Technical How can you tell if my clutch is on the way out ??

[allan jenkins]

How can you tell if my clutch is on the way out ??
The reason I'm asking is that I seem to have lost the vaa vaa voom in my bravo 1.9 multyjet.
And when I change down the gears there is a little "dry" noise.
I've cleaned out my egr valve as I thought it may be that.
My turbo is working fine.
It just seems a different drive when I'm accelerating and the ooomf is like it use to be.
Cheers fellas

 

[mrbrain]

The Elearn says (regarding to clutch not releasing correctly):
Carry out a driving cycle simulating a hilly / urban route with frequent gear changes and 4-5 departures from a standstill to heat up the clutch/engine assemblies.
Assess the manoeuvrability of the gearbox by carrying out the following with the vehicle stationary and the engine idling:
- engagements of reverse gear with manoeuvre times increasing from 1 to 4 seconds;
- engagements of forward speeds;
- carry out the manoeuvres by fully depressing the clutch pedal to the end of travel position.
- eliminate any obstacles to the correct clutch pedal travel (positioning of mats, interference of cables, etc.)

To check the slipping of the clutchs:

• driving cycle simulating a hilly/urban route with frequent gear changes to heat up the clutch/engine assemblies.

Assess the problem in the following usage conditions:

• with the vehicle speed constant in 3rd-4th speed and the engine speed about 4-5 revs max torque, accelerate the engine rapidly with the accelerator pedal fully depressed.

• carry out departures from a standstill on a flat surface re-engaging the clutch and accelerating gradually from an initial engine speed of 1000-1500 rpm.

Carry out a departure from stationary in 4th gear, releasing the clutch pedal gradually and checking for the fault: the vehicle does not move and the engine does not cut out.


Since Multijets have dualmass flywheel I do not recommend this procedure, but with Skoda Favorit it was suitable way to say if the clutch is ok or no. Start the engine, with engaged handbrake put in 4th gear and start slowly release the clutch pedal. If the engine stalls without any problems, I would not suggest the clutch is the issue...

 

[allan jenkins]

The Elearn says (regarding to clutch not releasing correctly):
Carry out a driving cycle simulating a hilly / urban route with frequent gear changes and 4-5 departures from a standstill to heat up the clutch/engine assemblies.
Assess the manoeuvrability of the gearbox by carrying out the following with the vehicle stationary and the engine idling:
- engagements of reverse gear with manoeuvre times increasing from 1 to 4 seconds;
- engagements of forward speeds;
- carry out the manoeuvres by fully depressing the clutch pedal to the end of travel position.
- eliminate any obstacles to the correct clutch pedal travel (positioning of mats, interference of cables, etc.)

To check the slipping of the clutchs:

• driving cycle simulating a hilly/urban route with frequent gear changes to heat up the clutch/engine assemblies.

Assess the problem in the following usage conditions:

• with the vehicle speed constant in 3rd-4th speed and the engine speed about 4-5 revs max torque, accelerate the engine rapidly with the accelerator pedal fully depressed.

• carry out departures from a standstill on a flat surface re-engaging the clutch and accelerating gradually from an initial engine speed of 1000-1500 rpm.

Carry out a departure from stationary in 4th gear, releasing the clutch pedal gradually and checking for the fault: the vehicle does not move and the engine does not cut out.


Since Multijets have dualmass flywheel I do not recommend this procedure, but with Skoda Favorit it was suitable way to say if the clutch is ok or no. Start the engine, with engaged handbrake put in 4th gear and start slowly release the clutch pedal. If the engine stalls without any problems, I would not suggest the clutch is the issue...

Cheers mrbrain
But any chance I can have that in simple English so a thick welshman can understand??.. lol ?

 

[mrbrain]

Will try to translate
First of all drive for couple of miles to heat up the engine, gearbox and clutch.
Try to put in reverse gear with idling engine with 1 up to 4 sec gearleveler moving (so do nut hurry to put in reverse gear).
Try to put in forward gears in the same way.
Check whether or not is clutch pedal pressed all the way down.

When you will be doing that, no strange or griding sounds from gearbox neither clutch should occur. If you will hear that gears in box are griding, even if you have pressed clutch pedal, it means the clutch lining is really tiny and need to be replaced (whole clutch with bearing, spring and other possible things).

The second way from Elearn is simple too. Warm the engine, gearbox, clutch in the same way as in the first procedure. Then drive at constant speed with engaged 3rd or 4th gear (look to the service manual of your car, I dont know the exact engine revs when it have maximal torque - I'll guess it will be around 2000-2500 rpm) and then press accelerator fully. If the car will not start accelerating but the revs of engine will getting higher - clutch lining.

The other option is to stop the car on flat surface - and engage first gear. Slowly release clutch pedal and press accelerator to keep the engine revs between 1-1,5k rpms and let it accelerate.
Last but not least - stop the vehicle on flat surface. Put in 4th gear and start accelerating. If everything will be ok, the car will start moving.

However the description you posted is not so specific. Could be clutch linking, clutch bearing or flywheel. Look up @ youtube for clutch bearing, dualmass flywheel noise. Just compare those and you will see if it is same or not.

 

[aurick86]

When the clutch is really going, you will notice.
When driving around in 3rd gear, at 40 km/h and pressing the accelerator the engine will rev but the speed will not; that will be a slipping clutch.. like driving around with the clutch almost pressed to the bite point.
When mine got that bad, i could still drive around without any real problems, but i just couldn't accelerate more that ~30% any more than that and the engine would just rev not connected to the wheels.

 

[1.8Stilo]

Brake light switch is a common problem and gives a similar loss of speed/power that gets worse and worse and generally doesn't show up no errors on the dash.

Just a thought? Cheap to replace and can be done yourself, it plagued our bravo for awhile.

 

[allan jenkins]

Cheers for all your replys.
Check out this video and tell me what you think
I dropped down to 3rd and this is what happened.
Thanks

[ame]https://youtu.be/732lkGokX7Y[/ame]

 

[Cadabena]

Yep, your clutch is on its way out, I'd get it replaced before it gets any worse. When a clutch is fully disengaged the ratio of speed/rpm should always be constant, I'm surprised you're not getting a burning smell from it being that bad. Try to avoid full throttle around 1500-2500rpm (when the turbo spools up) and if the revs do jump up, lay off the throttle to get them back to normal levels.

 

[aurick86]

Seems to be the clutch.
Have you done any burnouts lately? any long clutch slips? because slight glazing of the clutch can result in the same symptoms.
At best the clutch needs replacing, at worst you have some oil on the clutch.

 

[allan jenkins]

Cheers Cadabena aurick86
And lol ? no burnouts
The car drives fine it's just the power to throttle has changes dramatically and as I've has the car from new I could tell that there was something wrong.

Next question is does anyone know what prices and where to get one from.
Cheers guys

 

[phdbelgium]

To test the clutch: do it the right way.
put the car in 4th gear, pull the handbrake and let the engine go to 2000 rpm. now slowly release the clutch. The engine will want to stall if the clutch is oké. If not, You have a slipping clutch, and must be replaced.

 

[glenn2602]

anyone know what prices and where to get one from.

If the clutch was slipping you'd be able to tell from the engine noise when you accelerate - the revs of the engine would increase before the car picked up speed.

If you were going uphill the car may 'hiccup' as the clutch slips then re-engages.

You should get a clutch kit from Ebay no problem. If changing the clutch, change all 3 items - release/thrust bearing, driven plate and pressure plate.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw=jeep&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR1.TRC0.A0.H0.Xfiat+bravo+clutch.TRS0&_nkw=fiat+bravo+clutch&_sacat=0

 

[Cadabena]

My advice is don't attempt it yourself. You should look at getting quotes to replace the clutch and dual-mass flywheel, which I'd guess should be in the region of ~£600.