General The end of the road?

[Modette]

Less than 18 months after replacing the gearbox and clutch I have just been told that my clutch has gone AGAIN. Given the fact that there is damage down the side of the car and it has a leather interior I think the best thing to do right now is to break it up for parts because I have well and truly had ENOUGH of spending money on it. I love this car but its been a nightmare from the start and I just cant keep throwing money at it anymore.

 

[Morty Mort]

Must be some strange defect. The clutch on my 1.6 is severely abused, but still not changed - just done the gearbox oil a couple of times. The car never wheighs less than 1500 kg, and then la familia is added upon that. Then fill up the boot. And the roofbox. And hey, let's hook up the caravan aswell with its extra 1000 kg - in rocky Norway.

Still going strong. Smells pretty bad when reversing and parking with the caravan though. Is it an OEM clutch?

 

[Shadeyman]

Killed a brand new clutch in 18 months!

Is that even possible for normal road use?

Surely it was defective or incorrectly fitted some how and that's why its failed so soon?

 

[Modette]

Well I took a load of rubbish to the local dump so the back seats were down and this means my driving position is much closer to the pedals as you cant move the seat back. I am only 5ft 3ins so I doubt if anyone with height could even drive the car at all with the seats down.

Every time I accelerated in a low gear, like pulling out of a turning the revs went really high and the car wasnt moving. It did this several times on the way home. When I pulled up into the drive there was smoke and smell of burning coming from under the bonnet. I called my mechanic and described this and he said it was the clutch but he hasnt actually looked at it I just went into a bit of a meltdown because not only am I sick of throwing money at this car but I currently dont have a penny to spare.

I left the bonnet open for a couple of hours, put the seats back to the right position and went out again and IT WAS FINE. So not sure what to think now. Not sure what clutch was used but when I told the mechanic where it was done he said they have a good reputation and dont use cheap parts.

So right now she lives to see another day but I refuse to spend anymore money on her and I dont know if a faulty clutch would be something that comes and goes?

Edited to add, I have done about 5000 miles on the new clutch and gearbox in 18 months so it gets less than average use.

 

[Davren]

From the symptoms you describe Fiona, it's obviously the clutch was burning. Your mechanic wouldn't need to look at it to confirm that. The smell is almost the same as newly laid slip retardant tarmac that's used within 50 meters of some traffic lights and ped Xs.

If you were driving closer to the pedals than usual, you may have been inadvertently riding the clutch. This could cause it to burn and slip temporarily. If it's driving again now, try it up a steep hill. If it gets up the hill, it will probably be OK, but be prepared that it may not make it.

5,000 miles is very low for a clutch to wear out if the car is driven correctly. My JTD has done 108,000 miles and I know it's never had a replacement clutch.

 

[nikkiy9]

dav, my jtd clutch went at 114765 hopefully I'll get it on the 2 poster tomorrow and rip the box out and clutch off, fingers crossed the flywheel ain't goosed

 

[vladof]

Clutch shouldn't wear that fast, no way in the whole univers. My stilo still has the original clutch and it has around 85000 miles on the dash.

I drive it in heavy traffic all day and usually press the clutch somewhere between 350 and 500 times per day. Yes I actually counted. ) Average speed is 2.4 km/h. I completely stop around 120 times on my way to work on the 5 km journey.

I think the mechanic did a very poor job and he should be held accountable for it.

 

[rattystilo]

Definitely caused by you sitting closer to the pedals than normal. Just get on with driving the thing till it won't go any further.

Then sell me the leather

 

[Shadeyman]

Fiona, I don't think the clutch would wear out that quickly. Even riding the clutch a lot wouldn't wear it out that soon.

I suspect the clutch could be contaminated with oil or grease, possibly when it was installed. As this is the first time the car has been under any serious load it could be the reason why you've only just notice it slips and the reason its not slipping now the load has been removed.

If the clutch slip is due to contamination then it will need replacing.

You may be able to get the garage to replace it free of charge if you can get them to admit it was them that contaminated it in the first place.

 

[Morty Mort]

Fiona, I don't think the clutch would wear out that quickly. Even riding the clutch a lot wouldn't wear it out that soon.

I must agree. I have no clutch knowledge, but just thinking of how hard I have used the car and clutch the last 6 years. I should have worn out 20 of them just by thinking hard on the load the 1.6 engine has pulled. In addition to pulling trailers with gravel and the caravan with 100s of start/stop/cluth-ride and so on.

A little and simple test is to drive steady at around 80 km/h (around 50 mph perhaps) in 3rd gear, then engage the clutch and rev the engine to 6500 rpm, engage 5th gear and release the clutch in a snap (don't let go of the throttle). This will have to alternate results:
- A little transmission/engine bump and the rev counter will drop immediately at a given position around 3000 rpm, then you drive off steadily slowly gaining speed.
- Nothing happens, the revs stay at around 6000 rpm, then slowly descalating to around 3-4000 rpm, not gaining any speed at all, before the revs (and speed) start going up again.

If the second is happening, the clutch is slipping, probably contaminated or damaged (or defective from production). Eventually crap quality and worn out - which is unlikely.

 

[dave]

don't clutches normally come with a 2 year warranty?