OT: Problems with lupo
Turbo Mini Forums

Hi All, having issues with the girlfriends car. It's making an odd buzz/grind noise as it goes in to gear. It goes in to gear fine, and the clutch bite point feels normal. I'd guessed at it being a release bearing issue.

Took it to VW yesterday, who said it is problem with the 'clutch mechanism' (pretty vague) and will be over £400 to repair!

So, it is likely to be a release bearing, and how hard a job is it? (I think it's got the same box on it as the 6n polo 16v.) We don't have £400 between us, but obviously need to get it sorted. She was even talking about taking it to mr. clutch, but based on neils experience, no way i'm going to let that happen!!

Know it's nothing to do with minis, but there are a lot of clued up people on this site, so thought it was worth a punt.

I have a lupo! And its wank frankly! Anyway thats besides the point.

Does it rattle with the clutch out?

1/4 Mile 14.3secs 96Mph Terminal 10psi of boost.


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Some VW boxes have the release bearing under a cover at the far side of the gearbox meaning that the box doesn't have to come off to change the bearing, worth buying a Haynes manual to find out?
Does the car make a screech/grinding noise with clutch pressed?

Tom, that's exactly the fault. Screeching and grinding when you press the clutch. Is that likely to be release bearing then?

Potentially good news about the cover, defninitely worth investing in a haynes. They don't do one for the lupo currently, but i think it's the same as the polo 6n2.

A little nervous about doing this myself, never done any work on clutches before and it's my lasses car. I could get a massive arse kicking if it goes wrong!!

thought id just have a quick serach over on clublupo for u coz used to be a member there when i had my lupo. found a post describing exactly your problem.... then i noticed the member's name i guess u have already tried that!

cant think what else it could be, is the noise continuous when u have your foot on the clutch or only as you are depressing it? does engine speed make any difference to the noise?

ian.

cheers for looking mate, yeah the people on club lupo aren't as forthcoming with info as people on here. I'm guessing you saw the response i got; 'It could be the syncros' hmmm...

I can't remember tbh, i've only driven it twice since it's been failing. I think it only does it when you are pressing the pedal down, and once it's at the bottom of it's travel it stops. You can make the noise continuous by holding the pedal about an inch from the floor. Not sure about engine speed, i think it is slightly worse higher up the revs.

Sounds like release bearing to me TBH. Does the car do lots of stop start traffic driving? Does your gert sit in traffic with her foot pressed down on the clutch pedal when not moving instead of knocking it into neutral and taking her foot off the clutch? Finally and most importany does she know how to drive without the clutch for when it finally gives up the ghost?!

She's only had the car a few months and only done about 2k miles in it, so i doubt most of the damage has come from her.

Not sure of the history of the car, but given the type of car it is, i'm fairly certain it would have done a lot of stop start driving.

Fairly certain she doesn't know how to drive clutchless. tbh i'm not 100%. Isn't it just rev matching to change gears. stalling when stationary, then starting with throttle and letting go of the key? Or have i just described a process of how to destroy a gearbox and a starter motor?

Yep you are about right, won't do it any good, but it will at least get her home if she's stuck somewhere. Ram it in first engine stopped then crank it on starter until it catches and fires, then off you go, trying desperately not to stop if at all possible!
I once bought a Fiat Punto (yeah I know,...) from the centre of Sheffield, the clutch failed and I drove it right from the city centre home with no clutch, it can be done.

Not sure about starting, but to change up you just Almot change like normal except you can't give it to much beans in each gear (basically drive like when you were learning), going down, just let the revs drop fairly lowin gear pull it out of gear give the throttle a little extra and jobs a gooden.

(Drive a company car daily and get lazy Lol)

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1/4mile in 13.2sec @ 111 terminal on 15psi

Yep thats about it

(Drive a van on site that isn't allowed on the road, plus the clutch doesn't work!)

PS Ric if the release bearing has seized (sounds like it) then it will be wearing into the fingers of the clutch cover, so you'll probably need to put an entire clutch kit in it, not just the release bearing.

have you tried clublupo or clubpolo on the net?

i also have a lupo.

most clutch problems are the pedal box falling apart cos there crap but your seems more clutch/bearing related

i guess it makes to put a complete kit in it anyway if i'm going through the trouble of taking the box off.

I've rung and got a price for a clutch kit. It wasn't as bad as i was expecting. The kit aparently contains; backplate, pressure plate and release bearing. Is there anything else i'm likely to need? and do i need any special tools? - i've ordered the 6n2 polo haynes, but it's not here yet.

shed, i've heard of that problem. i'm waiting for that to fail next as it's still on the original spot welded POS box. What lupo have you got?

Edited by Ric on 17th May, 2007.

Sounds like you've got what you need, a centreing tool can usually be substituted with an extension bar with some tape wrapped round it.

i have the Lupo GTI

i used to have a GTI too! i really liked it, alot of fun for a 'senisible' car and quite rare!

been thinking about getting another one soon when i need to buy a cheapish car again to be able to afford a house. really liked ang's (rics mrs) lupo sport when i saw it too, cool cars.

sorry ric, back on topic....

Update...

started doing this yesterday, the car is as bad as a mini to work on for space!! Got the driveshafts out, got the rear and right engine mount undone, undone the gear linkage and clutch cable.

Only thing left to remove is to get the starter off, but it is in an insane location. You can't see it from above or underneath the car! I've read i might need to take the inlet manifold off. eurgh.

So, a few hours of work and i've not even got to the clutch and the bearing yet!

right, box is off and i've found the problem(s). Bearing is shagged (it's really loose) as expected, but it's taken out the braket thing behind it.

The pressure plate and friction plate look fine. Although there is a tiny bit of wear on the fingers. What is an acceptable amount of wear?

Ideally i just want to slap a bearing and bracket thing on and get it back together. It's probably only did about 70 gentle miles from when it started to fail.

if you have it all off anyway, then i would change it. You dont wanna put it all back together and have to do it again in a few months time.....

well, that's what i thought initially. but i can see the friction plate and it's still got tons of meat on it. Also i don't have a proper centering tool and am worried about getting it back together to find i've done it wrong and need to pull it to pieces again.

Change the clutch buddy.

i really didn't want to hear you say that!

The clutch cover is held on by little 8mm bi hex bolts, my set only goes down to 10mm. Looks like another trip to the motor factors...

Tom, any advice for fitting a cluch successfully first time? Two things i'm worried about are, centering the friction plate and lining up the splines.

You can usually centre the plate by feeling around the edge of the cover at the cutouts with your fingers, and then getting the gap equal all the way round.
If in doubt buy a cheap aligning tool for about £10, but TBH I don't bother, get a 3/8 drive extension, wrap some insulation tap round so its a nice fit in the centre of the plate, then use this and the feel method above to line it up.
As for the splines, sometimes they can be a bit tricky but even if you didn't disturb the clutch that is in it is still just as tricky, as you are likely to not have the box at the angle etc. Try offering it up, if it won't go with a bit of twisting/pushing/swearing then pull it off, turn the input shaft slightly and try again. They do have a decent lead on them, I've never failed yet.

i'll buy the socket and have a crack on that tonight then. I can't put the box back on until tomorrow night anyway as vw don't carry stock of the 'sleeve' (not bracket...) i need.