Hi Guys.

Im sorry this is my first post but.........

I bought a 2002 A6 1.8T Avant last week.

Its got 90k on the clock and we have done about 300 miles this week.

My wife has been backwards and forwards all day with no issues. She Parked up at 1pm, went back out at 3pm and drove the car to the baths, about 5 mile away. halfway there she noticed the car was sluggish. Revs were fine, turbo fine just felt like it was dragging its heels. When selecting 1st it wasn't picking up and when she finally pulled up, reverse could be selected and revs rose, but the car hardly moved.

When she got out she said the car smelt outside.

She spent an hour and half in the baths. When she came out, no issues. I have drove it home and no problem.

Clutch rides high, i noticed that last week. Wife swears she didnt leave handbrake on. You can feel a bit of bouncing when you leave your hand on the gear stick.

What do you guys think?

I thought new clutch but someone suggested a hydraulic issue with the clutch.

Any advice would be greatly received. If it is the clutch, what am I looking at paying? I bought it off a trader so i am hoping i have a little recourse.

thanks

Matt

I'm sure that you should be covered by a standard 3 month warranty if you've bought from a trader .

Get it back to them. If they don't do anything, get trading standards involved.

Hmm, can't find any info on the 3 month warranty but it might be worth having a look at the following link.

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/advice/problemswithvehicles-sum6.cfm

 If there was a clutch problem mate, it wouldnt of felt sluggish. The revs would of shot up as the clutch slipped and failed to translate the engine power to forward motion.

It needs a scan really.

you could test the clutch; pull the handbrake up high, engage 4th hold revs about 2-2500rpm and let the clutch up it should stall if the car is ok.

i had my clutch and flywheel replaced the other week with gen audi parts and the bill (to warranty company) was 1100

 Thanks for all the info. Took it into garage today and diagnosis is it needs a new clutch and rocker seal.

Paid a visit to the dealer i bought it off who didnt want to know at first. I left him trying to find the parts at a reasonable rate and he's gonna come back to me on monday.

He's not happy though as he gave me a £500 discount but made the mistake of giving me a company receipt and not stating what the discount was for. I suspect it was because he knew it needed a clutch.

Thanks for all the help..........I'll let you know what comes of it all.

 The car had the same fault when i took it out today. I have a feeling its the front nearside brake binding. The lo gear ranges struggle to pull away, so going round a corner in third is a no no and in second a slow process. Taking the foot off the accelerator and the car slowed rapidly.

When allowing the car to roll to a stop it stopped dead, no rolling backwards etc. 

Brake fluid pipes were warm too.

Clutch is still an issue and obviously rocker seal wants sorting but hopefully this is the fix.

On the plus side, i discovered full ASH upto dec 08 and the same garage mot'd it in dec 09, so i am hoping they serviced it and forgot to stamp the book. It has only had 2 owners before me, one being loders in dorset who used it as a demonstrator.

Jack the front wheels up, and see if it can be turned by hand. There should be a little resistance but it should be easy to turn. Compare the 2 sides.

If there is a brake binding, then that will eat a clutch alive. And could be dangerous if it overheats.

 I think thats the problem. It seems to do it when it gets hot. That would explain the smell the mrs was talking about. The clutch is slippy too, I noticed it reving to speed up. 

Im also getting 280 miles to a full tank of petrol (£63) and although its a v5 turbo, id expect a little more.

Just to add some info to this thread (sorry for the ancient bump).

If the brake is binding, take the car for a drive, maybe give it a bit of heavy braking. Park up and CAREFULLY with the back of your hand, feel the temp from the centre of each wheel. I say carefully as you can burn yourself on the wheel. Both sides on the same axel (IE Front Pair, Rear Pair) should be about the same. If one is noticably hotter, thats your corner.

At this point a lot will assume the caliper is sticking, however I have seen (rarely) flexible hoses degrade to the point that they produced very similar results to a caliper sticking.