Car problems - mechanics advice please

[appollo1]

As I am no way mechanically minded for cars or bikes I need some help and advice form any mechanically minded folk out there please.

My car is 13 years old and has just had a full service and timing belt changed. I have been detached away with work in Lincolnshire and drove down from Scotland a few weeks ago.

Everything was fine on the motorways until I got into the side roads. Sometimes (not all the time) when I changed down to 4th or 3rd the car just revved like crazy and i had to feather the accelerator pedal for it to finally pick up the gear.

My Father in law had a look and he says that the clutch and gearbox are all ok (he worked for the RAC for 30 years so knows what he is talking about). The clutch is not slipping and it only seems to happen after a longish time on the road. I have done a few journeys since on the country roads round here and it appeared ok.

I need to use the car every other weekend to get home for the next 7 weeks (350 ish miles each way) and need it sorting.

I don't want to put it into a garage to be checked as i can't afford a huge repair bill or a huge bill for investigation.

Any serious thoughts on what it may be would be greatly appreciated.

[maviczap]

Sticky throttle cable or linkage. Maybe its binding somewhere after all that work you had done to it

[Mr Speirs]

What car is it?

Originally Posted by appollo1

...when I changed down to 4th or 3rd the car just revved like crazy and i had to feather the accelerator pedal for it to finally pick up the gear.

When the revs rose did the car lurch about at all or did it feel like the clutch was in?

[Bibio]

Originally Posted by SVforvictory

When the revs rose did the car lurch about at all or did it feel like the clutch was in?

think you may have hit the nail on the head. its a skoda if i remember and i think they use a hydraulic clutch.

so it might be a sticky clutch slave cylinder.

[yorkie_chris]

Blocked return in clutch master cylinder meaning fluid has nowhere to expand to when hot... thus disengaging the clutch all the time

when does it rev up, when you dip the clutch or when the clutch is let out and you try and accelerate?

[Spikenipple]

Take it back to wherever you got it serviced and tell them it didn't happen before they worked on it.

[appollo1]

the car is a 1997 Skoda Felicia 1.6 GLXi

I would take the car back to where all the work was done but it was done by my father in law and it was doing it a little bit before i got all the work done.

It happens when I change down to 4th or 3rd and when I go to accelerate after releasing the clutch, it's like i still have the clutch pedal pressed down and it just revs.

I'm reluctant to put the car into a garage to have it looked at in case they just go for the easy option and tell me i need a complete new clutch.

[embee]

If it's hydraulic then the earlier diagnosis sounds right. First thing is simply change the clutch fluid (very often it's from the brake fluid reservoir). Even if the brake fluid has been changed in living memory, it's quite probable that the clutch side hasn't, I've seen stuff come out of them which looks like chocolate mousse.