Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with clutch

Can a car clutch be made lighter / easier to operate?

blue_wardrobe — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 06:05:09 -0800

Is there a way to make the clutch lighter to operate? Can springs be changed, etc? If it helps, it's a 96 VW Cabrio History: my wife's right foot had a tendon that stretched and let the arch collapse. It was treated surgically. Her left foot is headed the same way, but does not yet need correction.

Current: we are considering buying a stick shift. The car we like has a clutch that is a little stiff (normal for the model of car). She feels that this might endanger her left foot's tendon.

Question: is there a way to make the clutch lighter to operate? Can springs be changed, etc? If it helps, it's a 96 VW Cabrio

I don't mind hearing about assistive devices / shoes / orthotics, etc. but to be honest, these have not helped much with other activities such as cycling. So I'm primarily focused on how adjustable the clutch might be.

Brown bag search

chickaboo — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:30:42 -0800

I want a real or very good fake tortoise shell evening bag - help me find one I have looked into renting one at bag buy or steal but if I can find one to buy I would.
Ebay has let me down thus far...
Has anyone spotted one lately? Preferably less than $100
I prefer it to be a clutche but I'll take one with a chain as well.

Am I destroying my clutch?

Who_Am_I — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:03:01 -0800

Is it bad to keep my clutch pedal pushed all the way in as I brake for stop signs and turns? Should I instead shift to neutral, let the pedal out, and then shift back into gear when I need it? I seem to remember this being discussed on Car Talk a while back, and their objection was something about not having full control of the car when you do this, but that doesn't really make sense to me. I think they were talking more about engine braking vs. pedal braking on hills and such.

A quick slip of the clutch...

phredgreen — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 03:56:02 -0800

I was driving down the highway and needed to pass a vehicle. I punched down on the gas and the engine revved but didn't engage. Yep. Slipping clutch. The catch? This happened 3 years ago and I haven't been able to fix it yet. So what am I doing to my car?

I'm driving a 2002 Hyundai Elantra that is up to 65k miles. It was my first standard in a while, so the first year or two were less than ideal (jackrabbit starts, aggressive driving, all those other stupid-kid driving habits), but I have mellowed into a normal, sensible driver. It seems I was a little late in my transition.

It started out with occasional high-speed slippage, and slowly, over the last few years, devolved to where I have to baby the clutch to get it moving and remember not to press the gas too hard when shifting into higher gears. It seems to have plateaued at this point, driving the same for the last 6ish months without getting much worse. The car still gets around town, but I'm hesitant to go further than work and back with occasional runs to the store or bank.

The thing is, $700(USD) is alot of money for me, and that's the lowest quote I've received thus far. I just rolled over 60k a while ago, changed all the belts (including timing) and brakes, and that really kicked my behind, financially.

My (fallible, I admit) logic is that if I can still get from A to B, it can't be that bad. In the meantime, I can't imagine that driving on a bad clutch is good, but I don't know what I'm actually doing to my car. My hopes are that it's nothing more than just dooming myself to buying a new flywheel when the time actually comes, but I want people who know more about this stuff to help me understand what happens every time my engine revs high and slippage occurs before finally engaging and sending the power to the wheels.

Know that I don't need chiding for being irresponsible, I already have to deal with the "will it get me there and back" question every time I drive. I just need hard facts on what I'll be facing when I can finally get the car into the shop or what will happen if I don't.

Is the transmission dying again?

winston — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 14:42:38 -0800

CarFilter: Why does my transmission hate me so? 1999 Suzuki Esteem GL, manual 5-speed transmission, 1.6 L engine.

Purchased in January 2004, a lease return with 70,000 km. We both had a little trouble shifting into 3rd at first but eventually got the hang of it -- don't know if that's related.

July 2006, the transmission died a spectacular death. The transmission shop said they'd never seen a manual transmission in such bad condition. Every gear except second had multiple teeth completely missing. They did not see any of the tell-tale signs that would indicate that the transmission or clutch was abused. They believed that this transmission, at this age, without abuse, should not be showing any damage. They could not explain the damage other than maybe it was somehow defective when it was originally put together.

For a variety of reasons, I trust that this transmission shop is completely honest. Not to say they couldn't have made a mistake, but I don't believe they deliberately scammed me. I did personally inspect all the broken pieces they replaced -- everything was obviously badly broken.

So we replaced the following with new parts:
-Every gear except second, plus some other hard parts (don't remember the names, there were two arm-like things that were bent)
-All soft parts inside the transmission
-The clutch (it wasn't absolutely necessary yet, but the end of it's life was approaching and it was cheaper to do it while everything was disassembled anyway).

All together, including tax, it came to about $4000 (CAD). If we'd got a rebuilt transmission instead of new parts, it would have been $3500. The new parts had a parts and labour warranty for one year, unlimited mileage.

In the past few weeks, I've done alot of driving in slippery conditions. If the wheels start to spin, I try to start in second gear (I do not do this unless both drive wheels are on a surface too slippery for the car to move even a little bit in first gear). It has often been impossible to shift into second when at a standstill -- it just clashes and doesn't engage. Other times it works fine. Yesterday the car popped out of first gear while driving -- this was something that had happened a few times before the transmission went out the last time.

The car is currently approaching 140,000 km

Is the transmission or clutch dying again? If so, what could explain the short life-span of the parts in our transmission? Both drivers of this vehicle have long experience using a manual transmission on multiple vehicles (each of those driven for a longer period of time than we've driven this one) and have not previously had/caused transmission problems. This does not to seem to be a problem for 1999 Esteems in general, AFAICT.

Clutch Problem #2.

koeselitz — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 14:03:22 -0800

Mechanic Question: Even though I just changed the clutch, it still won't start. The starter runs, the flywheel and some of the transmission is turning (I can hear it loud and clear), but it won't fire; it just spins. We're talking, by the way, about a 1996 Volkswagon Jetta, manual five-speed.

Thanks to all who helped with my last question. So: I've installed a new clutch, clean and everything, putting a small amount of high-temp grease on the spindle as I was doing so, like the manual says, and cleaned off the flywheel, too. I reassembled everything, put the transaxle back on, and reattached the driveaxles and the wheels and everything. And now it still won't start.

What's happening now is very similar to what was happening before I replaced the clutch. (That worries me somewhat.) I'll depress the clutch pedal and turn the key, and I can hear the starter motor turning the gears ("whirrrr!") but it won't turn over ("chuh-chuh-chuh-chuh") and fire ("vroom!"). As I hold the key turned, it keeps whirring, but slowly starts to engage... it starts chugging a little... and then the chugging subsides again and it just whirs. This process repeats, and it goes in and out of starting to turn over. If I let out the clutch while I'm turning the key and I have it in first, the car will start to move ever so slightly forward, and then stop moving; but it won't kick forward, like it ought to. I've tried push-starting, and, of course, that's useless.

So does anybody know what's going on here? One thing I can say: I left it for a week where it was after having this happen last week, and then today when I tried to turn it on it almost turned over on the first time. That's not really something I can experiment with, unfortunately, if I want to get this car fixed within the next month.

Clutch Help

koeselitz — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 15:54:45 -0800

Home mechanic question: changing a clutch. I'm changing the clutch in my wife's 1996 Jetta. I've almost gotten the transaxle off, but it's just barely hanging onto the engine. How do I get it off? A few more related questions inside-- any mechanics familiar with changing clutches, please help. The clutch went out on my wife's 1996 manual-transmission Jetta, and I've been changing it whenever I have time over the last few weekends. I've been taking my time familiarizing myself with it, and I've finally detached the manual transaxle from the engine. That's great, since the clutch is right in there once I pull off the transaxle. There's only one problem.

A little bit of metal, what the manual (I've got the Haynes) calls the "right driveaxle flange," where the driveaxle attaches to the transaxle, hangs over the edge of the large round edge of metal on the engine where the transaxle meets it, and it won't come off of the engine. I can't coax it off with any amount of finagling; it's really on there, and, unless I put a quarter-inch dent in it, it won't come off. Was I supposed to remove it? If so, how in heck do I do that?

Aside from that problem: do you have any suggestions for after I put this all together? I'm thinking of having the flywheel ground, but my mechanic (who I don't altogether trust) says that that's a waste of time and money, and that I should just sand it lightly with some sandpaper if I do it at all. Should I get it ground anyway? Also, any suggestions for post-install tuning?

Thanks in advance for help.

What's wrong with my car's clutch?

killdevil — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 21:23:05 -0800

Standard-transmission-filter: the point of engagement of the clutch (in my mid-90s Acura Integra, if it matters) has suddenly moved, and I now have to push the clutch pedal almost to the floor in order to get the transmission to disengage. What's going on, and how much is it likely to cost to repair? Coupled with a shift in the pedal's point of engagement has been a drastic loss of "springiness" in the clutch pedal until it reaches the point at which the transmission engages.

Any ideas what might be causing this?

Tips on driving standard?

patr1ck — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 15:18:44 -0800

I've recently purchased a standard because I used to drive one and loved it, but I've never really been properly trained in how to drive one. The car I bought is much more powerful than the one I've learned on, and I'd appreciate some answers to a few questions and any general tips you've got to help me get the most of out my new clutch (and car). Here are the extra questions:

Are any of the following considered bad practice? (Bonus points for why)
1. Skipping a gear when down shifting. If I'm in 4th and start slowing down, but slow down quick enough it makes more sense to shift into 2nd than 3rd.
2. When in 1st, I sometimes never totally let the clutch out before pressing it back in and shifting to second (to avoid a jerky shift).
3. When slowing down, not downshifting at all and just putting the car in neutral and using only the brakes/wind resistance to slow down.
4. When at a stop on a reverse slope (where there would be roll-back if you weren't holding the brake), giving a little bit of gas and letting the clutch out just a little, to hold the cars position without using the brake.

Thanks!

VW Golf wants to stall after A/C repair. Fixable?

odinsdream — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 06:10:12 -0800

After having the A/C compressor replaced in our VW Golf, the engine idle speed drops way down to near-stalling whenever the clutch is released while driving. It pops right back up, but it's a bit unnerving. Last week the A/C stopped blowing cold air. I took the car to our local mechanic who suggested replacing the expansion valve first, then the compressor if that didn't fix it. After the operation, I have a new expansion valve and compressor.

When we first got the car I noticed the idle speed was a little low and jumpy, but it wasn't anything unnerving. Now, though, whenever you cut the A/C on the engine idles extremely low. The especially disturbing part is when driving around and pressing the clutch to shift. When you press the clutch, the engine drops down in speed, of course, but instead of hovering around 1200, it drops all the way toward zero, then bounces back up to jump around 1000.

All of this goes away when the A/C is turned off. What's the problem? Can I have it adjusted or fixed? What can I suggest to the mechanic on Monday?

Tips for Beyond Basic Stick Shift Driving

otherwordlyglow — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 15:42:02 -0800

I'm a reasonably adept stick shift driver but what do I need to know to be a great stick shift driver? I learned how to drive stick shift (manual transmission) in San Francisco about 3 years ago, nearly 20 years after learning to drive an automatic transmission car. I'm pretty good at it but I still feel like I can do better. At this point, I know some basic tricks (use the parking brake when stopped on a hill) but what else is there I could be doing to win the admiration of stick shift drivers everywhere?

One specific question I have is about using the clutch when idling. My usual mode is to shift out of 1st gear and into neutral, keeping my foot on the brake, if I think I'll be stopped (say, in traffic) for more than a few seconds. Which is worse for the car, sitting in 1st gear with the clutch pressed all the way down, waiting to be able to accelerate out or shifting out into neutral and then shifting back into 1st once you can resume forward? Is the extra shifting (1st-neutral-1st) any worse than idling in 1st with the clutch in so as to avoid having to shift out and then back into 1st?

That's the type of tip I'm looking for.

do i have a tranny problem

fumbducker — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 07:28:18 -0800

is it my clutch? or my tranny? or somthing else? i drive a 2002 vw gti stick shift. since yesterday, when i give it some gas it revs up for a few seconds before it kicks in and the car actually goes with it. this never happened before. it matters not if i am shifting or in gear , it happens when i give it gas in either case. i seached and read a post about something similar when it was cold and it taking some time to catch gears, but i dont think this is similar, it kicks in after about 1-3 seconds (for now, i guess), and its still summery warm here... help me out, god i wish i was a mechanic instead of a sysadmin.

What the hell's going on with my car?

Vervain — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 10:59:42 -0800

CarRepairFilter: Help me figure out what's going on with my usually well-behaved car, and what, if anything, it might have to do with a letter I got from Acura back in January... Basically, it looks like Acura made a deal with the EPA because the onboard computer in some of the '95-'97 models is not CA-emission-compatible. As a result, they're replacing (for free) the spark plugs, ignition wires, distributor cap/rotor on qualified cars with 75,000-150,000 miles.

As for my car: it's a '96 Integra, with about 140,000 miles. I'd say I put less than 10,000 miles a year on it, since I don't have much of a commute. I've been searching for a new mechanic for awhile, since the place I'd been going to went downhill fast. As a result, the car hasn't really been looked at in about a year.

There's definitely something up with the brakes, and I think the old mechanics might've had something to do with that; last time I was in, they made some comment about the back brakes being "20% on one side, and (less) on the other". For the record, their fix might've evened it out, but it also made the brakes very spongy. Right now they're very grabby, almost pulsing, and there's a ticking noise from the back brakes when I'm slowing down. This goes away when I apply more pressure to the brake pedal.

In addition to that, I think the clutch may be starting to go. But I could be wrong--this is my first standard-transmission vehicle, so I don't know what to look for. Over the past few days, the engine has been running rougher for a few seconds after upshifting, eventually kicking into a smoother ride. But it's only while accelerating; downshifting seems to be just as peachy as ever.

Long story short, I know I've neglected the poor thing and that I'm going to be dropping some money on car repairs in addition to the free fixes the letter mentions, but that's about all I know. (I'm not mechanically inclined.) Can you give me an idea of what might be going on, so I know what to ask about when I take it in?

My clutch is scraping, do I need to replace the whole thing?

juniper — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 10:32:52 -0800

1997 VW clutch is making scraping sounds when fully depressed, but is working fine otherwise. Do I need a whole new clutch kit? Simultaneously, the interior fans (cooling) are dead, and the parking brake light is stuck on. Blown fuse? Also, this is the third time I've had to repair this car in two years, so I'd like to trade it in. Do I fix it first, or just take what they give me for a broken car?

How much to fix a cluth?

nadawi — Wed, 07 Dec 2005 09:04:54 -0800

What is a reasonable price to pay to get the clutch replaced in a Jetta? It is a 1997 Jetta with a 2.0 engine size. My friend is hearing everything from $600-$1300, the last estimate coming from the shop we usually go to. The car is in Denton, Tx, if that matters.

What are the chances that my clutch will go completely in the next three weeks?

mygothlaundry — Tue, 17 May 2005 06:55:26 -0800

My mechanic just told me that my 98 Saturn wagon (125,000 miles) needs a new clutch. Nothing dramatic happened; I just brought it in for a pre road trip checkup. The clutch has been getting stickier & stickier, and sometimes it's very hard to wrench it into first gear, but it's drivable. He said he had no way of knowing when it would go completely, but it definitely was going to need to be replaced soon. Since inspecting it involves pulling the transmission, you might as well commit to fixing it altogether. I have two questions. Here is my dilemma: I'm supposed to be driving to NY on Friday (roughly 900 miles.) Should I scramble to get this fixed or should I just leave anyway? First of all, what happens when a clutch goes? Is it life threateningly bad or does the car just coast to a stop? And second, what are the chances that the clutch will keep on working for a long time anyway, just getting stickier? Keep in mind that this is going to cost about $800 I will have to borrow. Help soon please! I don't have long to make up my mind whether to try to get this done now or gamble on waiting and taking my road trip.

Help me fix up an old motorcycle

milkman — Fri, 04 Feb 2005 20:55:37 -0800

I just bought a used motorcycle that needs some work. Warning...i'm asking a stupid question. More inside. It's a Honda CB 550. The battery in the bike was dead, but it started at the guy's shop when we hooked it up to a big external battery.

We loaded it into a pickup truck, and when we got home, it seems like the front brake is locked. It won't budge. The clutch doesn't help, putting it in neutral doesn't help. And when I try to start it, it lurches as if I was trying to start it in a high gear.

This happened to me once before, years ago, when i went to go get a bike that had been parked for a few months. it wasn't worth much and i finally just gave up. but this time it was fine when we rolled it onto the truck and this was just a few hours later.

I can't find anybody mentioning this problem anywhere online. I cannot help but feel like i must be really missing something dumb..

Why is my gear stick/stick shift wobbling and stuck in 2nd gear?

untuckedshirts — Fri, 09 Jul 2004 19:49:34 -0800

I was stop and go driving for about an hour today (hanging flyers for my job; the car's a manual transmission '95 Saturn) and after I finished I was heading back to the store when I hear a pop and my stick shift is just wobbling around. I still have to hold the clutch to start the car but it is stuck in second gear so I can get it going but only drive 10-15mph. What in the hell just happened?

Elephant Riders Lyrics Question

oissubke — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 16:19:38 -0800

Elephant Riders, by Clutch. I've been trying to figure out the meaning of the lyrics. I think it has to do with the King of Siam donating elephants to Abe Lincoln (a la The King and I), but I could be mistaken on that, and I have no idea where the trains come in.

Question about cars and clutches

crunchburger — Thu, 19 Feb 2004 19:51:49 -0800

What, exactly, is "riding the clutch"? [more inside] I take it to mean using the clutch halfway out, unnecessarily, when you should use the brakes. Or, generally, holding down the clutch pedal too long after the proper release point. However, I have found that "riding the clutch" is used as an unfocused criticism of manual-shift driving technique, which makes me wonder if there is an agreed upon meaning , or a family of usage, or what.