Smoking clutch

[calitom]

Hi,
We have a brand new Cali SE and the other day whilst driving we could smell a burning clutch type smell, we pulled over to investigate and smoke started to pour from under the bonnet. We called VW assist and although he could smell the smell he could not find any fault! We went for a drive round the block with the repair man and all was normal and he said all felt fine. We then carried on our journey and have since done 100 miles with no problems but van still smells of burnt clutch, any ideas? booked into the dealer later in week but I doubt they will find anything.

Thanks

Tom

 

[motacyclist]

Hi Tom, welcome to the forum

There are usually a few fasteners and clips dropped when building a new van, we have found several in ours. If something made of rubber or plastic was lodged in the engine compartment and subsequently dropped onto the exhaust it may have caused the smoke/smell; hopefully that is all it was.

Colin

 

[SimplyDubs]

Hi Tom,

I've had a brake pad stick in a front calliper that has caused something similar, intermittently. Might be worth checking...

The smoke under the bonnet although it may be related might actually be something different, I guess it could potentially be smoke from the auxiliary engine heater that kicks in when the engine starts below 5 degrees. My sister in law repeatedly took her car back to VW due to the "great clouds" of smoke coming from the nearside engine bay. This is not at all unusual.

Was it a cold morning and relatively short drive when it happened?

Just a thought, hope you get it sorted.

Rgds
Mark

 

[calitom]

Thanks for the answers, it was actually coming towards the end of a 100 mile journey mainly on A roads, it was definitely clutch smell and this was agreed by AA man. The smoke was quite thick initially but died down once ignition turned off. Aux heater was not on.

 

[storma63]

Hello Tom, Welcome to the forum, hope you get to the bottom of this. has your cali got a DSG gearbox?

Steve

 

[calitom]

Hi Steve, It is a manual 180 SE

 

[snowy55]

Was it the paint or something burning off the exhaust or engine block type smell?

 

[calitom]

Not really, it was definitely definitely a clutch smell, thats what the AA man said also

 

[SimplyDubs]

Not really, it was definitely definitely a clutch smell, thats what the AA man said also

If that's the case, really need to push VW to do a full check as if there was that amount of smoke from the clutch it must have been slipping and it would almost certainly be glazed by now.

Good luck, keen to see how it plays out. Hopefully sorted soon.

Rgds
M

 

[snowy55]

What about a front brake binding?

 

[calitom]

Just back from the dealer and no fault found, they found it very mysterious!

Just driven another 100 miles and all appears OK

Thanks for your replies

 

[calikev]

Strange maybe new vehicle smells

 

[storma63]

Its them "Gremlins" they like to play with new vehicles and mess with our minds!!*#;++:;*;;

 

[storma63]

On ours they chewed through the power steering pipe, within the first week of ownership!

 

[DESMODOM]

Hi,
We have a brand new Cali SE and the other day whilst driving we could smell a burning clutch type smell, we pulled over to investigate and smoke started to pour from under the bonnet. We called VW assist and although he could smell the smell he could not find any fault! We went for a drive round the block with the repair man and all was normal and he said all felt fine. We then carried on our journey and have since done 100 miles with no problems but van still smells of burnt clutch, any ideas? booked into the dealer later in week but I doubt they will find anything.

Thanks

Tom

Hello Tom, IT IS A BURNING CLUTCH- my 16 month old SE with 4000 miles on the clock is having the same problems, I initially noticed it when manouvering/reversing the vehicle on my drive, not long after I had had it. I also have been towing with it and I have noticed that when reversing it has gotten worse. that has it is now in the dealers as I had a big problem whilst towing with it at the weekend. They have pulled the gearbox to check it for me , and they have found that the thrust bearing, pressure plate and clutch have been affected.
But, as the clutch is not covered by warranty, I now have to fight my case with VW.
I am a company car driver, I have covered 112,000 MILES in my BMW 3 TOURING all on the same clutch with never any problem, in fact since I was 26 years, I'm now 61 years I have driven for a living, and never have I experienced clutch problems. So now lets see what VW have to say when I contact customer services.

 

[DESMODOM]

Hello Tom, IT IS A BURNING CLUTCH- my 16 month old SE with 4000 miles on the clock is having the same problems, I initially noticed it when manouvering/reversing the vehicle on my drive, not long after I had had it. I also have been towing with it and I have noticed that when reversing it has gotten worse. that has it is now in the dealers as I had a big problem whilst towing with it at the weekend. They have pulled the gearbox to check it for me , and they have found that the thrust bearing, pressure plate and clutch have been affected.
But, as the clutch is not covered by warranty, I now have to fight my case with VW.
I am a company car driver, I have covered 112,000 MILES in my BMW 3 TOURING all on the same clutch with never any problem, in fact since I was 26 years, I'm now 61 years I have driven for a living, and never have I experienced clutch problems. So now lets see what VW have to say when I contact customer services.

 

[Loz]

I assume the Cali manual is cable operated, therefore It is feasible that the clutch cable is too tight and holding the release bearing against the pressure plate, if this pressure is great enough it could cause the clutch to slip or at the very least cause premature wearing of the release bearing.
The clutch pedal should have a very small amount of slack and you should be able to get you toe under the pedal and be able to lift it very slightly.