Does this look right to you?

[TFG]

There's something not quite right about this new clutch arm. In the photo looking at the LHS of the release bearing, the bearing outer is actually in contact with the edge of the release arm pressing. It's seated on the plastic 'rocker' against which the release arm presses, but I can feel a roughness as the bearing grates against the cropped edge of the arm. On the RHS, there's plenty of daylight between arm and bearing.

The verniers tell me that the distance from the flat face of the release bearing to the rounded part of the pressing (i.e. either side of the hole the bearing clips into) is 32.7 on the LHS and about 32.9 on the RHS, though it's a difficult measurement to take, so it looks as though the assembly is true, but the trimming of the pressing is awry.

I could just run a file along the offending inside edge of the release arm to give me the necessary clearance?

Interesting to note the release bearing is INA brand.

 

[depronman]

that is certainly not right
is it a new release arm ? if so what is the bearing like in the old release arm ?
from the picture it looks like the bearing is not in the centre of the arm and hence catching on the LH side whilst plenty of clearance on the RH side

 

[TFG]

Yes - all new parts. The release bearing is from the Luk clutch kit and the release arm is a genuine VAG part (from Crewe Audi). I agree that the bearing looks off-centre, yet the black plastic part of the release bearing is a good fit for the width of the release arm, so I don't see how it can be. It's difficult to quantify or confirm by measurement though.

 

[depronman]

what does the bearing look like in the original arm ?

 

[TFG]

I'll dig it out and have a look....

 

[sco]

I recently fitted a Luk clutch kit and didn't like the look of the release bearing plastic carrier - seemed a bit cheap and nasty so ordered an skf one instead that has a metal carrier.

When I first tried the new clutch I thought there must be a hydraulic leak as the pedal was so light it felt like it wasn't doing anything but was actually all good.

Simon.

 

[TFG]

Comparing new to old (the "old" will be the original arm as I know the clutch has never been replaced on this car):
Min. internal width between side walls = 63.9 (old), 63.3 (new)
Max. side wall height = 25.4 both sides (old), 22.3 & 20.5 (new)

The release bearing sits centrally to both the old and new arms, as best I can tell with feeler gauges, but the side walls on the new arm are lop-sided - one side looks to be further in than the other, but not by much (perhaps 0.2 - 0.4mm?)

For reference, the original clutch was Luk and its release bearing is Sachs, part number 04 3151 000 343. I think the VAG p/n on it is 02A 141 165 M. Comparing the Sachs item to that supplied with the new Luk kit (a INA bearing, as in the photo at top of thread):
Bearing face (that bears against the fingers of the clutch pressure plate) to rocker = 22.0-22.1 (old, Sachs), 22.2 (new, INA). Most, if not all, of the wear on the old bearing rockers is to the part nearest the bearing, but for something that's coming up 18 years old and in a hostile environment, it's faired very well.

I think the problem with the new arm comes down to the slightly narrower internal width of the arm pressing. On the old arm, the bearing sits between the side walls, but it's a very snug fit. Although the side walls are lower on the new part, the 0.6 difference is enough to bring one of the walls into contact with the bearing.

 

[sco]

Have you tried new bearing in old arm - that should confirm if its the bearing or the arm at fault.

Good clean-up and that arm would probably be re-usable. Worth changing the guide sleeve and the mushroom pivot if its worn whilst you are in there.

Simon.

 

[BiggDogg]

Could be just the photo, but the distance looks different between the bumps at the 2 ends (for pivot and slave cylinder arm) too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TFG]

Have you tried new bearing in old arm - that should confirm if its the bearing or the arm at fault.

Good clean-up and that arm would probably be re-usable. Worth changing the guide sleeve and the mushroom pivot if its worn whilst you are in there.

Simon.

That's what's in the photo (new bearing, old arm). I've renewed the guide sleeve and its screws and the mushroom pivot with VAG parts from Crewe Audi. I'm tempted to reuse the arm but having spent the money on a genuine new one, seems a bit perverse.

BD - I think the distance between the dimples on old and new is the same. Again, it's tricky to measure, but if I place them face-to-face, they look like a match. There's obviously been some mods to the tooling at the small-dimple end at some point.

It looks to me as though the outline blanks for the arms are pre-cut to finished size before they're put in the press. If the blank is slightly off-centre, that would give rise to what I'm seeing in the new arm. The hole in the centre would then be punched after forming.