Car shakes when leaving 1st gear.

[kstrike155]

Hi everyone,

I've had this problem since probably 30k miles and I'm at 44k right now. When I ease out the clutch the entire car sometimes shakes violently, like I'm going to stall. I had the dealer check it out and they were able to reproduce it. They also said they could drop the tranny to take a look, but if it was just a worn clutch disk then I would be stuck with the bill (about $2200).

Does anybody have any input? I've had manual transmissions my whole life (never owned an auto) and have never come across this.

Thanks,
Brian

[MrFunk]

Sucks - but deff sounds like clutch. $2200 sucks but if you have a bad clutch it's got to be replaced... 44k is a pretty short life for a clutch IMO - i've never worn through one on either of my previous cars which all had well in excess of 100k when I sold them - but driving habits directly dictate how long they last... do you track it? Lots of launches? Etc?

[PaperishPlastic]

do you have an upgraded clutch?

[Dr GP]

The clutch in this car is the weak link. Try feeding more gas as you shift . If that doesn't help, you may have no other choice than to replace the clutch. BUT, it will cost much less to have it done if you use an Audi specialized shop rather than your Audi dealer. Labor cost will be much lower.

[kstrike155]

I've tracked the car once and autocrossed it maybe 10 times, but I never dumped the clutch or slipped it. The clutch also isn't slipping at all -- I can give it full throttle in any gear and I get no slippage.

It also only happens sometimes, usually when the car has been driven for 45 minutes to an hour. If I feed more gas when letting out the clutch in first the shaking tends to go away.

What about transmission or motor mounts?

[MrFunk]

I guess I'd have the dealer inspect motor mounts, engine brace... all the easy obvious things that they can get to easily and rule them out before going under the knife and inspecting the clutch... If it is not the clutch then ok - sucks - but hopefully covered under w... if it is the clutch - sucks - but needs to be done... Guess you won't know until they dig deeper and fid the cause.


BTW - Autocross is very hard on clutches even if you're not dumping it or slipping it. Especially a heavy awd car. Worst than tracking it IMO...

[Tweakophyte]

Does it happen when you push the clutch in, out, or both? Does it happen for any gear? Is it RPM related?

I've owned several cars deep into the 100k miles and not had to replace a clutch... until a few years ago. The dealer replaced my clutch instead of replacing a spark plug wire that was shorting out. The short was causing a shaking/fluttering around 2700 RPM, which coincided with the engagement point of the clutch as I was shifting gears.

By the way, the wire shorting out coincided with a 90k tune I had done... ham-fisted tech also ripped an oil-sensor wire, which eventually gave me the scary, red, oil-warning light. Good thing I was already numb to the issues because I didn't even flinch when I saw it... but that is another story...

[ourq5sline]

From what you are describing it sounds like it's either your transmission mount or a hot spot on your flywheel or pressure plate. I had the same issue happen to me on one of my cars, it was fine when I would leave the house but after 40 minutes or so of driving it would shake the entire car when I pulled out from a stop but if I gave it more gas it was fine. What I was told was that my flywheel was warped and that created hot spots, as the car heated up it would make the hot spot more pronounced which caused the sometimes violent shaking. I installed a new clutch disk and had the flywheel and pressure plate resurfaced and it fixed the issue.

[kstrike155]

Assuming that it's not something simple like a transmission mount, what would be a good clutch to get for a daily driver? I haven't been doing much racing lately and probably won't be doing much more. Should i stick with stock? I also need some new tires -- almost wondering if I should just buy a new car at this point!

[kstrike155]

Does it happen when you push the clutch in, out, or both? Does it happen for any gear? Is it RPM related?

I've owned several cars deep into the 100k miles and not had to replace a clutch... until a few years ago. The dealer replaced my clutch instead of replacing a spark plug wire that was shorting out. The short was causing a shaking/fluttering around 2700 RPM, which coincided with the engagement point of the clutch as I was shifting gears.

By the way, the wire shorting out coincided with a 90k tune I had done... ham-fisted tech also ripped an oil-sensor wire, which eventually gave me the scary, red, oil-warning light. Good thing I was already numb to the issues because I didn't even flinch when I saw it... but that is another story...

It's only when letting out the clutch, and only in first gear. I get no vibration or any trouble at any other time.

[kstrike155]

BTW - Autocross is very hard on clutches even if you're not dumping it or slipping it. Especially a heavy awd car. Worst than tracking it IMO...

How come? I just stick it in second and leave it there.

[VWCCVR6]

Hi everyone,

I've had this problem since probably 30k miles and I'm at 44k right now. When I ease out the clutch the entire car sometimes shakes violently, like I'm going to stall. I had the dealer check it out and they were able to reproduce it. They also said they could drop the tranny to take a look, but if it was just a worn clutch disk then I would be stuck with the bill (about $2200).

Does anybody have any input? I've had manual transmissions my whole life (never owned an auto) and have never come across this.

Thanks,
Brian

I feel like mine sometimes does the same thing. Although I wouldn't say it shakes violently. I have a 2012 S4 with a little over 13K miles on it. I have to bring my car in for the 15K mile service soon so I'm gonna have them look at it. On a couple occasions I would get that clutch smell after getting on it a couple times. One time, I remember my garage smelt like burnt clutch for days. Never had that smell last so long before. I have documented with the dealership a clutch slip issue at 2-3K miles last June so they have it on file that I had issues in the past.


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[Dr GP]

I feel like mine sometimes does the same thing. Although I wouldn't say it shakes violently. I have a 2012 S4 with a little over 13K miles on it. I have to bring my car in for the 15K mile service soon so I'm gonna have them look at it. On a couple occasions I would get that clutch smell after getting on it a couple times. One time, I remember my garage smelt like burnt clutch for days. Never had that smell last so long before. I have documented with the dealership a clutch slip issue at 2-3K miles last June so they have it on file that I had issues in the past.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I had my clutch just sit there and burn on 2 occasions. Both shifting 1/2 in dynamic mode. For some time afterwards the clutch became very difficult to shift smoothly, especially 1/2. But in a short time, things smoothed out and things returned to normal. SLIGHT shudder on a rare occasion. But I find that I have to feed more gas to get the car to shift smoothly. AND, I am very leery to get on the car and shift 1/2 under WOT, especially in Dynamic mode.

[VWCCVR6]

Yup. I noticed the same issue you're having too after heavy acceleration. The car does not want to shift smoothly (1-2) after banging through the gears, but seems to go back to normal after a little while.

[MonSoonHell]

Just curious, if you had to replace your clutch, which aftermarket clutch would you choose?

[PaperishPlastic]

Just curious, if you had to replace your clutch, which aftermarket clutch would you choose?

Definitely not clutchmasters fx400, I would wait it out if I were you there are solutions a cumming.

[kstrike155]

I just took my car out for about 45-50 minutes. I purposefully drove around areas with lots of stop signs and stop lights and made sure to make full stops. I only got it to shudder once, and feeding it more throttle and riding the clutch a little bit longer got rid of any shudder after that. As usual, shifting into other gears was smooth and there was no slippage under full throttle in any gear.

Guess I'll just feed it more throttle than usual.

[VWCCVR6]

To be honest, I think it may be normal. If you think about it, clutches definitely grab better when they're cold. After 45 minutes in stop and go traffic, the clutch is going to heat up and not grab as good. Same goes for brakes, brakes grab better they're colder.

[Ray Khan]

I was getting something similar with my 2010 about a year and a half ago. When the car was cold, the clutch engaged smoothly when I was starting from 1st gear from a stop. After the car warmed up there was definitely some sort of shake/vibration going on and it was really annoying. I wouldn't say it was violent, but it was definitely there and made me wonder what was going on. I tend to engage the clutch between 1000-1500 rpm during normal driving in first gear. I found that slipping the clutch around 2000 rpm did help a bit. The problem actually went away after a hard launch or 2. I thought that maybe the issue was related to uneven clutch material deposited on the flywheel so I did some launches for the hell of it. The clutch has been engaging smoothly for the last year and a half or so. I might be wrong with my diagnosis, but the problem did go away.

[kstrike155]

Interesting! When you say "hard launches" what do you mean, exactly? Dumping the clutch at 4k? Revving high and slipping it for longer than usual?

[Ray Khan]

I don't remember the specifics but likely around 3500- 4000 rpm. I launched like I would if I were drag racing but I didn't row through the gears afterwards. I definitely did it twice and not more. I didn't smell burning clutch after the first one or I wouldn't have done it again right away.

[LargeKnives]

I had this when I first got my b8.5 but it was just me not being used to the clutch. The wrx that I had for 14 years before the S4 was a 5 speed manual, and it was super different. For me it was just too much gas and letting the clutch out too slow, which didn't seem to make sense, but less gas and clutch out fast was the solution, at least in my specific situation. In my S4 I can let the clutch out almost normal speed and it rolls away just fine with zero throttle.