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In my car the music of my car radio stops playing almost every time when I press the clutch. It does not always stop, but probably in 80% of the cases. It never stops when I do not press the clutch. The stops have a length between 1 and 10 seconds.

I have no clue what this could be. Where should I look at for an error?

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  • That certainly is a very odd problem. Does the car sound or feel under-powered for the first few seconds after pressing the clutch pedal? (and do the interior/exterior lights reduce luminance when depressing the clutch pedal). If so, I have a feeling that either there is something wrong with your alternator OR you have an engine issue which is causing the engine to rev lower and thus cause the alternator to produce less power which in turn cuts out your sound system. – Dan Aug 13 '15 at 10:04
  • How old is your battery? If its old, get a multimeter and check the voltage of the battery. When you depress the clutch right down, the transmission is disengaged, thus the engine revs lower. At this point I presume the alternator will be producing less power. If your battery is old, maybe at this point, it is being recharged again. Thus why it takes a few seconds for the sound to come on again. – Dan Aug 13 '15 at 10:07
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    Everything else is ok you say....hmmmmm.... Maybe worth checking your fuses? Is the clutch pedal next to some electrical line which goes to the sound system? Maybe when depressing the clutch pedal, you are hitting an electrical line which is causing the power to the sound system to be cut out??/ This is a very ridiculous theory though..... but you never know. – Dan Aug 13 '15 at 10:13
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    I would side with the last comment made by @Dan , you might be hitting a loose electrical wire while depressing the clutch as there is no relation between the two components otherwise. – Shobin P Aug 13 '15 at 10:16
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    Of course it's VW :) – rana Aug 13 '15 at 13:44
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I read on a forum that the issue could be down to certain earth wires. When depressing the clutch pedal, you may be earthing a electrical line going to the sound system which in turn stops the music.

There are various earths located in the engine bay. Check around the inner wings etc and make sure all of them are tight.

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I am thinking either:

A) The pedal/cable is hitting something

B) The Neutral Safety Switch on the clutch being triggered is causing issues.

What I would do: Google it (along with your year/model), find forums for your car and see if anyone else has had this issue.

Check around your pedal/cable to see if anything is touching.

Check the grounds on your radio.

Get the wiring diagrams for your car, see if there is any link between the clutch switch and the radio.

Poke around with a test light. Connect it to the positive and negative leads to the radio, hit the clutch. Connect to known good ground, test. known good positive, test. Follow the wires.

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