Technical Clutch slip or not?

[JimNu]

'06 2.2 Petrol with 95k miles.
At the weekend I was going up a medium incline in 4th and had to slow down to around 20mph to pass a parked car. Trying to accelerate back to 30mph I pressed the gas pedal but the only affect was the revs rose to around 3k and no noticeable change to the speed. I lifted off the gas, changed down to 2nd and accelerated slower.

After that, I drove the car very gently fearing that the clutch was slipping. After a few days though I started driving normally and I've not had any other signs of slippage apart from when I really try.

1st - Accelerates normally
2nd - Mostly OK unless I absolutely floor it.
3rd - Slightly more sensitive with flooring
4th - About the same as 3rd
5th - I don't really floor it in fifth so not noticed an issue.

Is this slippage, a sign that the clutch is on the way out or something else?

Cheers,
Jim.

 

[s130]

These are typical signs of the clutch slipping.

The higher the gear the more load and resistance to engine torque. The engine will produce a similar torque across the RPM range compared to the stepped loading of fixed gears. (not entirely true but near enough for comparative purposes). This is why you are finding that in 1st gear things appear basically normal and in higher gears the issue is a little more obvious.

As for the cause of the slipping then it could be:

o Worn driven plate
o Oil contaminated driven plate / pressure plate assemblies
o Coverplate spring loading failure
o Sticking concentric hydraulic slave cylinder

All the above is a gearbox out job and on the Croma this requires the whole front subframe to be removed. Not something easily done DIY on the drive with axle stands.

 

[JimNu]

Very informative, cheers. It's not getting any worse so I'm trying to leave it for a month or so before I get it sorted.

 

[JimNu]

Clutch replaced. It's like driving a different car - decent acceleration whenever I want it.