Is it worth changing the clutch before it shows signs of slipping?

My sisters Micra needed a new one at just 54k miles

Mines just passed 100k miles and seems fine

and I got 5 years out of my Astra without worrying about the clutch bought at 33k wrote off at 90k (ish)

There was an article in Car mechanics magazine that clutches prob need changing every 70k miles in normal use and can last up to 120k miles+

Also they had a bit on the Felicia. But their opinion seems somewhat right and wrong. They said it wasnt the best of models like the Fabia and Octavia yet its a good practical car with the best engines being the VW sourced 1.6 and 1.9 units.

What they dont say is the 1.3 is the cheaper one to tax!!

Also what exactly is double clutching?

Is it worth changing the clutch before it shows signs of slipping?

Probably not - it's still working, so you might as well just change it when it's worn to the extent that it starts causing issues. Comes down to how much life you want to get out of the clutch...

Also what exactly is double clutching?

Wiki's got quite a good description here...

Rob.

I was reading that.

I thought double clutching was change up, drive a bit, put clutch in rev then stick back in gear dumping all that power through the gearbox.

obv I was a little mistaken.

Mine has done 114k mapped at approx 95k and is still fine

While it is ok I will not be replacing it

Sarah

I thought double clutching was change up, drive a bit, put clutch in rev then stick back in gear dumping all that power through the gearbox.

I believe that's known informally as "cadence clutching"...it's probably quite wearing on the clutch re-engaging it at higher revs...

Rob.

Yeah definitely not worth changing while it's working fine and it'll start to slip before it fails completely. Mine is on 84k miles and still going strong

And double declutching can be used going up or down the box but it relies on you matching engine revs to the road wheel speed rather than relying on the syncros to sort out the change. Useful skill to have, but not essential on a modern gearbox.

The other option, if you want to prolong the life of the clutch, is to use rev matching and not use the clutch during a change so the gear just slots in. Takes a fair bit of practice and while you're doing that you're wearing out the gearbox rather than the clutch (and I know which is cheaper to replace )

Chris

in my job (driving instructor) I hear all the stories of which cars eat clutches ect, and the micra was terrible (as is the new mini) as a driving school car, the micra's clutch would only last about 20k! my vRS's clutch went for 80k with no signs of wear whatsoever....

my friend bought a merc a-class for a driving school car, and asked the people at mercedes how much it would be for a new clutch, and they said why? he said... er, well when it wears out, I'll need to pay for a new one! he said it wont wear out, then the guy went into the workshop, and asked the head mechanic if he'd ever replaced a clutch on the a-class, and he said no... the other guy came back and said , if it wears out we'll pay for a new one... he did 147,000 miles in that car (1.6petrol manual) and the clutch was fine!

I have also heard, that the OE part is generally better than a "standard" replacement part....

edit: my longest lasting clutch was in a saxo VTR (the car I kept for the most mileage) it got to 117,000 miles before it died, and that was only because the gearbox broke, and ****ed oild all over the clutch, so I had a new clutch in when I had the g/box reconned... the clutch in my lancia was still going strong at 155,000 miles

I think treated right, they should last the life of the car.....

Yes, clutches should last the life of the car, even if that's 200,000 miles, if you basically use the clutch as a switch as far as possible - i.e. never slip it at more than 800rpm and that only for the half-second it takes to get moving in 1st gear. The clutch plate will simply never wear if the temperature of the friction surfaces never rises much, but if you habitually rev like mad when parking, for instance, the temperature will be sky high and the clutch will burn up like billy-o.

There are three other reasons why a clutch can fail (apart from having a manufacturing fault, of course, like anything else in a car!): if you habitually dump it and spin the wheels it might eventually fly apart; if it gets oil on it from a leaky seal somewhere; or if the car has simply been around for so long that the springs develop a set and stop gripping (I've never had that happen on any car of mine, up to about 20 years old, but I've heard it blamed for premature failure when there was still friction material left).

My car at 67,000 miles has had a clutch put in just a few weeks before i bought it as an elderly chap owned it and obviously wore it out!!!!!

Double clutching can be a useful skills sometimes... but as said with new gearbox's is pretty redundant now although i still use it on the few manual vehicled we had left at work and from time to time in my car when i can't be bothered to use my clutch when changing down a gear! hehe

from time to time in my car when i can't be bothered to use my clutch when changing down a gear! hehe

But surely then you're using the clutch twice to change down a gear? :P

Chris

But surely then you're using the clutch twice to change down a gear?

No, you don't use the clutch at all, simply never press the left pedal. Useful trick to know, frankly, 'cos it enables you to drive a car with a broken clutch cable/hose. I've done it for miles at a time, in quite heavy traffic.

No clutch neede at all... the whole principal of double clutching is to match the engine speed to the road speed... so all you do is rev the engine to match the road speed in the gear your changing to and you can slide it smoothly into gear!

No, you don't use the clutch at all, simply never press the left pedal. Useful trick to know, frankly, 'cos it enables you to drive a car with a broken clutch cable/hose. I've done it for miles at a time, in quite heavy traffic.

But that's not double declutching which involves using the clutch .... twice What you're talking about is clutchless changes........

Chris

Well yeh i suppose but it uses the same principal.

The reason you would double clutch in say an old truck/bus is you put the clutch down... out of gear... then clutch out and rev to spin the gear box up then clutch down and into gear... so you're just doing that without using the clutch to release and engage the gear!

What you're talking about is clutchless changes......../quote]

Have done this myself - and not just when the clutch cable has snapped. But, when the cable hasn't snapped I've done it purely experimentally and, though it is always successful, always wince.

Clutch life - Renault 18TD, 20k for 1st, 50k for second (non-Renault clutch). Jetta TD still going strong at 110k when it was written off. Cavalier TD clutch changed at 168k (was 2nd owner from 20k on).

All the above mileages were for private-hire driving i.e. predominantly local (stop start stuff).

So, no, don't change your clutch.

One sign of it going are that the clutch pedal is harder to operate (though sometimes that can be clutch cable and or linkages needing lubrication) and that the bite point is significantly changed than from new.

103k now, remapped for 90odd k

clutch slips occasionally because of the increase in power but its still hangin on