do my pedal box, for free as they had never heard of the memo, aparently it was only gti's, and they said all cars have hydraulic clutches NUNEATON LISTERS VW named and shamed you ****ers.....

im having to pay my friends garage to do it ..

who iv recevied extremly good service from Just VW in bulkington

Link to comment
Share on other sites

UPDATE !

Ok so I had the pedal box replaced for a second time FOC at VW, they also replaced the pedal itself as that had started to crack.

I was assured it was the clutch causing the problem but at £500 I said no thanks I'll sort it myself.

So, I got a genuine clutch kit for £80 and took the car to my local trusted independent garage and they set to the job for £160 labour. It turns out the clutch and release bearing were far from worn out however there is a metal sleeve that covers the gearbox input shaft. It is held on the bell housing with three screws. One of the screw brackets had sheared causing the sleeve to distort, rub on the input shaft and eventually crack. This caused the release bearing to stick on the shaft hence a heavy clutch.

I had the new clutch put on anyway for piece of mind. I'd recommend if anyone has the clutch work done at a main dealer to check for this problem before agreeing to have the new kit but on. This sleeve costs all of £3 I think. I'd replace the release bearing too for piece of mind but that is still a significant saving.

Anyway, that may help some people out there.

Adrian

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't all you GTI owners get complacent 'cause of ya hydraulic shizzle....mines foooooked!lol.

The swing arm is floppy as hell and has worn out the bolt thingymajiggy that goes into the gearbox...PLUS....the master cylinder has a hole in sumwhere and is letting air into the hydraulics so the clutch goes right to the floor and still doesnt let you engage a gear!...so vw are going to fix it (apparently!) all for a nominal fee of...£650! ah well....thank god for the aa repair cover i pay for!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

£650 for that, rofl yeh good job yopu had aa :blink:

haha....i just hope they fix the little lady good and proper!!! ya thinking 650 is a bit of a rip off then?!...i mean overly stupid rather than general rip off...as it will always be a general rip off as its a vw garage!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

right, sorry if this looks long winded but its worth a read.......

wasnt going to post about it but f**k it, im getting p***ed off now.

bought a lupo and quickly realised it had a pedalbox problem, did my research (this thred a part of it) and booked the car into my local dealer (purchased 3 cars, servicing and maybe 1k of parts from these people

they told me on dropping the car off they had never heard of a pedalbox problem on a lupo, or a 100% goodwill repair on it either. this they later retracted (possibly after realising im not a fool)

dealer came back with the diagnosis that the car had a heavy clutch (duh), stretched cable and advised my clutch was burnt-out. now this i find strange as i had a frend (a VW tech at another dealer) told me the pedalbox was f***ed the minute he drove it) and they had not removed the gearbox to inspect the cluch assembly ????? how can they possibly know its condition? the clutch has never slipped or given a smell.

at this point i said (over the phone) to get the car ready, i'd be down to pick it up.

when i arrived i was asked to pay 2.5 hours labour for inspecting the car which i refused to do, after all i got a phonecall with a diagnosis only 45minutes-1 hour after dropping it off so the most i would pay would be 1.5 hours.....they agreed, so i asked for my discounted labour-rate as i am a member of a club which has an agreed rate for labour. this was refused until i asked for the service manager... at which point they agreed as a one-off to apply the discounted rate but in future said discount only applied to service work.

now here comes their first self-contradiction... the service receptionist then handed me a quote to replce the clutch and cable at the discounted rate ??????

i took the car home, undid the two torx screws, took out the dash undertray, lay on the floor of the car and looked up with a torch, i pressed the clutch in and....even i can see the pedalbox has problems...2.5 minutes labour?

this all took place a week or two ago, the car is now booked in at another dealer for a 2nd opinion...

though today i got an intresting call from the service manager at the dealer who originaly assesed the car. apparently they were very sorry, a mistake had been made and my pedalbox was indeed broken, and i should have been told that on the day, it must have been a miss-communication. though they still advised i needed a new clutch.

now i was a little peeved at this because on the day the car was there i questioned their diagnosis and there was a bit of to-ing and fro-ing between me, the receptionist and the *cough* master-tech who worked on the car, and i was assured he is an expert and will not be wrong. so anyways i basically told them they had already lost my confidence & my custom, not just at the workshop but at the sales and parts departments also....

so i had a little think about it and i rang back, i explained to him that i had been shown the technicians report by the receptionist and he had written on it that the pedalbox was servicable, so why does it now say something diffrent? he stuttered a lot and seemed very flustered.... next he tells me he made a mistake (yes, another one) and that my pedalbox was not broken. i asked then if i could have back the money i paid in labour charges, as they seemed confused about what was/or wasnt wrong with my car and i needed a 2nd opinion. he refused, so i asked him if then he was sorry but just not sorry enough to give me my money back? he said no, he wasn't sorry enough to refund me. (not that sorry then eh?)

so next i rang into the dealer to make a complaint, i gave the details to a lady who said she would investigate and i would recieve a call-back. i advised her not to get the service manager to call me as i had heard all he had to say.

guess who rang back? more sorry's, still no refund, and a promise to do me a good price on fitting a clutch and cable.

oh and yet another diffrent story on the pedalbox....it is fatigued and will only get worse, but only as a result of a fault in the clutch, but stil servicable.... the story changes with the wind.

so that is the joke as it stands, i havent read the forum rules TBH so im not gonna name the place, its in scotland and if you would like to know then drop a PM.

ill keep ya posted, car goes to another dealer on monday :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can sympathise with you, I can just feel the frustration with the dealers you have building and building.

I have a similar problem my pedal box had gone before I bought the car. The last owner had a bodge of a weld fix, which has led to another clutch to be worn away because it must not have been disengaging fully. When I bought the car I immediately had a new clutch fitted under a one month warranty I got with the car. Then I learn of the weld job so I go to the dealer asking for a new pedal box fitting free of charge. Their response is because my pedal box has been tampered with its no longer a v dub problem. I can sort of see where they are coming from, but if they had designed the box right to start with, the last owner wouldn't have had to have a bodge job. Now I'm stuck with a car with a clutch pedal approximately ¾ inch lower than my brake pedal. I have two options wait to see if it eats another clutch or splash out on a new pedal box fitting. A new pedal box fitted cost a few hundred quid the dealer says. Of which they are not willing to pay. So my opinion of the dealer has just taken a hit. VW gained its following back in the day for making tough reliable cars, with a dealer network that cared. Now I don't know what to think.

Keep posting fella don't let it get you down. I would just keep complaining and complaining, maybe even call the 0800 number for VW UK see what they have to say.

Hopefully they will give you the money back. :wacko:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can sympathise with you, I can just feel the frustration with the dealers you have building and building.

I have a similar problem my pedal box had gone before I bought the car. The last owner had a bodge of a weld fix, which has led to another clutch to be worn away because it must not have been disengaging fully. When I bought the car I immediately had a new clutch fitted under a one month warranty I got with the car. Then I learn of the weld job so I go to the dealer asking for a new pedal box fitting free of charge. Their response is because my pedal box has been tampered with its no longer a v dub problem. I can sort of see where they are coming from, but if they had designed the box right to start with, the last owner wouldn't have had to have a bodge job. Now I'm stuck with a car with a clutch pedal approximately ¾ inch lower than my brake pedal. I have two options wait to see if it eats another clutch or splash out on a new pedal box fitting. A new pedal box fitted cost a few hundred quid the dealer says. Of which they are not willing to pay. So my opinion of the dealer has just taken a hit. VW gained its following back in the day for making tough reliable cars, with a dealer network that cared. Now I don't know what to think.

Keep posting fella don't let it get you down. I would just keep complaining and complaining, maybe even call the 0800 number for VW UK see what they have to say.

Hopefully they will give you the money back. :wacko:

I can see their side on that one, however, the cost of the part is highly inflated. The box itself is around £30 something I believe, certainly not in the hundreds. Its labour that costs as I think it is around a 3-4 hour job. I'd love a job as a VW technician.... they must be some of the highest payed mechanics I know of. The best I had was £400 for 3 hours of labour! Naturally I walked straight out the door.

I would go beyond the dealer, beyond customer services. Go straight to the head of VWUK and explain things in a well written letter followed by phone calls several times a day until you get a reply. At the very least they should bring their labour and parts costs inline with other non dealer garages and then offer a percentage "goodwill" for recognition that it was a VW fault that caused the problem in the first place.

Keep chipping away..

Adrian

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wish me luck, my pedal box has just gone on my 2000 1.4s its only done 55 thousand miles so I am hoping they will offer at least some good will

Vindis St Ives are applying for goodwill from VW for me..They are fantastic and didn't need any prompting unlike every other VW garage in the Peterborough area who denied any memo or indeed that there was a problem in the first place

So Vindis St Ives I salute you

Edited by M_G
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is the pedal box No 15 on this drawing?

PedalBox.jpg

Got me paranoid now, my clutch pedal clicks a little bit, but gearchange is good (if a little vague)

and pedal height is OK. I might change just for the sake of it, its only done 37K and might not

be showing any symtoms. Ill do a how-to thread if I change it, ill keep u posted if it is no 15

it will be no major shakes to change how can vdub prices be so high to change!!!

Edited by veedub1955
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Iv just changed my pedal box...

let me tell you this, be prepared... not an easy jog if you try and keep most the trim in, its worth takin out as much as you can togain access..

I finally did this and what seemed an impossible job, became faily easy...

you live and learn, when I do my next one i will strip down the surrounding areas first...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Hi all,

my first posting here and a Club Lupo noob!

I recently had my Lupo serviced by a contact at a vw garage. He noticed the pedal box was on its last legs and recommended I took the Lup into a vw dealers (not his!) and get them to do the pedal box replacement as it is covered by the good will cover.

Now this was a couple of weeks ago; I had been trying to find the time to sort out getting it booked in to a dealers near me, but driving to work yesterday, it decided to make its own appointment as it popped completely rendering my car un-drivable.

I got it towed to the dealers, outlined what I believed to be the problem and the fact it is covered by vw.

6 hrs later they phone to tell me it is indeed the pedal box that has busted. GBP 370 to replace, I repeated that this is covered by vw and they gave me vw customer care number. After getting advice from my vw contact I spoke to the CC at vw and they said if my car was 3 or 4 years old it would be done as good will, but as my lupo will be 8 years old at the end of August 2008 and that it had done 45k it wasnt going to be covered by any vw good will.

I have asked if my case can be taken higher and I am waiting for a call from this supposed senior CC bod.

I had quoted to vw CC what I had read from the initial entry in this thread and they said a subsequent memo had be sent to the contrary.

I am a bit miffed, and I know in this day and age loyalty appears to count as very little, but my family has always had ownership of at least one vw car for the last 30 years and I hoped vw on this occasion would prove to me just why I had felt that sense of brand loyalty.

As a fall back plan, my contact has offered to do it at his dealership, so I could have the lupo towed over to his, but I am sure I will still be facing a bill for the diagnosis.

I will update soon, and I pray, with some better news.

All the best, and keep loving them fun bugs,

Rich

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you very much for this thread, my car (well my fiancee's) is suffering all the symptoms described, and gets a bit worse when warm, handily i work for a Mercedes garage and hopefully we're going to have a look later and then try goodwill if needs be @ the local dealer, if no luck then the one in my hoemtown as i commute

EDIT: small update, spoken to the dealer local to work and they said they have heard of it but mainly on the Polo, and have advised 1 hours labour to investigate if not done under goodwill - £87.50 +vat

If the parts only £33 ish its a bit of a risk as to which way to go financially

2nd EDIT: spoke to the dealer in my home town and she asked me to leave it with her, then got back to me about 2 hours later and said there was 100% goodwill and i could even borrow a courtesy car while mines in with them! :shades:

Edited by McBandy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you very much for this thread, my car (well my fiancee's) is suffering all the symptoms described, and gets a bit worse when warm, handily i work for a Mercedes garage and hopefully we're going to have a look later and then try goodwill if needs be @ the local dealer, if no luck then the one in my hoemtown as i commute

EDIT: small update, spoken to the dealer local to work and they said they have heard of it but mainly on the Polo, and have advised 1 hours labour to investigate if not done under goodwill - £87.50 +vat

If the parts only £33 ish its a bit of a risk as to which way to go financially

2nd EDIT: spoke to the dealer in my home town and she asked me to leave it with her, then got back to me about 2 hours later and said there was 100% goodwill and i could even borrow a courtesy car while mines in with them! :shades:

How did you manage this!?!?!?

I am still getting no goodwill from VW and they still wanting GBP380 to fix. My Lupo is a 2000 and yours a 2001, has yours got FSH because that is the reason I have been given as they reward loyal customers... ahem.

Name of your local dealer would be a good start for my case.

Many thanks

Rich

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How did you manage this!?!?!?

I am still getting no goodwill from VW and they still wanting GBP380 to fix. My Lupo is a 2000 and yours a 2001, has yours got FSH because that is the reason I have been given as they reward loyal customers... ahem.

Name of your local dealer would be a good start for my case.

Many thanks

Rich

I'm in the trade and know the way Mercedes goodwill works so maybe that helps, but i spoke to a lovely helpful girl so maybe that also helped the cause, certainly a lot more helpful than *ahem* Ridgeway VW in Newbury. I'll let you know the name when i've had mine sorted - don't want to jinx it! - its booked next Friday:D

Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My latest is:

Having initially had my lupo at Ruislip VW, and they confirmed my diagnosis that the pedal box had GONE they wanted GBP372 to fix. I told them that there is a 100% VW good will because that part was never fit for purpose.

VW Customer Services contacted me to tell me that there was no 100% or any % goodwill because my car was over 4 years old (it will be 8 in August 2008) and because I dont have a FSH which they would have honoured if over 4 years old.

I contacted VW Twickenham and the very nice chap in Warranty confirmed that the repairs were indeed covered by 100% VW Goodwill, even for a lupo with 45000 miles and a 2000 plate.

I queried this with VW CS, their reply was: each dealership is its on entity and they can not dictate what each one offers.

Then a couple of hours later VW CS contacted me to tell me that they had spoken to both Ruislip and Twickenham branches and that Twickenham now admit they were at fault and there was no 100% Goodwill, I guess they got dictated to after all.

Thanks to VW CS for screwing that up for me.

I am trying my third option which I will disclose details of at a later date.

This is a really frustrating situation, and one that VW should do the honourable thing for. This, unfortunately, as far as I am concerned be the last VW I will own.

Rich

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Guys

Just joined Club Lupo - wish I'd found you sooner as i've just about had enough of Pedal Boxes!!!

My clutch went dodgy last summer and took it to the VW specialist i used, they diagnosed a "new clutch and cable" and apparently did the work, not cheap (but cheaper thean dealership)! Clutch was a considerable improvement. Few weeks later the a simlar thing happened and I took it to local small garage for opinion. They diagnosed a broken Pedal Box. The also suggested that the clutch cable was not only a few weeks old and that the Pedal Box may have been the issue all along...

...I had no way of knowing whether the heavy clutch had damaged the box, or a flexing box had caused the clutch problems, or both, so on the advice of the small garage got him to weld Pedal Box. "it will last forever, whereas a new one may go in a few thousand miles" apparently. Anyway, couple of weeks ago the same issue arose. Took it back to the small garage who tell me the Pedal Box has cracked just along from his weld. Magic!!! He suggests this time he removes the Pedal Box completely and welds a plate over all the possible weak points - apparently "better than replacing". Obviously more labour involved this time...

...so, in a state of despair searched the internet and found this great Forum.

Have emailed my three local VW dealerships to see what there response is to me saying "will they do Pedal Box FOC?" - await responses. Meanwhile my little Sport sits in the drive feeling sorry for itself...

Anyone know of any dealers in Hampshire that will do FOC goodwill change???

Cheers

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My pedal box latest:

Got my Lupo to a different VW dealership and they replaced the pedal box FOC and gave it a nice jet clean to boot.

Drives much better for not having a creaky noise every time I depress the clutch pedal. Overall well pleased, and gonna thank no end my contact at the garage.

GBP372 saved. Nice.

Just hope the time I have been driving with this duff pedal box hasnt damaged other gear related components.

My advice is keep trying until you find a garage that agree it is to be done FOC.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.