Uh-Oh Clutch!! :o(

[DervPwr]

Hi guys, I have a Fabia vRS which I have had since new. I bought a one-click on one of the group buys and have probably had it on the Fabia since about 7000 miles. Currently now on 21000 and a couple of weeks back I noticed in 5th that as I "make some progress" the rev counter needle would suddenly rev high, then settle and power would resume back into the wheels. It only happaned in 5/6th and it was very momentary. Is that the sign the clutch is slipping and on its way out ? I have currently switched the car back to standard and no sign of any problems at all, in any gear.

What do you guys reckon ? is it ok to carry on in standard mode for a while ? will it start to slip as standard ? Not being very mechanical, am I at risk of buggering anything up continuing to drive it without changing it ?

I am a little surprised because I have only booted it when rolling and even then that was only very infrequently. The car had its 2nd service and all the problems started after that, could that be a factor ? I noticed the mpg was running down about 10% less economic but put that down to the 2 new front tyres.

[joenitro]

Does sound like clutch slip to me.

PITA though, because it may last for ages now (even with the one-click) or it might slip loads from now on.

Best thing to do is just try not to boot it too much at lower revs in higher gears!! But then you already know that !!!!

[Decron]

Do you get any judder associated with it?

The One Click has a generic map and to be honest it's a bit harsh, if you drive it like you have described often then I would have thought it likely that it could cause issues with your clutch.

[Tech1e]

High gear clutch slip is fairly common to the point we had some workshop info on it sometime ago.

IIRC they have modified the clutch assembley for a higher clamping force now. But at that mileage and the fact its remapped it wont be a warranty issue.

[flatfourburble]

Mine did this a few times after it was remapped. Still 45k on and the clutch is fine. Doesn't slip anymore. If in doubt dont boot it from low revs in a high gear.

[chris22]

I noticed the mpg was running down about 10% less economic but put that down to the 2 new front tyres.

I have just had 2 front new tyres and my mpg is down slightly. I didn't realise new tyres made economy worse, why is this?

[BigW]

grip

[MPM]

to expand on that...

...greater rolling restistance on the tarmac and hence more 'go' needed to make the car travel as far leading to higher consumption

MPM

[lfc958]

I can confirm that I had exactly the same issue with my clutch @ 40K miles, clutch slip in 5th & 6th gears only, when trying to overtake - no remap.

took it to dealers who had list of iffy part numbers, they dimantled and checked agains list, I was lucky, new cluch fitted FOC ( mine is a 53 plate ). Otherwise was looking at a bill of approx

[chris22]

grip

Well that just explained everything to me

[faboka vrs]

clutch slip. Typical after a remap. You find most remaps give too much torque below 3Krpm resulting in clutch wear and dmf judder. My advice is dont use WOT below 3Krpm.

[DervPwr]

Thanks for all the advice guys. Although not juddering at all, it seems likely the clutch was starting to slip a bit. However switched back to standard and I can't find anything wrong with it at all. For now its staying standard until I decide whether to go for a new racing clutch or a new racing car

[Wardy]

I found exactly the same thing when I had One-Click on my Fabia. It's to do with the spikey nature of torque/BHP curve. You could get different remap, as my Superchipped Ibiza didn't suffer the same issues and it had done 3x the mileage on the original clutch. Or 'drive round it' as most do, just make more use of lower gears for acceleration/overtaking and 5th and 6th as cruising/over-drive gears.

Steve

[P-A]

to expand on that...

...greater rolling restistance on the tarmac and hence more 'go' needed to make the car travel as far leading to higher consumption

MPM

You should actually get greater economy on new tyres, not worse. Worn tyres will have greater contact with the road and thus more resistance. If you are getting worse economy with the new tyres it could be because of a different tyre profile, or more likely because they are under inflated.

[BigW]

Well that just explained everything to me

Well to be honest I thought the principle was pretty simple, maybe not simple enough for some. I wonder why we have to change our tyres when the tread gets low???? Aesthetics maybe?? :rolleyes:

[MPM]

You should actually get greater economy on new tyres, not worse. Worn tyres will have greater contact with the road and thus more resistance. If you are getting worse economy with the new tyres it could be because of a different tyre profile, or more likely because they are under inflated.

To be fair i was refering to a softer compound tyre - like for like compound; the effect on economy should be nominal - harder compound = less resistance, softer compound = more resistance.

MPM