A couple of weeks ago my clutch pedal started acting a bit odd, like if I caught it with by foot it would drop down but if I pulled it back again it was ok.Also generally just a tad more reluctant to slip into gear even when pedal was ok.It now seems to have now gone  ok, literally as soon as the freezing cold snap ended.I would have suspected fluid but it was changed last year.All has been back to normal for a couple of weeks now with no problems at all and have probably done another 200 miles without issue.Feel free to cheer me up and pre diagnoses a future possible cause.Thanks 😕

Sounds like hydraulic related to me rather than the clutch itself. If I was to hazard a guess I would say more likely master cylinder than the slave.

Just had major issues with mine today, it had a new master and slave cylinder last April after doing the same thing. It will go into gear just fine with engine stopped, but near impossible to get into gear when engine is running.

Suspecting the hose/pipe between the master and slave cylinder in my case (2.3 petrol though). Looking at that tomorrow with any luck.

Ok thanks,as I say it's been absolutely fine for a couple of weeks now,I'll just let it wait in the wings for now till it rears its head again.

Hehe, I do like your nickname, "Ex passatman". It sounds like there is a story behind it. I almost want to know all about your adventures with the passat and what led you to become the "ex" passatman. Did the car break down, did it madden you after many years reliable service? Or maybe you had to upgrade to a bigger car for example? There are so many questions! Thank you

My issue was the pipe - which for the petrol 2.3 is no longer available from Ford, and not available from any of the usual suspects as a pattern part.

Eventually found a solution - New flexi pipe made up, cut the metal pipe and flare the ends and replace the flexi with the new bit.

Clutch is now better than its been for quite some time, and no longer feels notchy going into first and second gear either. Also cost around £35 to fix rather than the £180 it would have been from Ford if the part was still available.

I had planned to get the whole thing made, but the connectors on either end are proving problematic, as whilst there are push in connections available, none of them match closely enough to connect to either the master cylinder or slave cylinder.

Wow, impressive and very innovative solution. Did you make the pipe yourself? Did it require specialist tools or were you able to get it manufactured bespoke somehow? A really clever solution to an otherwise tricky problem!

 

The flexible section was made by Earls at Silverstone, the rest of the pipe is the original with brake pipe fittings used and a pipe flare kit used to put a flare onto the end of the pipe. I didn't do the flaring but was there when it was done, being steel pipe it took a lot more to do than your normal copper brake pipes do.

I bet it was really pleasing getting that pipe made up. It's always a good feeling knowing that you've sorted a tricky problem. 

120 miles later and its still working, and at this point the intermittent notchy feeling to first and second gear has not returned either (which I had thought was gearbox wear!)