Hyundai i30 clutch problems

Fr Dougal

Hi All,
I have had a problem with the clutch on my wifes Hyundai i30 for about a year.
Car is a 2010 i30 diesel with about 80,000miles (NI Import)
We have done about 10-15k miles in the last year.
The clutch is very heavy, have to depress it right to the floor to bite. When you put it in gear you barely lift the foot and it starts to move. Clutch doesn't appear to be slipping on acceleration. There is no smell and other than that, car runs perfectly.
The problem does not appear to have got any worse in the last year.
What prompted me to get it looked at is that I drove it yesterday for the first time in a few months. Clutch feels so bad compared to my i40.
Local mechanic took a look at it but it has him stumped. He said the mechanics of the clutch appear to be fine. He also checked Slave and master cylinders and cannot see any leaks. He doesn't want to go incurring expense unless he is sure it will fix the issue. If I bring it to a main dealer they will probably just starting to replace bits on a trial and error basis and run up costs.
My local mechanic is gonna do a bit of investigation and call me but I thought I'd ask here to see if anyone has any advice.

Musketeer4

The mechanics of the clutch are not fine, obviously.

My first thought was air had gotten into the hydraulic system. Has the mechanic thoroughly bled all of the air out of the system?

The only other thing it could be is that the pressure plate or the springs in it are failing in some shape or form.
I suppose the thrust bearing could have collapsed also. Is the pedal feeling rough when you press it?

Rule out air in the system first. Once that is ruled out you're basically down to replacing the clutch.

Fr Dougal

Musketeer4 wrote: »

The mechanics of the clutch are not fine, obviously.

My first thought was air had gotten into the hydraulic system. Has the mechanic thoroughly bled all of the air out of the system?

The only other thing it could be is that the pressure plate or the springs in it are failing in some shape or form.
I suppose the thrust bearing could have collapsed also. Is the pedal feeling rough when you press it?

Rule out air in the system first. Once that is ruled out you're basically down to replacing the clutch.

Cheers. I will bleed the system on Saturday and let you know how that works out.
Thanks a mil

martinr5232

Fr Dougal wrote:

Cheers. I will bleed the system on Saturday and let you know how that works out. Thanks a mil

Bleeding a stiff clutch wont make any difference sounds like the pressure plate is stiff and needs replacing.

Toyotafanboi

You keep switching between i30 and i40 in the OP, so I don't know which you mean, but it doesn't really matter, both i30 and i40 of that era are more than well known to give presure plate trouble.

colm_mcm

Pressure plate is giving trouble on ours now, 120k miles. Crunches going into reverse. Quite common.

Silver lining is that it's not an expensive job, no DMF (08 5 speed)

Fr Dougal

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

You keep switching between i30 and i40 in the OP, so I don't know which you mean, but it doesn't really matter, both i30 and i40 of that era are more than well known to give presure plate trouble.

Oops. Corrected, thanks. Problem is with my wife's i30.
I drive an i40

Gun Monkey

Hi all, sorry to resurrect an old thread here but just wondering how this turned out? Im in the same situation with a 2008 1.6 diesel i30 65000 miles. Intermittenly hard to get into first and second when changing down gears. Clutch bite is right on the floor but operates smoothly without noise.
Does anybody have a guy who is really familiar with these i30's- would travel for the right guy but im in dublin/wicklow. I have a few other very specific niggly problems that could possibly be a real pain to locate/ rectify as some are intermittent. I dont want to go to main dealer as they well know cowboys. Would prefer a respected independent guy who knows his way around a hyundai or i30's

pablo128

Gun Monkey wrote: »

Hi all, sorry to resurrect an old thread here but just wondering how this turned out? Im in the same situation with a 2008 1.6 diesel i30 65000 miles. Intermittenly hard to get into first and second when changing down gears. Clutch bite is right on the floor but operates smoothly without noise.
Does anybody have a guy who is really familiar with these i30's- would travel for the right guy but im in dublin/wicklow. I have a few other very specific niggly problems that could possibly be a real pain to locate/ rectify as some are intermittent. I dont want to go to main dealer as they well know cowboys. Would prefer a respected independent guy who knows his way around a hyundai or i30's

Any competent garage could replace a clutch in a diesel Hyundai. There's nothing tricky or unique about them.

Gun Monkey

pablo128 wrote: »

Any competent garage could replace a clutch in a diesel Hyundai. There's nothing tricky or unique about them.

I know they're not, as i mentioned i have a few other niggly problems. I was hoping that someone familiar with the model might have encountered the problems before and might save pointless trouble shooting. Thanks for the reply though ;-)