Clutch problems of the 2006 Volkswagen Jetta - part 1

At 23,000 miles, without warning, no initial signs of concern, clutch fails, depressed to the floor without the ability to return. My misfortune happened exactly how the other numerous complainants did. Found vw technical bulletin #2016615 dated 11/05/07 described as 'clutch, friction material flaw' (sachs manufactured only) notes only sachs clutch plates are affected by this flaw and therefore only issues with the sachs clutch plate will be covered under this technical bulletin. There are no known friction material flaws with luk clutch plate or pressure plate. ' bulletin extends the warranty on these parts an extra 4 years / 50000 miles. My clutch plate happens to be a luk. . . After reading the scores of complaints about clutches going out at 10-50k miles, I don't know what's true anymore. . . My suspicion is that maybe the problem is really with the luk manufactured clutch plate and that the technical bulletin was issued covering the sachs brand to avoid having to warrant the luk brand. Updated 09/18/08.

Letter from senator on behalf of constituent, regarding his concerns with the 2006 Volkswagen Jetta. The consumer stated the clutch started slipping. The dealer informed the consumer that the 5-speed vehicles were made with a defective clutch plate, but the transmission would have to be removed to determine if the vehicle had the defective part. The dealer stated if the vehicle did not have the defective part, the consumer would be charged $500 in labor fees for removing the transmission.

My 2006 vw Jetta tdi clutch went out while driving on the highway. The clutch was depressed all the way to the floor and would not come back up. I pulled it back up and it would not go back down. Clutch was never spongy beforehand and just went out with no prior indication of a problem. Called the dealership and they said it was not covered under warranty (car has approx 40,000 miles). After doing research and finding out others have same problem I will be complaining to dealership to have it covered. I am a student and my husband is in the army we don't have $2000 to pay for such a repair, that was not caused by "normal wear and tear".

I am the owner of a 2006 Volkswagen Jetta tdi 5-speed with 39,000 miles. My vehicle was manufactured in mexico in January of 2006, and I purchased it in June of 2006. This week, the clutch started slipping and it warranted a visit to the local vw dealership service department. The service department informed me that many 2006 vw Jetta tdi 5-spd vehicles were made with a defective clutch plate, but they would have to remove my transmission to determine whether or not my vehicle had the defective part. They informed me that if my vehicle did not have the defective part, they would charge me nearly $500 in labor fees for removing the transmission for inspection. I should not have to pay to have my vehicle inspected to determine whether it has the defective part, nor should I have to drive my vehicle when this clutch has been failing prematurely. Upon further investigation, I found numerous complaints about this clutch plate on the NHTSA website. . Read more...

2006 Jetta tdi. Dmf and clutch failure after 54,000 mi of normal driving. Car stuck in gear while driving, unable to stop and go. Not covered under extended warranty. Described as normal wear and tear. Cheap dual mass flywheel and clutch components!.

I recently purchased a 2006 vw tdi used, with 33k miles. After one day of ownership the clutch pedal went the floor. I pulled the pedal up with my toe, and got it to engage one more time, then back to the floor. After that, the car wouldn't pull itself in any gear. The car never slipped, vibrated, etc. , no symptoms of a wore clutch, just instant failure. I called vw roadside assistance, and vw towed it to a dealer 3hours away. Before the dealer tore into it they called me and said that if it is due to clutch wear/abuse that it would not be covered. After some research here on tdiclub, I found that dmf, and clutch failures were very common and generally warranted. I told the dealer to go ahead and tear into the car to find out more. Today I get a call and they tell me that the clutch is wore out, and that it is not covered. The advisor on the phone said that half the clutch on one side is almost completely gone, and the other side is completely gone. And if I come pick it now, I will only be out $550, or I can have them do the repair for $1800. I told him to not do anything yet, and that I would call him back tomorrow with an answer. The service advisor was very nice, and as helpful as he could be, but could not warranty the clutch or repair.

Was exiting the highway and depressed the clutch. The clutch went to the floor and I was unable to shift gears. I was able to get the vehicle in neutral and get to the side of the road. I have learned this is a common problem with premature failure of clutches on 2006 Volkswagen Jetta tdis.

No symptoms prior to failure. While exiting freeway, clutch stopped operating between gears, while downshifting. Could not get car back into gear and had to stop in middle of multi lane offramp, pointing slightly uphill. Clutch pedal would come only half way up. Clutch could not be engaged enough to start engine. Aaa was called and arrived after 20 minutes, during which time car remained in offramp. Car was towed to dealer and left over long new year's weekend. Dealer service department informed me, once they looked at it, that the clutch had failed and that I would have to pay for it as it was out of warranty. I agreed to the service since this is my only vehicle. I was charged $1,863. For the service, which included replacement of the flywheel. I complained that the flywheel was part of the engine, and should be covered under warranty. I was directed to call Volkswagen and submit a complaint. I asked to retain the parts so that I could see what had gone wrong. The next day, before calling Volkswagen, I discovered from an independent source that Volkswagen has had a technical service bulletin out on the clutch since November 2007. After verifying from the parts that I was covered, I informed the dealership. I have been told they are cutting me a check to repay what I spent on the replacement.

I purchased a brand new 2006 Jetta tdi (standard shift); at the time of this incident the vehicle had approx. 17,000 miles on it. I was driving on the highway and upon downshifting the clutch failed and the vehicle was stuck in gear; I was unable to take the car out of gear or change speed. This incident led me to have to drive the vehicle off to the side of the highway while being unable to safely control the vehicle. Upon further investigation it appears that this has been a common problem with sachs clutches from Volkswagen. Clearly, without a recall, this is puts many drivers in an extremely unsafe situation. The dealer repaired this problem for no cost; however, they were unaware that this problem is common and that vw has recently released a service bulletin regarding the failing clutches. A recall is the answer; however, vw so far has not had to issue one.

Just had the dual mass flywheel and clutch replaced @ 40,000 miles which is crazy. Clutch was slipping and after hearing about the transmissions destroyed when the dmf comes apart, I spent $1,400. 00 cdn to replace it. Ive driven clutches all my life (33 years) and never had to replace a clutch before 200,000 miles.

2006 Jetta tdi made in mexico in 01/06. Purchased 04/06. Car was always difficult to drive from a standing start. Clutch seemed to lock up prematurely. Many times this causes the engine to stall. At ~25,000 miles the clutch started slipping on the highway. There is overwhelming evidence among other vw Jetta tdi owners that this is a sign of premature dual mass flywheel failure. There are two scenarios that make this failure a serious safety risk to the driver and any passengers: 1. Slippage of the clutch at high speeds causes loss of speed control while merging or passing. 2. Locking of the clutch from a standing start can cause the engine to stall possibly leaving the car in the way of other traffic. I am in contact with the dealer to get this failed dmf replaced before there are any serious injuries or property damage.

There is a list of problems I've had with this car. First the odometer reads 5-7 miles higher than my actual speed, and the radio reception and volume oscillates randomly. The entire car starts to shake the longer at a stop; say in traffic or even at a long red light. It's even worse on an a hill, both incline and decline. The friction point changes randomly which makes it quite easy to stall out the car from a starting position. When one turns the wheel to go around a turn the front of the car produces a deep groaning sound. The paint is also chipping off randomly; and I hand wax and wash this vehicle myself; so it makes no sense since it's only a year old. The top coat is actually pealing off on parts of the car. I took it into the dealer and they updated the software on the radio; and I'm currently waiting for the flywheel to be replaced, the part hasn't come in yet.

Experienced clutch failure in my 2006 vw Jetta tdi at 23k miles (at least 10k highway miles). Car had a lifetime history of less than smooth take-off (from stand still to 1st gear). First sign of major problem was total clutch failure (pedal stuck to floor, unable to shift) after about 30 min. In stop-and-go traffic on interstate in road construction zone. This is a safety issue: this failure causes driver to lose the ability to accelerate and has potential to cause high speed crash in heavy traffic merging conditions. This is also a known issue: online reading quickly reveals that the dual mass flywheel & clutch assembly has been problematic for some time, and this particular issue is found in the 2005. 5 & 2006 Jetta tdi. Three examples of evidence for this are: #1. To date, 46 members of the online forum tdiclub. Com have experienced this low mileage clutch and/or flywheel failure. #2. Vw has had recalls in both finland and australia for same/similar issues. #3. The product description of single mass flywheel & clutch advertised at dieselgeek. Com states: “gets rid of the failure prone stock sachs dual mass flywheel. €� I repeat, this is a known problem, it seems that vw knows that original parts are defective or not up to the job as they have upgraded the replacement parts. But vw refuses to pay for repairs, citing “owner error� and/or “wear-and-tear. €� my repair cost $1700 and vw should reimburse me. The repaired clutch is smoother than it has ever been, indication that it was defective from day one. Far more important: vw should issue a recall before someone is hurt or killed. I am furious at vw! this was a known problem when I drove my new car off the lot in June 06. At the very least, I should have been advised of the issue and to be mindful of clutch operation. How can vw be so careless? who at vw made the decision to ignore this potentially fatal problem? i’ll continue to spread the word until vw takes responsibility and issues a recall.

Had the dual mass flywheel come apart. Dealer replaced flywheel, clutch plate, bolts, a bearing, and a support under warranty. This seems to be a systemic problem.

Clutch and flywheel failed at 23,740 miles. Sudden failure, without warning. Caused the car to come to a complete stop, pulled the clutch pedal to the floor.

Dual mass flywheel leaking from center hub clutch failure.

Clutch in my 2006 Jetta tdi (manufactured 02/06) went out while driving down the highway at 70 mph. I lost ability to shift gears and vehicle is currently at the dealership for repairs. Dealer says that it is the clutch but from what I have researched these cars (manufactured before 03/06) have a faulty dual mass flywheel that comes apart and then tears up the clutch.

Only 48,000 miles on the car and the clutch/flywheel are shot. According to an independent trans shop this is the second time its been rebuilt with vw parts.

Flywheel and clutch catastrophic failure. Clutch pedal went completely to floor and engine seized up. Clutch would not disengage engine and was seized up. Driver was operating vehicle at low speed when failure occurred. If failure had happened at highway speeds it likely would have resulted in high-speed wreck.

I went to stop at a light pushed in my clutch and when it got to the floor it clicked ever so quietly and wouldn't return to engaged position. I pulled the clutch pedal back up off the floor and now it can't be pushed more than 3/4 of the way to the floor and if you try while the engine is running you get an awful grinding noise. Clutch plate flew apart.

I was driving on I-80, I moved to the off ramp , and when I pushed the clutch, it went all the way down to the floor. The 2006 Jetta tdi with 26 000 miles now needed a new clutch and flywheel, $1700 repair bill. The new clutcha nd flywheel were not the same as the original. The replacement parts have been upgraded by volkwagen, why? maybe the original clutch was defective. Or Volkswagen did not take into account the added torque of the new pd engine. Very annoying.

I was driving my 2006 vw Jetta tdi on freeway doing about 60 mph when I needed to down shift from traffic and when depressing the clutch it stuck to the floor managed to get to the side of the road called dealer I bought the car from. Then told me to try to pull up the clutch pedal and if so try pumping the clutch and if feels good then give it a try. So I did ,the pedal cam up, I pumped it felt ok I just started the car , slowly released the clutch the car shot forward and died with a clunk. So I had the car towed to the nearest dealer ( not mine ). Talking to the service rep he told me their has been a problem with these clutches and they had done eight of the same year and model under warranty . I called to see if it was ready they told me it is not covered under warranty and that the car was ready to be picked up and I owed them $2700. 00 for the repairs ie; new clutch, pressure plate, flywheel and bearing. I complained to no avail. My car has 20,000 miles and other problems they have not figured out yet.

The contact owns a 2006 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact stated that she felt the vehicle's clutch slipping while driving 5 mph. The dealer stated that the clutch assembly needed replacing. The contact stated that she experienced the clutch slipping, difficulty switching gears, and the vehicle has stalled since the vehicle was purchased. The VIN, purchase date, and engine size were unknown. The current mileage is 33,000 and failure mileage was 31,000.

Our 2006 Volkswagen tdi was towed to the dealer again yesterday for clutch problems. At 2 months with 5,000 miles the clutch would intermittently not engage. Was able to drive it to dealer , and dealer replaced master cylinder, bleed system and reassembled. At 6 months, with 15,000 miles the clutch failed, stranding us along the highway. Had it towed to the dealer, who removed the transmission, and inspected dual mass flywheel. Slipped throw out, bearing came apart, the fork for bearing slid into pressure plate. Replaced flywheel, clutch plate, pressure throw out bearing fork and spring. - at 9 months with 20,000 miles transmission whined in third gear and had a harsh shift in all gears. While driving to dealer the car popped out of gear. Dealer found transmission leaking fluid from bell housing. Called Volkswagen, and was told to check for cracks in case. Removed case ,and inspected for cracks. Had hairline cracks. Removed and replaced transmission, and reassembled and added fluid. " this repair took the longest as the dealer has to wait for parts. The car was at the dealer this time for over three weeks. 4- 10 months with 22,000 miles three weeks after last repair we were again stranded at the side of the road. At a stop sign depressed clutch, put car in first, started to move and car made a loud noise and clutch was dead again. Towed to dealer ,and we are waiting to hear again from them. Both my husband and I have been driving stick shift for over 20 years each. Our dealer has never suggested that we don't know how to drive a stick shift although I have seen online this was often said as soon as the clutch went out. Everything so far has been replaced at no cost to us. The manual transmission was very unreliable, and in heavy traffic it could easily lead to an accident. Luckily, while we drive many miles it was mostly country highways.

Around 12-13k mi a lot of strange vibration appeared on the clutch pedals, a lot of pulsation during take offs and shifts, slight grinding noice during shifts, vibration from the engine compartment and the shift leaverage at around 2k rpm. Makes it easy to stall especialy during hot days. Dealer identify the problem as the failing dmf and throw-out bearing and possibly a spring/pressure plate. The clutch disk itself was not slipping.

Clutch has failed twice while driving. First time March 2007 at 8,000 miles. Clutch and flywheel replaced and failed again may 2007 at 10,000 miles.

Clutch flywheel problems with my 2006 Jetta tdi. Left me stranded on highway with only 37 k miles on it. Dealer says not covered under warranty as wear and tear, this is the second time it has needed to be replaced in 1 year. We were exiting off of a highway and the clutch stayed depressed stuck to the floor and the transmission was not working.

Clutch assembly in both my 2006 vw Jetta's had to be replaced, because of incorrect assembly at plant. One is running well, the other one is still not running properly.

Faulty clutch and flywheel. Flywheel blew apart and destroyed clutch. The incident nearly caused an accident which could have possibly killed my entire family.

My 2006 tdi seems to have had a clutch failure at 8950 miles. I was sitting in traffic and the engine started smoking and giving off a large amount of noxious fumes and wouldn't accelerate. I waited for towing outside on the freeway in sub-zero temperature. It was a Saturday so waited until Monday for it to go to the shop. The dealer says they were unable to re-create the problem and sent me off with the fail-prone car. I am very unhappy with Volkswagen, if this is their idea of customer satisfaction.

After about 22,000 miles the engine started losing power, and the clutch started making noises and vibrations upon engaging/disengaging. The first time it happened we were driving on the interstate, so the loss of power was really dangerous. The dealership replaced the whole flywheel and clutch assembly.

1. 2006 vw Jetta tdi 5-speed: clutch filed to operate at 18,000 miles, slipping & burning 2. 2006 vw Jetta tdi 5-speed: clutch and dual mass flywheel failed at 18,000 miles 3. Dealer replace at cost of $2,500. Dealer stated not covered under warranty, filed complaint with vw of America. Damaged parts available for inspection.

Traveling in stop and go traffic on an upgrade toward george washington bridge. I stepped on clutch to shift but could not. The clutch pedal was nailed to the floor. I coasted into a gas station and turned off engine. The smell of clutch burning was very pronounced. The vw roadside assistance would not tow me anywhere but to the nearest dealer or anywhere else for that matter unless under 15 miles. I would have to pay for any towing beyond that. The car was ultimately towed to the dealer from whom the car was purchased. Vwoa covered the replacement clutch only as a courtesy one time. They said the clutch was not covered by the warranty. I had the car for one week. It had 289 miles total! I am concerned that the vehicle is not actually fixed and that vwoa knows the clutch assembly is inadequate for the car. The old parts are not available as far as I know. I am not sure at this time what parts other than the clutch plate and flywheel were replaced.

I had to come to a complete stop to not rear end a car that was not moving. When I put on the brakes so forcefully, it apparently messed up my transmission and clutch. I couldn't get my car into gear. I had to have the car towed to vw of van nuys where the service agent said it was my fault that the clutch was burnt out, even though I only had 7500 miles on the car. After researching this problem on the internet, it appears to be a problem with this car regarding the clutch. I was able to talk the dealership into covering this with my warranty but felt it's important to let you guys know because I'm not the only one who is having this problem.

2006 Volkswagen Jetta tdi with 12,469 miles had complete clutch failure. Center of the clutch was completely blown out. Volkswagen replaced as we were only 469 miles over warranty but upon investigation there seems to be a design flaw in the clutch which Volkswagen will not acknowledge.