Hi all, earlier today I was trying to show the wife how to drive the B5. After the car shut off about 4 times, I decided lessons were up for tonight, at least until she gets a summary of what the clutch is, and why is it there. As I started to drive it back home, I noticed that when shifting from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd, as soon as I press the clutch, my RPM's will climb a couple of hundred and then start to fall, then as I let go off the clutch and start to accelerate my RPM's climbs as normal. So for example, in 1st, car moves, RPM's climb to 1500, press the clutch in and let go of the accelerator, RPM's climb a couple of hundred for a tenth of a second (you can hear the engine, not normal) and then start to fall (obviously this is normal, no load), throw 2nd gear in and let go of clutch and then accelerate. There was also a burnt smell which I assumed is my clutch burning as my wife had the clutch pedal down, not for very long, but nevertheless, it was. Do you guys think I messed up my clutch? The car has 123,000 miles on it and I think is still on the original clutch. I've done everything else you can think of engine maintenance wise but I haven't done anything to the clutch as when I got it, shifted perfectly and smoothly without slipping. My dad who is a mechanic, said the smell was definitely of a burnt clutch and noticed the rev hang but mentioned the car might return to normal once the clutch cooled. Aside from the rev hang, car still shifts really nice. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

 

it's normal. it makes for a smoother shift but a little slower is all. and ya your clutch is def burnt if you were teaching her how to drive stick lol. if you speed up to 30mph, drop it into 5th and floor it and the rpm goes up normally with the speedo then you should be fine. my car does the same thing

 

I have been reading up a lot on the rev hang, and it seems most new cars have this built into the ECU for cleaner emissions and/or have the car be ready at the correct RPM for the next shift? I have never noticed this since I bought the car two months ago. According to this website they explain what the rev hang is on newer cars. Do you guys know if this is built into our B5's? I could swear this wasn't happening on my car before my wife had a shot at it, maybe I got overly worried that I started noticing every sound from the engine, but again, the tranny shifts super smooth and does not slip. The way I tested was I took the car on a gradual hill, took it around 30mph and shifted into 5th, then accelerated smoothly as the car made it to the top, obviously slow climb, but didn't detect any slips. Are there any other ways to test the tranny/clutch? Thanks.

 

Damn bro, I can't believe I never noticed this...lol! I guess I got too worried once the burnt smell was obvious! Could anyone else confirm this please?

 

i drove ImTheDevil's car and it does the same thing. my car does it worse when it's cold and i drive it. sometimes **** happens and you're in a hurry lol

 

The clutch hang is caused by the dual mass flywheel, a heavier flywheel is going to do this because it does not lose momentum as quickly. SO when you release all of that resistance on the flywheel/engine when you push the clutch pedal in the flywheel/engine speed increases for a split second before the decrease in power takes over.

You also feel this because the stock flywheel is dual mass which means it has 2 parts to it, when you release the clutch the section of the flywheel that touches the disk no longer has any load on it and can spin forward to catch up with the rest of the flywheel. This also helps keep the flywheels speed up which is why you notice a slight rpm jump, hang and then it starts to drop.



When you are ready for a clutch let me know, I even offer a single mass flywheel and clutch package for the 30 valve 2.8.

 

Hi Mike & the rest of the gang, just wanted to say your all a wonderful bunch. Thanks a lot for all the input and help given. Here I was pissed that my car was maybe F'd up and I still can't believe I never noticed the rev hang. Mike, as soon as I'm ready for a clutch I'll definitely contact you, in the meantime, it engages fine and smooth. Thanks.

 

Yeah if it holds its good. When she slipped it too much and you started smelling the disk it just needed to cool down to hold again. She just took a bit more life off the clutch disk.

 

my wife is always wanting to practice her shifting "skills" on my car, too!

... the other day a deer that had been hit by a car was lying in the road, when she slowed down to go around it she managed to stall out right next to the deer, i look out the passenger side window and suddenly the deer picks its head off the ground and looks right at me!!! It was kind of creepy. I had some wierd dream about my friend who recently passed away that night. Her clutch work also gives me nightmares. lol

 

Time to buy a beater A4 for her.