Clutch go boom

The Clutch in the TDI went "Boom"...sorta. The car was driving weird, having weird vibrations, and a little slow on the uptake. I thought I had broken engine mount. I took the car to the local VW-Only mechanic (been in business 42 years), Dick's Autohaus. When we stoppe by on the way home to see what was the deal, we got an unpleasant surprise....lots of metal shavings and transmission fluid all over the bottom of the engine that had been hidden by the plastic cover underneith the car. Oh, and there were bits of clutch that came out too.

So, I have a single mass flywheel and clutch on the way, but there is a story there too. I had tried to use that when I had my clutch replaced a while ago (which begs the question, why did it blow up, but I digress). Anyway, the parts I got in went with me to the VW Dealership in Germany and when I showed up to pick up the car, it was still sitting there apart because the flywheel wouldn't fit. It turned out it was because the distributor had received two flywheels that were incorrectly machined, and I had received one of them....joy! So apparently, that problem has been fixed now, so I am going with the single mass flywheel again which costs a total of $389 for the flywheel and clutch, as opposed to over $900 for the dual mass flywheel that is prone to fail.

On the up-note, did an oil change on the Rabbit in the garage tonight. I love having a garage. No wind, can work at night, it is wonderful. And thanks to the old cardboard box from our bigscreen, no oil on the garage floor!

Anyway, it had been a long time, but I will try to post more frequently, but that's all I have for now.