Driving this morning and changing gear suddenly the clutch pedal went to the floor and failed to disengage the clutch at all.

Last time this happned a year ago the slave cylinder was replaced and this solved the problem.

This time the garage it was towed to say it is clutch failure. Do clutches suddenly fail compeltely like this without slipping or anything first? The pedal was completely loose and not returning when pressed but pumping it did bring some pressure back so it came back up but it still would not engage the clutch to allow gears to be selected.

Should I just beleive the garage that it is the clutch (last replaced about 2 years 20k miles ago) or could it just be somethign in the hydraulics?

(The car is on 75k, this is the third clutch, every single one has had a biting point very close to the floor even when newly fitted and needed care to get reverse, neither did last year's new slave cylinder help)

Anyone whoo had a new multipla clucth fitted recently what was the total cost?

Thanks

If pumping brought some life back I would suggest the problem is most likely hydraulic but MAN!!!!! even 2 clutches in 75K is BADDDD. Do you ride the clutch instead of using the brakes on slight inclines e.g. when waiting for traffic lights to change??

The average clutch driven properly should last at least 100K, I get considerably more out of my cars. Riding/slipping the clutch is the general cause of premature failure as too is constant rapid standing starts, NOTWITHSTANDING towing/carrying heavy loads

Well whatever the cause good luck but again start with the hydraulics first.

Multipla clutches last an average of 70k miles..but have known to fail in 20k.
Biting point is quite low too
Its normally the release bearing that destroys itself.and puts a lovely groove in the clutch plate fingers

I agree 70k is about the norm for a multi clutch, some people can make them last more, but not me...
I've had my clutch bite near the floor and also at normal levels, in your case with the clutches you've had, plus the pumping info, sounds like your hydraulics, either it needs a proper bleeding, or its the master cylinder leaking past its internal seals. I've changed the master cylinder internals rather than the whole thing (BIG JOB) and its made a big difference especially with a proper bleed as mentioned in some of the great threads in this forum.
I think some garages just say "new clutch mate" as they either want some good cash or simply dont understand the workings and foibles of a multi clutch...
They really need to know about the weird bleeding points of the hydraulics, once they know those they are Zen masters..

I'm getting ready to do mine soon… changed the clutch at 64k but the flywheel was ok… now the flywheel is chattering some times..upto 141k now, there's a few other items I need to purchase before the big day. The pedal has become really hard to press…I've tried squirting lube/release spray down the shaft,but it's made no difference to the feel of the pedal.. Have a friend who is a Fiat tech trained and did my last Multipla, who will be performing the operation.

Tried it again this evening after a month and by pumping the clutch from floppy to some pressure was able to change gear - surely this means the problem is with the hydraulics (likely culprit master cylinder seal as there is no sign of fluid on the ground) rather than the clutch itself?

m1chaels said:

Tried it again this evening after a month and by pumping the clutch from floppy to some pressure was able to change gear - surely this means the problem is with the hydraulics (likely culprit master cylinder seal as there is no sign of fluid on the ground) rather than the clutch itself?

Click to expand...

When my clutch pipe was leaking and I suddenly had no clutch, there were no signs of fluid on the ground and I only discovered it when trying to bleed it from the bleed point in the bulkhead, and it was leaning LOTS


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Good point hastingsmum. I'd forgotten about the nightmare you had with the clutch leak. Re-reading m1chaels comments, it would be worth checking out that thread.

widemouthfrog said:

Good point hastingsmum. I'd forgotten about the nightmare you had with the clutch leak. Re-reading m1chaels comments, it would be worth checking out that thread.

Click to expand...

Certainly lots of info about everything to do with clutch and hydraulics ?


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https://www.fiatforum.com/showthread.php?t=337131


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Thanks for the comments. Took it for a drive tonight, pumped clutch at start and it worked which I guess should be a smile but every time the clutch pedal was depressed it made a horrible loud squealing sound and smoked a lot which sounds more like clutch bearing failure than anything else to me - not sure why the pumping makes the pedal come back up and work again though?

If it's squealing/screeching when you press the clutch pedal, then sounds very much like the clutch release bearing is shot. Pumping of the pedal could be a separate, unrelated issue. The clutch hydraulics can be a pain to bleed.