Hate to start a new thread about clutch issues but this is more dual-mass flywheel. When the cold weather started three months ago I noticed a strange Chewbacca-ish groan whenever I disengaged the clutch in 1st gear, under load (uphill, or wheels turned.) Aug 04 build 05 S, 24K. Called my SA and he said the flywheels tend to glaze, that it's more of an annoyance and does not affect driveability.

But as the weather started to warm up I noticed the groan was gettting worse, and It's getting annoying, so as Im motoring by my dealer yesterday I decided to use the opportunity and get a tech to take a ride with me. my service depatment (Schomp, Denver) is nothing less than awesome with customer service, and a drive train expert and I went for a short cruise.

As usual, at first the car didnt make the noise, so we pulled off onto a side street, stopped, put on the emergency brake, put the car in first gear, disengaged the clutch and WAM! it started shuddering (typical flywheel issue) and started groaning like a Kenworth trying to stop with bad brakes (sorry for the mixed metaphor) or one pee-d off Chewbacca....

"Yup, glazed flywheel, it's fairly common" the tech said. "24,000 miles?" I said. "Seen it on cars with as little as 4K," the tech said. The groaning sound occurs as the glazed flywheel and clutch overheat under load, but it's not the clutch, it is fine. It's the damned dual-mass flywheel. They have no idea what's causing the glazing to occur either.

So all the way back to the dealer I kept wondering if the SA was going to accuse me of abuse, and not cover the repair. No worries, however, because it is Ralph Schomp. The DM flywheels cannot be turned nor milled, so the cure is to replace the whole system--next week I get a new DM flywheel, clutch, pressure plate, the whole deal: all under warranty--thank God--MAJOR $$ if it wasnt. Plus the parts and labor have a 2 year unlimited mileage warranty, so it'll still be covered after the car's factory warranty expires in Oct. Dodged a major expensive repair bullet here...

Im just glad I have an awesome dealer that doesnt jerk people around on something that's clearly a manufacturer issue. But Im beginning to wonder about drivetrain parts (minus engine and the Gertrag) and if they are indeed cheap and prone to problems. Ciao Jimbo