justamin wrote:I still hope to be at this event. At present, my Mk 3 has a slipping clutch. I have just replaced the cable, hoping that may cure it..My past experience has only been on A series hydraulic systems. Any ideas folks?
If the cable was snagging then that might cause the clutch to re-engage slowly and thereby slip. If the new cable doesn't cure it then the two obvious possible causes are worn clutch plate, or oil getting onto the clutch plate through a leaky crankshaft seal.
If it is the former then the only cure is to replace the clutch.
Does your clutch housing have an inspection hole? - some cars have them, whilst on others the hole was left filled. If you do have an inspection hole then take a look inside and see if there are any traces of oil. The oil would get spun all around the inside of the bellhousing so you are likely to notice it. The long term fix will then be to remove the clutch, flywheel and primary gear so that you can replace the oil seals.
The short term fix would be to spray brake cleaner onto the clutch plate through the inspection hole - to do that you need to disconnect the coil and get a helper to depress the clutch pedal and turn the engine over on the starter whilst you spray in the brake cleaner. Alternatively there is the Le-Mans style Coca cola bath - reputedly used by Jaguar and Porsche teams to cope with slipping clutches - where you pour coca cola into the bellhousing. Quite how the starter motor and release bearing cope with the coke, I don't know, but it does wash the oil off the clutch plate for a while.
