Clutch Life Expectancy In Sri Lanka

[Memphis]

Manual drivers,

Here's an interesting question someone asked me,

a.) What is the expected life span of a clutch in Sri Lanka, according to your experience ???

b.) How do you know if a clutch is about to become history ?

c.) What tips should one follow to get the maximum life out of a clutch?

I answered it the best I could. I'm still in my first car (Toyota cynos '94) 142,000+ Km on the clock (out of which 6,000+ Kms from me) and still on the same clutch. According to the maintenance records, it looks like the original clutch from the factory.

So I guess question b.) might be of importance to me as well

Over to you ...

[Saturn]

a.) What is the expected life span of a clutch in Sri Lanka, according to your experience ???

I can't say how long a clutch should last in Sri Lanka, because it depends entirely on the driver(s) of said vehicle (however our lack of roads and constant crawling traffic does have an exceptionally bad effect on the clutch). In my experience I'm guessing around 100k or so - however, a good driver should be able to easily make it last much longer.

Whether you choose to replace the clutch plate depends on its state of wear and your personal preference - many people here are OK driving with worn clutch plates.

Clutch plate life depends on the driver: many drivers I've seen here like to drive with the clutch partially engaged - never releasing it fully - I'm not sure if this is general stupidity or a lack of understanding of how the system works, but this behavior helps kill the clutch plate much faster.

b.) How do you know if a clutch is about to become history ?

I'm not an automotive expert but I would suggest you look out for two signs:

1. The clutch is 'late' to engage. I.e. vehicle only starts moving as you almost fully release the pedal (this can also be caused by incorrect clutch cable/pedal adjustment).

2. Clutch slips when climbing inclines (by this stage the clutch is pretty much gone ) - by slips I mean the engine may rev up without the vehicle moving forward correspondingly, even though the clutch is fully engaged.

3. Sometimes, a worn clutch plate may be indicated by sudden acceleration not resulting in vehicle motion - i.e. when you blip the gas a bit, the vehicle does not speed up, even though RPM speeds up.

- when the clutch plate looses it's last bits of traction, the results are pretty spectacular, as the engine races, and sometimes you see smoke as the plate dies

I'm sure there are other ways to notice impending clutch failure, hopefully experts can add to this.

c.) What tips should one follow to get the maximum life out of a clutch?

1. Fully release the clutch after engaging a gear ( try not to drive with clutch partially pressed).

2. Drive on correct gear for situation (so you don't need to partially press clutch).

3. Don't use clutch to rapidly slow down vehicle - i.e. dont downshift too drastically as when you engage the clutch there would be a small amount of wear. Aside from the clutch, this is bad for the engine.

4. Release the clutch at right point when slowing down car with brakes - i.e. if you are on 4th gear for example dont bring the engine to a halt with the brakes (unless emergency), instead release clutch when vehicle has sufficiently slowed down.

5. Don't clutch-balance - there are a few rare cases where you need to clutch balance for a second or so, like on a hill before merging into traffic, but 90% of the time it's best to just engage the handbrake + neutral (plus more safer) - of course you have to have a working handbrake...

6. Press and release clutch pedal smoothly (not too fast or slow).

Most of these points are common sense. The best I'd say is to understand how the system works and take that into consideration during use.

Edited July 20, 2007 by Saturn

[Memphis]

a.) What is the expected life span of a clutch in Sri Lanka, according to your experience ???

I can't say how long a clutch should last in Sri Lanka, because it depends entirely on the driver(s) of said vehicle (however our lack of roads and constant crawling traffic does have an exceptionally bad effect on the clutch). In my experience I'm guessing around 100k or so - however, a good driver should be able to easily make it last much longer.

Whether you choose to replace the clutch plate depends on its state of wear and your personal preference - many people here are OK driving with worn clutch plates.

Clutch plate life depends on the driver: many drivers I've seen here like to drive with the clutch partially engaged - never releasing it fully - I'm not sure if this is general stupidity or a lack of understanding of how the system works, but this behavior helps kill the clutch plate much faster.

b.) How do you know if a clutch is about to become history ?

I'm not an automotive expert but I would suggest you look out for two signs:

1. The clutch is 'late' to engage. I.e. vehicle only starts moving as you almost fully release the pedal (this can also be caused by incorrect clutch cable/pedal adjustment).

2. Clutch slips when climbing inclines (by this stage the clutch is pretty much gone ) - by slips I mean the engine may rev up without the vehicle moving forward correspondingly, even though the clutch is fully engaged.

3. Sometimes, a worn clutch plate may be indicated by sudden acceleration not resulting in vehicle motion - i.e. when you blip the gas a bit, the vehicle does not speed up, even though RPM speeds up.

- when the clutch plate looses it's last bits of traction, the results are pretty spectacular, as the engine races, and sometimes you see smoke as the plate dies

I'm sure there are other ways to notice impending clutch failure, hopefully experts can add to this.

c.) What tips should one follow to get the maximum life out of a clutch?

1. Fully release the clutch after engaging a gear ( try not to drive with clutch partially pressed).

2. Drive on correct gear for situation (so you don't need to partially press clutch).

3. Don't use clutch to rapidly slow down vehicle - i.e. dont downshift too drastically as when you engage the clutch there would be a small amount of wear. Aside from the clutch, this is bad for the engine.

4. Release the clutch at right point when slowing down car with brakes - i.e. if you are on 4th gear for example dont bring the engine to a halt with the brakes (unless emergency), instead release clutch when vehicle has sufficiently slowed down.

5. Don't clutch-balance - there are a few rare cases where you need to clutch balance for a second or so, like on a hill before merging into traffic, but 90% of the time it's best to just engage the handbrake + neutral (plus more safer) - of course you have to have a working handbrake...

Most of these points are common sense. The best I'd say is to understand how the system works and take that into consideration during use.

That was very informative..

There is another issue of clutch adjustment. Sometimes a mis-adjusted clutch will give similar symptoms to a failing clutch, according to my research.

Any idea what clutch adjustment is ?? is it the clutch pedal adjustment or is there something more to it than that ??

[Pericles]

b.) How do you know if a clutch is about to become history ?

Very easy. If Madmax uses ur car, u need a new clutch. "The curse of P" Not his driving or anything, just his luck.

[Elvis_Pil]

Manual drivers,

Here's an interesting question someone asked me,

a.) What is the expected life span of a clutch in Sri Lanka, according to your experience ???

b.) How do you know if a clutch is about to become history ?

c.) What tips should one follow to get the maximum life out of a clutch?

I answered it the best I could. I'm still in my first car (Toyota cynos '94) 142,000+ Km on the clock (out of which 6,000+ Kms from me) and still on the same clutch. According to the maintenance records, it looks like the original clutch from the factory.

So I guess question b.) might be of importance to me as well

Over to you ...

a)About 45k on my Civic with occational launches.. the Sprinter we had before did about 80k on one clutch with no hard driving

To add to whats already been said I like to check the amount of bite you get when hard shifting- specially to 3rd gear.. you will also feel the revs slipping high with the car not accelerating at the same pace under driving conditions where you need to balance the clutch to keep the vehicle stable (inclines) You will also have rough shift feel and an occasional gear crash (bad pressure plate)

c)Keep you're foot off it for as long possible while driving LOL dont under rev when shifting, give adequote gas when taking off from a stop without forcing the clutch to pull (you feel a vibration when taking off like that) Lauches are a bad idea as well for cluch life

[Elvis_Pil]

3. Don't use clutch to rapidly slow down vehicle - i.e. dont downshift too drastically as when you engage the clutch there would be a small amount of wear. Aside from the clutch, this is bad for the engine.

Dont agree on this one.. using the clutch and gears to slow down-specially at higher speeds is indeed correct driving technique.. not sure how it can be bad for the engine..

[madmax]

Very easy. If Madmax uses ur car, u need a new clutch. "The curse of P" Not his driving or anything, just his luck.

Hmm I can't say you're 100% wrong. I think it's just that I notice a slipping clutch very early and replace it before it goes completely.

[Memphis]

Hmm I can't say you're 100% wrong. I think it's just that I notice a slipping clutch very early and replace it before it goes completely.

Yeah I know what you mean bro. Usually you start noticing the clutch slipping in 4th or 5th gears. Some wait till it comes down to 1st by that time, you'll have to tow the car to the garage ...

[Grand Civic]

Hmm I can't say you're 100% wrong. I think it's just that I notice a slipping clutch very early and replace it before it goes completely.

How good early judger you are is ?????

what if you do the same early judging at MIT drive sometime back ?

Edited July 22, 2007 by Grand Civic

[Saturn]

QUOTE(Saturn @ Jul 20 2007, 09:48 PM)

3. Don't use clutch to rapidly slow down vehicle - i.e. dont downshift too drastically as when you engage the clutch there would be a small amount of wear. Aside from the clutch, this is bad for the engine.

Dont agree on this one.. using the clutch and gears to slow down-specially at higher speeds is indeed correct driving technique.. not sure how it can be bad for the engine..

Clarification: Downshifting is fine, as long as you rev-match (see note below).

Also see this detailed article about driving with a manual transmission:

Myth #3: Use the clutch to save your brakes.

The clutch can theoretically be used as a braking device when slowing down, but this is more trouble than it's worth. First, if you're using the clutch to slow a car to "save your brakes" you better be really good with the clutch. If you're not smooth in your downshifting you'll be putting extra wear on the clutch.

Anyone want to guess which components cost more to replace — brake pads or a clutch plate? You're better off just pushing the clutch pedal in and leaving it in, and/or shifting to neutral, when slowing down in a manual-shift vehicle — especially if you aren't extremely smooth at downshifting. If you are smooth at downshifting and you feel like going through the trouble, you can constantly downshift and release the clutch as you slow down. But even doing that action smoothly won't make your brakes last appreciably longer.

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/youngdrivers...20/article.html

Edited July 22, 2007 by Saturn

[Saturn]

REV MATCHING is a driving technique for shifting a manual transmission smoothly. One simply memorizes approximately how many RPMs different the various gears are from one another at the same speed, and then matches the engine's revs with the gear they are shifting in to. When upshifting, you just let the revs drop and slip into gear. When downshifting, you tap the throttle (or stomp on it depending on how long it takes to rev up.) This is often referred to as 'blipping' it. This works easily primarily because of the syncromesh gears in your transmission; if your transmission does not have them, this is very, very difficult to do without grinding. Even so, it takes the right touch.

For example, in one car the gears might all be approximately 1,000 RPM apart at the same speed. When downshifting from third to second, for example, you would apply accelerator pressure to raise the engine RPMs by 1,000 (say, from 3,000 to 4,000) and make your shift. You can then use engine braking to reduce your speed.

This practice results in reduced brake wear, less of a lurch when shifting from a higher gear to a lower one, less clutch slippage when shifting from a lower gear to a higher one, and a smoother shift without having to slip the clutch so much.

In auto racing, one often uses the more advanced form of this activity, heel-toeing (Alternately heel-toe braking or heel-toe downshifting) in which one's heel is on the brake pedal, decelerating, while the toe is on the gas pedal, accelerating. This allows the use of both the brakes and the engine to perform braking.

http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=rev%20matching

Edited July 22, 2007 by Saturn

[Elvis_Pil]

Thanks for the googled driving advice Still dont see the 'bad for the engine' part.. If you has said that theres a risk of an incorrect down-shift causing an engine to over rev- then there would have been a point. But then again the topic is on clutches and everyday driving.

Cheers