This weekend as part of a rebuild I've refurbished the clutch master & slave cylinders on my S3 LWT. Since the engine is not in the vehicle, there is nothing in front of the clutch fork & associated bearing.

I have bled the system and, as expected, when I depress the clutch pedal, the fork moves forward i.e. away from the gearbox.

When I release the clutch pedal, the fork does not move back (i.e. towards the gearbox) unless I push it.

Very basic question (sorry!): is the return force on the fork provided entirely by the clutch cover pressure plate or should it return "on its own" when the clutch pedal is goes back up??

Thanks!

Yes , Return force is from the clutch cover

Brilliant -- thank you!!