A friend's inherited Golf GTI Mk1, a very nice example needing a bit of fettling, has its clutch pedal set an inch or two higher than the brake pedal. Recently widowed, she has kept the car and is hoping soon to pass her driving test (at the age of 60-odd). Her practice sessions, two of which I have supervised, do rather punish the clutch, and I wondered if it might be on its way out, the high pedal being a sign of terminal wear? It doesn't slip.
The car pinks a bit but otherwise runs perfectly, with no sign of overheating, clean oil and plenty of poke. It has been regularly serviced, until recently by a (good) VW specialist known to me. I am a bit worried that my friend will place it in the hands of an unsympathetic mechanic.
Any gen on the clutch pedal? Is there an adjustment, or is it new clutch time?
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Lud
If memory serves; the Mk1 GTi has an adjustable cable. I think it's got a round plastic vibration damper on the clutch end of the outer cable and a threaded rod through the rubber bush on the clutch arm. I'm almost sure I've still got a genuine one - somewhere....
If the pedal has risen; then that might indicate rapid wear.
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Thanks very much Screwloose. I'll take a look and maybe have a tinker.
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IIRC the mk1 has a problem with the outer pulling thro the bulkhead. Whilst this will probably make the adjustment 'go the other way' it may be worth checking, since if it has been repaired (badly) or effectively thickened using a spacer/strengthener it may limit the range of cable adjustment. Also if incorrect cable (non adjustable) is fitted there maybe problems.
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pmh (was peter)
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Clutch pedal on my MK1 golf was always higher. Altho it wasnt a GTI.
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Update: the clutch cable does have the white plastic adjuster and there is still a bit of adjustment left, but the threaded metal end of the cable is corroded and I didn't risk tangling with it. Accompanied the owner to Sussex and back at the weekend. She improved a bit, but it was purgatory for me. It is a most unsuitable car for a learner driver, the responsive engine and sporting gearing exaggerating every clumsy twitch of a resolutely insensitive right foot, and the wrong gear selected for at least a third of the time. Very few gearchanges made without a jerk one way or the other. She's a big strong girl but the heavy steering was alarming sometimes at close quarters. Yet my friend is by no means the worst driver I have experienced, being intelligent if prone to exaggerate all actions and change down 300 yards before roundabouts... purgatory.
I made her put in half a tank of Supreme 97 octane (don't know what the other half was, but I imagine ordinaire) and half a bottle of Redex fuel system cleaner. In Sussex I went off by myself and took it up to about 70 in third, still well short of the red line but certainly higher rpm than it is used to doing. My reward was an embarrassing cloud of smoke for the next half mile or so. I did it again, slightly less fiercely, and got another cloud of smoke, smaller this time. By the time I stopped there was no visible smoke at all, and none later. I hope that what I saw was the dust of ages being blown out of the cylinder head and ports, but I suppose the possibility of knackered valve stem oil seals must exist at 95K miles. The oil is absolutely spotless, so clean that it's hard to see the level on the dipstick. After my Italian tune-up, and probably largely as a result of more correct fuel being used, the pinking has pretty well stopped and the engine is running noticeably sweeter.
The chassis is far from perfect however. MoT but needs bushes and probably shock absorbers. Doesn't feel sharp as it should. Very good car in there somewhere though.
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