Clutch knackered?

HeX

HeX

HeX

Soldato
Joined
20 Jun 2004
Posts
12,023
Location
Huddersfield, UK
I've been given a 2003 Toyota Corolla Verso VVT-i 1.6 with 110k on the clock, its only going to be used for the daily commute 15mins down the road to work, but driving it feels very strange.

When driving home on the motorway and accelerating up from 60-70 the engine revs would go crazy but the car would only gain speed very slowly.

Then when I got back to sunny Huddersfield trying to get up some of the hills around here was rather tricky. Dropping down into 2nd and putting on the power to get up a steep hill and again the revs instantly go up into the 4-6k range but the car was crawling up the hill at 10-15mph.

Does this sound like classic clutch slippage? or could it be something else?
 
Not a clue, doubt it. I've had a look through some of the work receipts and MOTs from the last few years and didn't see anything mentioning a clutch change.

My other car, a Zafira, doesn't have any of the issues described above. I put my foot down and instantly you feel the car accelerate. Same on a hill, foot down and it just powers up smoothly.

This Corolla, foot down, lots of noise and revs, very little action.
 
wedrum said:
Not worth spending money on it.
Just keep driving it until it conks out.
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Might still be worth doing if there is nothing else wrong with the car (although you don't necessarily know the history of the car as you were given it), but still potentially a better option to solve a single problem, rather than buy another car and end up with more/worse problems at this price range.

Toyota say £610 for a fixed price Clutch change, so I would imagine an decent independent would probably be £400-£500.

https://www.toyota.co.uk/owners/service-mot-maintenance/repairs.json
 
Yeah the car has cost me nothing (other than tax and insurance!), and is imaculate inside, and the engine itself and everything else looks and feels fine. No random rattles or noises, smooth sounding etc. I'm no mechanic but the car itself looks and feels solid. Only issue seems to be the clutch. As I said it's only going to be used for work and back, unfortunately being in Huddersfield that 15min journey is all uphill and down dale. So not having a reliable clutch and power for hills is a bit of an issue!

I'll go give some places a ring and hopefully you're right about the price range :D
 
Most likely to be the clutch but it could always be something like the clutch master/slave cylinders being knackered so worth having it looked at as you never know, but i'd probably prepare yourself for a full clutch job.
 
No EML. Clutch biting point is quite high, certainly feels like its slipping when putting foot down, the power just isn't getting to the wheels.

Time to get it booked in to be looked at I suppose! Thanks all.
 
They arent worth much now, maybe 7-800 at a push, so spending 5-600 on a clutch isnt a great idea imo, but then it might not be the clutch, could a knackered clutch slave cylinder, which is a less than £100 fix i would have thought.
 
Tinders said:
They arent worth much now, maybe 7-800 at a push, so spending 5-600 on a clutch isnt a great idea imo.
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So what's the alternative - pick up any other ~£1k car and it may well need a clutch (or any other costly repair) within a few thousand miles (unless you are lucky enough to get one that has proof it's been recently done).

It sounds like it's otherwise in reasonable condition, and has some history with it, so personally probably a better the devil you know situation.
 
Armageus said:
So what's the alternative - pick up any other ~£1k car and it may well need a clutch (or any other costly repair) within a few thousand miles (unless you are lucky enough to get one that has proof it's been recently done).

It sounds like it's otherwise in reasonable condition, and has some history with it, so personally probably a better the devil you know situation.
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Fair comment, personally if its a £500 ish job, then i would just look to shift the car on as a spares or repairs job, should get £400 maybe a touch more, and put the money towards something else, but that's a personal standpoint as the MK1 Verso is a horrid car ime. Oddly enough African lads seem to love petrol version of these, they send them back to their countries, my old man has sold a few Corolla, Verso and Avensis petrols in the last year or so, all to african chaps for Export, but i digress!
 
Sounds classic clutch slip

One of the old tricks for budget motors that needed a clutch was to realign it a bit when selling, so you ended up with a small area of decent material. Quickly wore down but lasted a little while so buyers would struggle to say it was faulty at purchase and not just wear and tear. Not sure if you can do this on newer cars
 
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