General DIY Clutch swap...

[SamPanda]

Good Idea or Not??

After 44 thousand miles my clutch feels about to give way - has anyone replaced these themselves?

Reasonably confident with car DIY but never attempted a clutch before feel I may as well try, how hard can it be

Do FIAT release the guides the give to dealers I aquired a similar disk somehow for just about every Ford - TIS or something...

Thanks alll,

Sam

 

[doctorchris]

I don't think that you should replace the clutch simply on the basis that you think it's about to fail. 44,000 miles is a low mileage for a clutch to need replacing, although you will find cases of premature clutch failure on this forum, particularly on the 1.3 MJ.
Clutch replacement on modern front wheel drive cars with transverse engines is usually pretty straightforward.
There's a CDROM for 1.1 and 1.2 Pandas that you can get on ebay quite cheaply. It's not very good but does give the procedure for clutch replacement. The biggest job is always removing the gearbox to gain access to the clutch. In removing the gearbox you must take care as you can damage things like suspension ball joints, driveshaft universal joints, engine and gearbox mountings.
It's important to give yourself plenty of time to do the job carefully and work with good light and keep everything nice and clean.
However, you might want to ask a clutch specialist for their opinion as to whether it needs replacing and get a quote from them for the job if required.

 

[KozmoNaut]

To check if your clutch really is slipping, drive along at around 50km/h, go to 5th gear and floor the throttle. You may notice some vibration, but that's normal. If the revs increase without the car going any faster, your clutch is slipping and should be replaced.

Another popular way to test is to let your car idle along in 2nd gear and floor the throttle. Again, if the revs increase without the car gaining any noticable speed, your clutch is slipping.

Alternatively, park your car, engage the parking brake, put it in 4th and very slowly release the clutch. If you can release it completely without stalling the engine or moving the car, your clutch is definitely slipping.