B8 S4 Clutch Issues

[McB8S4]

Long story short, took my car to a local shop to get the crash bar repainted, I left the car there with no signs of clutch issues. A day and half later I pick the car up and instantly have issues with low speeds/low gears where I get a shudder, as if the car will stall. Needless to say the drive home sucked as it kept occurring and even got the wonderful burning plastic smell coming into the car.

I have driven it sparingly since then and it seems it has improved, with less and less shudders. But my garage still smells of the burning plastic/rubber after parking the car.

Car only has 59k miles and I have owned it since 52k. It does have APR stage 1, but I have never launched it or run it very hard. Just some off and on spirited driving.

Should I be skeptical of foul play? Do clutches just start going bad like I have mentioned above? Could it be a glazed clutch plate and it seems to be improving with each drive? All seems too spontaneous and coincidental....

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[Envy187]

Those BASTARDS. They were paid for a paint job and joy-rode your precious vehicle, destroying it in the process? Barbaric, and completely unacceptable.

Really, though. Personally, I wouldn't put it out of my mind to suspect foul play, but given everything you mentioned with your driving style and how the vehicle was before/after the fact...my thoughts are to question some things.

[Dr GP]

Someone at the paint shop DEFINITELY launched your car hard and burned the clutch. I had it happen to me twice on my 2010 when I accelerated WOT form 5 mph. When I shifted 1/2, the clutch pedal just stayed on the floor and the clutch burned. Car shifted really funky for about a week in both cases. Once the material from the clutch wore off of the flywheel, shifting returned to normal.No IMMEDIATE problem,but the life of your clutch has been compromised. No way to tell how much. You need to go back to the shop, find out who abused your car
,and get them to compensate you for it. It is possible that the owner or manager is totally unaware of who did it ,or not.This is not a small issue. BTW,how many miles on your car?.Mine happened around 20k

[McB8S4]

Someone at the paint shop DEFINITELY launched your car hard and burned the clutch. I had it happen to me twice on my 2010 when I accelerated WOT form 5 mph. When I shifted 1/2, the clutch pedal just stayed on the floor and the clutch burned. Car shifted really funky for about a week in both cases. Once the material from the clutch wore off of the flywheel, shifting returned to normal.No IMMEDIATE problem,but the life of your clutch has been compromised. No way to tell how much. You need to go back to the shop, find out who abused your car
,and get them to compensate you for it. It is possible that the owner or manager is totally unaware of who did it ,or not.This is not a small issue. BTW,how many miles on your car?.Mine happened around 20k

59k on the car.

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[messepants]

Did the shop log the mileage when they charcoaled in the car? That would be the only way to prove foul play.

JZ

[McB8S4]

Did the shop log the mileage when they charcoaled in the car? That would be the only way to prove foul play.

JZ

I will talk to the owner more to understand if there is anyway to find out if anything happened at the shop. Or even the paint shop since the place I took it to handled pulling the bumper off and then they drove over to the paint shop. Prior visits they didnt document mileage, so not expecting they did this time.

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[Envy187]

I will talk to the owner more to understand if there is anyway to find out if anything happened at the shop. Or even the paint shop since the place I took it to handled pulling the bumper off and then they drove over to the paint shop. Prior visits they didnt document mileage, so not expecting they did this time.

When I got my S4 get rust-proofed this year, I saw - with my bare eyes - how these fellas "swing a car 'round back". I wouldn't be surprised if they roughhoused your car because most of the fellas that work in such environments are young punks who just want a cheap thrill, considering a lot of cars they get to work with.

[McB8S4]

These are the days I wish I would have gotten a dash cam already.

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[Envy187]

These are the days I wish I would have gotten a dash cam already.

A super small investment for huge reward (if necessary). #neveragain.

[Stopsign32v]

Dash cam dash cam dash cam

This happens allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the time.

[Envy187]

Dash cam dash cam dash cam

This happens allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the time.

Articulate...concise... - Couldn't agree more. Well said.

[McB8S4]

Someone at the paint shop DEFINITELY launched your car hard and burned the clutch. I had it happen to me twice on my 2010 when I accelerated WOT form 5 mph. When I shifted 1/2, the clutch pedal just stayed on the floor and the clutch burned. Car shifted really funky for about a week in both cases. Once the material from the clutch wore off of the flywheel, shifting returned to normal.No IMMEDIATE problem,but the life of your clutch has been compromised. No way to tell how much. You need to go back to the shop, find out who abused your car
,and get them to compensate you for it. It is possible that the owner or manager is totally unaware of who did it ,or not.This is not a small issue. BTW,how many miles on your car?.Mine happened around 20k

How much longer did you get out of your clutch? One way or another going to start putting money to the side for this repair.

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[Stopsign32v]

How much does a 6MT clutch replacement cost? I'd imagine it isn't an easy DIY

[McB8S4]

How much does a 6MT clutch replacement cost? I'd imagine it isn't an easy DIY

Yeah it's not an easy DIY unless you have a lift. Won't be doing it myself if it comes to replacing it. Labor alone typically runs around $1k. Then parts are whatever you want between $600-$2k depending on what clutch, flywheel upgrade, etc.

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[McB8S4]

Articulate...concise... - Couldn't agree more. Well said.

Outside of Blackvue, what other dashcam would you guys recommend?

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[Envy187]

Outside of Blackvue, what other dashcam would you guys recommend?

Here's a thread I, personally, created last year and got a lot of great feedback on.

https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...ations-(B8-S4)

[Dr GP]

How much longer did you get out of your clutch? One way or another going to start putting money to the side for this repair.

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Can't tell, I traded it in before the lease was over at 30k miles. I would definitely give bad reviews on Facebook, Yelp, etc if they do not take care of you.

[McB8S4]

Here's a thread I, personally, created last year and got a lot of great feedback on.

https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...ations-(B8-S4)

Got a dash cam ordered. Learn the hard way to make such a small investment.

Ended up going with Vantrue N2 Pro.

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[McB8S4]

I will keep this thread alive as the clutch progresses and provide updates. Really hoping it was just a glaze and it will heal over time. But understand the life of the clutch is compromised.

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[Envy187]

I will keep this thread alive as the clutch progresses and provide updates. Really hoping it was just a glaze and it will heal over time. But understand the life of the clutch is compromised.

It’s a damn shame that we’re in 2019 and some people still treat other people’s property like this...

What ever happened to “treat those how you want to be treated”?

I’m staying optimistic for you, OP. Please keep us updated throughout this whole ordeal!


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[McB8S4]

I got some nice driving in today. Still shuddered a few times, but not as often. The smell is still prevalent, but seems to be better? Sure hope so, but may be my wishful thinking.

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[Stopsign32v]

It’s a damn shame that we’re in 2019 and some people still treat other people’s property like this...




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I hate to tell you but people are getting WORSE not better.

[Envy187]

I hate to tell you but people are getting WORSE not better.

Heck yeah, man. See post #7 for reference.


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[McB8S4]

Luckily with great threads here, I already know my clutch replacement if I need to go that route. Sachs Extend, Luk FW, and USP SS line.

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[Envy187]

Luckily with great threads here, I already know my clutch replacement if I need to go that route. Sachs Extend, Luk FW, and USP SS line.

Absolutely, man. Those options all sound very good. Keep us in the loop with the final verdict/resolution.


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[dean.mohr]

Hopefully you get an answer to this - there's not even a reason for them to have driven the car more than a few hundred feet, but that doesn't mean they couldn't have taken it into the lot of dumped the clutch.

I exclusively service the car at the local Audi dealer and I"m still careful to check the dash cam when I get the car back.

[McB8S4]

Seems like each day the clutch has less and less issues. Still really careful and baby the hell out of it.

Dash cam came in earlier this week. Going to get it up and running this weekend.

Crossing my fingers on the whole ordeal.

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[Envy187]

Seems like each day the clutch has less and less issues. Still really careful and baby the hell out of it.

Dash cam came in earlier this week. Going to get it up and running this weekend.

Crossing my fingers on the whole ordeal.

I'm very happy to hear that your vehicle's clutch has regenerative properties. In all seriousness, I'm trilled that the severity of your original post in this thread has been remedied slowly but surely...and you're taking the appropriate steps to ensure this won't occur again.

[McB8S4]

I'm very happy to hear that your vehicle's clutch has regenerative properties. In all seriousness, I'm trilled that the severity of your original post in this thread has been remedied slowly but surely...and you're taking the appropriate steps to ensure this won't occur again.

Lol.....I know right?

Seems like it had to have been a glazed clutch plate.

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[hellovaras]

Long story short, took my car to a local shop to get the crash bar repainted, I left the car there with no signs of clutch issues. A day and half later I pick the car up and instantly have issues with low speeds/low gears where I get a shudder, as if the car will stall. Needless to say the drive home sucked as it kept occurring and even got the wonderful burning plastic smell coming into the car.

I have driven it sparingly since then and it seems it has improved, with less and less shudders. But my garage still smells of the burning plastic/rubber after parking the car.

Car only has 59k miles and I have owned it since 52k. It does have APR stage 1, but I have never launched it or run it very hard. Just some off and on spirited driving.

Should I be skeptical of foul play? Do clutches just start going bad like I have mentioned above? Could it be a glazed clutch plate and it seems to be improving with each drive? All seems too spontaneous and coincidental....

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Audizine mobile app

Something similar happened to me when I took my car to get tints put on. They obviously did not know how to shift in reverse and when I picked it up, reverse was first and so on. They took zero responsibility. Many people nowadays do not know how to drive a manual. My suggestion is to log miles before/after and install a dashcam. Sucks, but you need to protect yourself. Hope it is nothing to serious.

[Envy187]

Many people nowadays do not know how to drive a manual.

They do say that if you live/park in a rough area and don't want to risk your car getting stolen...you'd better your chances by driving a manual. I guess your situation lends to that theory.