Anyone any ideas what this could be?…

When starting from cold, the car makes a strange noise with the clutch down, like a sort of wub wub wub sound. After a minute or so of driving, noise dissappears. Otherwise car drives fine, no vibration or other clutch problems etc. At the “problem” is just a noise when the car is cold but worried it could get worse etc.

Its a vauxhall 1.9cdti.

Thought it might be DMF, but doesn’t seem to have any of the symptoms according to http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/dual-mass-flywheels/

Clutch release bearing?

mattbee – Member

Clutch release bearing?

+1

+2

That’s the obvious answer.

Start with the easy/cheep stuff, is there fluid in the reservoir (if there isn’t you need to figure out why, fix it and bleed it, it’s no more complicated than disk brakes) or is the cable correctly tensioned?

After that it’s fairly irelavent what the problem is as 80% of the cost of replacing the clutch is labour (maybe under 50% if it’s a DMF as they’re £££) so you tend to go overboard and fit new friction plates, springs, release bearing, spigot bearing/bushing as they’re all cheep relative to the cost of getting at them. the Spiggot on the midget was 50p + 8 hours faffage getting the engine in/out, so did the whole clutch for £60.

double post glitch

thisisnotaspoon – Member

After that it’s fairly irelavent what the problem is as 80% of the cost of replacing the clutch is labour (maybe under 50% if it’s a DMF as they’re £££) so you tend to go overboard and fit new friction plates, springs, release bearing, spigot bearing/bushing as they’re all cheep relative to the cost of getting at them.

Seconded. If you’re going to go the time and trouble/pay someone to get at the clutch in the first place, you may as well replace the job lot once you’re in there. You’d be sick if you just did the bearing and three months down the line you needed a new clutch and had to do all the work/pay for the labour again.

@rse, sounds expensive. Guess its a new clutch kit anyway as i don’t think you can get the thrust bearing.

Checking a few forums it sounds like a lot of people have (probably incorrectly) assumed this is the DMF.

If it is just the bearing, it will probably last for ages without failing. The one on my VW van has been squealing like a pig for three years. (They all do that sir)

I have a Astra 1.9cdti and the clutch knocks when the peddle is pushed down, I have taken it to a friend who works for Vauxhall and he said its the thrust bearing. He said if you can put up with the noise drive it until the clutch wears out.

This noise does not go away when the car warms up though.

I’d ignore it.
A release bearing can make a noise for tens of thousands of miles before it fails. When it does, it’s highly unlikely to do any further damage anyway.
Just keep driving, but be aware that one day, possibly in a few years time, you will push the clutch pedal down and it will go straight to the floor without disengaging the clutch.

yeah, may just put up with it.

My usual car fixing philosphy is that if its only a problem when the car is cold, its not a problem.

Another vote for clutch release bearing. Get it replaced if / when you get the clutch replaced. Turning the radio up when cold will keep it sweet for many miles 😆 DMF as I recall would juder when pulling away cold.

My old Audi A4 did that when cold, and sometimes when warm too. A mechanic mate told me to leave it until the clutch was due a change (the car was at 120K miles at the time and possibly on the original clutch), but 2 years and over 40,000 miles later I sold the car without having had to do any work to it.

Sorry – but its not clutch release.

Its DMF – Google Dual Mass Flywheel.

My 1.9CDTI Vauxhall had it = new clutch as your in there so may aswell. 6 hrs labour + DMf at 250.

My bill was £900 from a local garage.

Mine started only when cold but developed over a few weeks – in the end it happened when warm but every time the clutch was pressed.

Ive also had 3 alternators, 3 EGR valves and im due the car back after swirl flap failures at £500!

Never buying a vauxhall ever again.

thrust bearings 🙂

I’m going with thrust bearings and do nothing, rather than DMF and pay 1000 pounds. Its already been doing it 3 months and it drives fine.

Google just produces a lot of internet forum hear’say and rumour, with precious little facts behind it.

I’d ignore it.
A release bearing can make a noise for tens of thousands of miles before it fails. When it does, it’s highly unlikely to do any further damage anyway.

I had this in my old 306 and my old dispatch van.
the thrust bearing made a noise for a few weeks. then it went completely. when its did go it went in explosive fashion. sending bits flying around the gearbox at x thousand rpm taking the clutch with it. nasty! the mechanic said if the gearbox is off to replace the thrust bearing may as well replace the clutch.

afraid it sounds like the DMF on its way out, we do loads of them on vauxhall z19dt/dth

does it do it with the clutch pedal up?

Jamie, clutch system engineer for large OEM.

does it do it with the clutch pedal up?

no. Just down, when its cold.

the thrust bearing made a noise for a few weeks. then it went completely. when its did go it went in explosive fashion. sending bits flying around the gearbox at x thousand rpm taking the clutch with it. nasty!

Neither the clutch nor the bearing are isnide the gearbox? Even if it fails catastrophicaly the worst it can do is take out the clutch spring plate?

sorry I ment the bell housing of not the gearbox.
it took the springs etc and the clutch plate with it

looking at carbon337 post, i would guess this is a good time to sell it and buy a car that isnt a vauxhall 1.9cdti!

might be the slave cylinder / release bearing, which is probably concentric to the input shaft so it is a gearbox off job to replace. and then you are into the whole, do i replace the clutch while i am at it, and really i probably ought to throw a dmf on as well while i am at it…

the dmf starting to die can make a noise with the clutch pedal up, and pressing the clutch pedal down can preload the dmf centre bearing a bit and stops it making the noise. but it depends what is dying. normally if the dmf is on it’d way out you might feel something odd as you are driving under certain conditions, vibrations or what have you but there are many makes of dmf and i don’t know anything about vauxhalls.

which ever, it is unlikely to get better by itself! good luck.

it would be worth bleeding the acutation system, just in case there is a bit of air in the system and it isnt self bleeding properly, and not disengaging the clutch properly. the best (only) way is to pressure feed fluid in from the bleeder on the slave cylinder. you need to keep an eye on the reservoir and remove excess with a syringe or whatever. a 100ml syringe ought to do the job.

normally acutating the clutch a few times will help force the air out of the cmc bleed port, or sometimes it pushes the air into an emulsion and you get a ‘good pedal’ but overnight the air comes back out.

Try pumping the pedal say 6 times when it is cold, before starting it, and see if that stops it. that would indicate that you might need to get it bled.

Definitely only with clutch in ?

Alternator pulley ?
Assuming its one of these freewheeling ones. Could be sticking causing it to bounce around. Mostly on idle, & under light load. Just a thought. Slip the belt off & it should slip one way, like a silent freewheel. Pop the bonnet on cold idle & watch the belt to see if its bouncing around. Easy fix. Just a left field thought.

From experience, a dmf sounds awful when its on its way out. There’s a video on YouTube of what a VW TDi engine sounds like with a failing one.

also just to add – another issue with these engines is the water pump seizing causing the timing belt to strip.

The place where my car is getting inlet manifold done is busy rebuilding an engine for a 57 plate vectra 150 bhp 1.9cdti with 40k on the clock!

Anyone want to buy a zafira 1.9cdti 150?

Does the failing DMF appear on all Vauxhalls or just the 1.9 cdti? Been considering an Astra 2.0 sri diesel – having second thoughts now 🙁