Neil Hopcroft

A digital misfit

wear compensator

… I’ve just checked mine, but i don’t have a reference point. The warning is showing, but what would cause that? Does it mean the clutch is worn? Or that the cable has broken? Or that the compensator is no longer compensating? There’s a suspicious looking pile of dust right by it, but that could be normal in use. So those of you with a laguna, could you take a look at your wear compensator and tell me what you see? Its a small round cylinder on a cable behind the battery. Mine is black and plasticy but haynes show a metallic one.


Categories: Memories.

/ 6 Comments

6 comments

    • neilh

      I don’t know for sure – its at least 60,000 since thats how long I’ve had it, and it wasn’t sold to me as having a new clutch, so I’m guessing its still on the factory fitted one. In that case its done over 130,000 miles, which isn’t too bad a life.

      And, given the circumstances of the failure I’d not be at all surprised – someone pulled out in front of me on a roundabout, so I took evasive action during which I was worrying about steering around him and not what the revs were doing, followed by a clunky gear change, but I’m not sure whether that was cause or effect. I’m guessing that, even without that clunkyness, it wouldn’t have lasted for much longer if I were being careful with it.

      Checking the Haynes manual describes a symptom I’d been vaguely aware of (for 20,000 miles) but had never bothered investigating, which corresponds with exactly the nature of a clutch failure. I’d attributed it to a gearbox bearing, since they are ‘at risk’ beyond 70,000 miles (according to Parkers guide).

      So I’m not holding out much hope its the cable, but given thats a twenty quid job I can do myself, while the clutch itself is probably more, I thought it worth taking a look.

      Reply
      • jarkman

        Ah, I understand.

        All the clutches I ever wore out went from working happily into a gradual slip-at-high-power into slip-always. I don’t see how any kind of sudden incident could generate enough clutch wear to get from ‘ok’ to ‘very slippy’.

        Which might be further argument in favor of a bust compensator.

        Reply
        • neilh

          Well, the compensator isn’t in very good condition – it seems to have reached the limit of its compensation – but the cable is still pulling the lever on the clutch housing, so its a job for a professional. There is a small posibility that the thing on the other end of the lever has broken or fallen off its bearings or something and just needs putting back or replacing, but by the time you’ve gotten inside it its probably worth changing the whole lot.

          Reply
  2. neilh

    The wear compensator is present on all but the 2.2 TDi, I believe, since that uses a hydraulic system rather than cable. The cable is the same on the rest, but the the clutch itself varies depending on the engine size.

    Reply
  3. neilh

    Its cable, not wire, think more like bicycle brake cable than electrical cable. With a big dongle thing on it about the size of a small aerosol can with a twisty middle – mine is showing ‘warning…your wear is uncompensated’ or something, and mounted with its centre axis front-back, clipped in place I think, rather than just free floating on the cable.

    Reply

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