Technical Clutch Slipping

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Technical Clutch Slipping

stewieg

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Wondered if anyone could help me out with a possible clutch problem.

I picked up my 57 plate Bravo T-Jet 150 Active with 31K on the clock yesterday. Whilst driving it back from the dealership I noticed that when I put my foot down in 3rd or 4th or even 5th the engine would rev high but little power would be put down and it would take a while for the speed of the car to catch up to the revs. If I accelerated more gently then everything was fine.

My first thought was that the clutch was slipping but have also read in the manual about maximum torque and wondered if I was maybe exceeding that?

If it is the clutch I obviously want to get it back to the dealership ASAP to get it sorted so they can't blame me!

Thanks.
 
Thanks Kelvin, whats strange is I have just been out for a good drive, taking it up to 6000 revs a few times and all seems fine now i.e. the revs are increasing with the road speed.

Will watch it over the next few days and see how it goes. It was sat on the forecourt for a month so don't know if that could have had anything to do with it.

Thanks again for the reply.
 
Thanks Kelvin, whats strange is I have just been out for a good drive, taking it up to 6000 revs a few times and all seems fine now i.e. the revs are increasing with the road speed.

Will watch it over the next few days and see how it goes. It was sat on the forecourt for a month so don't know if that could have had anything to do with it.

Thanks again for the reply.

My old Punto JTD did that, it will only get worse I would get it changed while its still under warranty, if you leave it too long I guess they could argue you have burnt it out yourself.

I nursed mine along for a year but I knew I was getting rid and didnt want to spend money I never needed to on it.
 
Well after 18 months the clutch has started slipping again!!

I have been fortunate though as all its needed in this time is a new set of brake pads! Would you guys recommend I get a main dealer to look at the clutch? Only have 44k on the clock so will be annoyed if it needs replacing.

Also I have noticed a strange vibrating/rattling noise at low speed (anything up to 30mph) which is worse over rough road surfaces (and it is more than just road noise!). It started about 6 weeks ago and it almost sounded like something was loose.. asked my local garage to take a look a few weeks ago when they did a track and balance but they couldn't see anything wrong. Anyone experienced anything similar?
 
i have the exact same problem for a while now but i dont believe its the clutch to blame....if it was the clutch then it would be most noticable with first second and third gear.in my case these gears work perfectly.everthing got better after changing tyres but it still happens from time to time. bravo t jet 150hp sport.
with the sport button pressed its more frequent.
 
I used to get these flat spots when putting power down, thing is if you look at the design in the bravo's exhaust it loops back on itself at the rear box, this seems to cause the exhaust to cause back pressure so you dont actually get any accelation. I got a cat back system on it and I havent had it since.

Not saying it is this, just its what I found on mine, check it out. :D
 
I used to get these flat spots when putting power down, thing is if you look at the design in the bravo's exhaust it loops back on itself at the rear box, this seems to cause the exhaust to cause back pressure so you dont actually get any accelation. I got a cat back system on it and I havent had it since.

Not saying it is this, just its what I found on mine, check it out. :D

indeed, sounds like it slipping but its just the increase in induction/exhaust noise as it builds boost (y)

these clutches are the same as punto abarth ss so unless you slip the clutch and do loads of launches they should last. just take care to warm up the car before booting it, which is good advice for protecting the engine and turbo too
 
but why does the revs go up??

The revs go up as the engine is turning only instead of being friction at the clutch to drive the wheels the clutch pads slide over each other. The more power you add the greater the engine revs but the more that clutch will slip.

Its usually noticeable under high load/torque so in the higher gears.
 
so. ..the clutch needs changing :( i only have 66.000km (about 40.000 miles) it just seems too early! with the punto sporting 2002 i owned this never happened,the clutch pedal just became harder and harder but there was no slipping.
 
so. ..the clutch needs changing :( i only have 66.000km (about 40.000 miles) it just seems too early! with the punto sporting 2002 i owned this never happened,the clutch pedal just became harder and harder but there was no slipping.

have you had this professionally diagnosed?

dont go on what some random people on the internet say!
 
i have a 150 sport, since 3k on the clock i have had this 'clutch slip', again worse in sport mode

im now on 45k. it still does it, no worse than at 3k, and only on excessive launching. Cannot get this slip any other way and clutch feels strong.

The car went back to two Fiat dealers and an independant who couldnt find anything a miss.

the exhaust theory is a good one
 
i believe i found the cause for this problem.after asking 3 professionals who didnt really know what to answer me the fourth one answered right away.....its the software for the electronic gas petal.its not dangerous and it shoud not bother me he said.he knew this happens mainly in 5th or 6th! he asked me: if instead of putting your foot down on 100 km/h in 6th gear you put 4th and try to accelarate does it happen? The answer is no so no harm done.
i am thinking maybe this happens to protect the clutch or the engine or the turbo from the sudden burst of torque or pressure that builds up after suddenly putting your foot down while crusing...
 
i have a 150 sport, since 3k on the clock i have had this 'clutch slip', again worse in sport mode

im now on 45k. it still does it, no worse than at 3k, and only on excessive launching. Cannot get this slip any other way and clutch feels strong.

The car went back to two Fiat dealers and an independant who couldnt find anything a miss.

the exhaust theory is a good one

Do you have the standard exhaust still? Sounds the same as I had. Its not a "fault" with the car they designed it that way as a restriction for power and noise by the looks of it.

ftskamins said:
i believe i found the cause for this problem.after asking 3 professionals who didnt really know what to answer me the fourth one answered right away.....its the software for the electronic gas petal.its not dangerous and it shoud not bother me he said.he knew this happens mainly in 5th or 6th! he asked me: if instead of putting your foot down on 100 km/h in 6th gear you put 4th and try to accelarate does it happen? The answer is no so no harm done.
i am thinking maybe this happens to protect the clutch or the engine or the turbo from the sudden burst of torque or pressure that builds up after suddenly putting your foot down while crusing...

Out of all the things, I am pretty certain it is NOT software related, it happens in the later gears usually becuase the pressure takes time to build up and cause the back pressure, thats why it doesnt happen straight away. Only software im aware of that cars have to "protect" the car are Torque restrictors but they only exist in like gears 1 and 2. :confused:
 
i believe i found the cause for this problem.after asking 3 professionals who didnt really know what to answer me the fourth one answered right away.....its the software for the electronic gas petal.its not dangerous and it shoud not bother me he said.he knew this happens mainly in 5th or 6th! he asked me: if instead of putting your foot down on 100 km/h in 6th gear you put 4th and try to accelarate does it happen? The answer is no so no harm done.
i am thinking maybe this happens to protect the clutch or the engine or the turbo from the sudden burst of torque or pressure that builds up after suddenly putting your foot down while crusing...


If its the clutch slipping then it will do it in 5th or 6th and probably not 4th!

Its to do with the max torque being fed through the clutch, this is why you will not see it in the lower gears and only when you put the foot down in higher gears. Honestly, go read up about it on line for any car this is not a Bravo issue really.
 
is it an issue? I have had cars with slipping clutches and they didnt last 5 minutes, mines had this 'slip' since new and 4 years 45k later its no worse and everything is fine... apart from the slip.

Leighjet, mine is still on the standard (but rotton) exhaust
 
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