Feels like I'm riding the clutch...

fallbayuk · 14 Jan 2010 at 20:02

...when I move up into 3rd gear in my car. The revs increase but theres little to no increase in power for a couple of seconds. IF it's the clutch thats going, is it expensive to fix? Could it be anything else?

Peter Diffey · 14 Jan 2010 at 20:03

You mean the clutch is slipping?

fallbayuk · 14 Jan 2010 at 20:20

Peter Diffey said:
You mean the clutch is slipping?

If that's how its referred to, then yes

Apologies, car mechanics aren't my strong point.

jaybee · 14 Jan 2010 at 20:20

If you want to test if it is the clutch then drive up a hill (preferably a fairly steep one) and whilst at about 30mph floor it in fifth gear (or top gear) and hold it there. If the revs redline and the car isn't accelerating, that's your clutch going. This will not damage the car, it will just shorten the life of the clutch a bit more and every time it slips. This is not necessarily anything to panic about. I ran a rover into the ground with a slipping clutch for months with no probs, except on really hot summers day when it got bad.

fallbayuk · 14 Jan 2010 at 21:36

jaybee said:
If you want to test if it is the clutch then drive up a hill (preferably a fairly steep one) and whilst at about 30mph floor it in fifth gear (or top gear) and hold it there. If the revs redline and the car isn't accelerating, that's your clutch going. This will not damage the car, it will just shorten the life of the clutch a bit more and every time it slips. This is not necessarily anything to panic about. I ran a rover into the ground with a slipping clutch for months with no probs, except on really hot summers day when it got bad.

Ok I'll try that tomorrow. If it's not that though, what else could it be?

Dogbreath · 14 Jan 2010 at 22:16

From the symptoms you describe it can't really be anything else, unless you are driving on ice without realising

ghop · 14 Jan 2010 at 22:18

Had a slipping clutch about a year ago too. Except it was slipping really badly. For example, flooring it in 4th onto a motorway and the revs would go right up but the car wouldn't get any faster. Cost 300 quid to replace the clutch and some fly bearing thing.

fallbayuk · 14 Jan 2010 at 22:26

The only time I'm noticing it is when I move up into third. Sometimes its worse than others or doesnt happen at all. I've actually had problems getting it into third after it went into a garage to have some work done about 18 months ago, but the clutch slipping only started about a week or two ago.

fallbayuk · 15 Jan 2010 at 21:29

jaybee said:
If you want to test if it is the clutch then drive up a hill (preferably a fairly steep one) and whilst at about 30mph floor it in fifth gear (or top gear) and hold it there. If the revs redline and the car isn't accelerating, that's your clutch going. This will not damage the car, it will just shorten the life of the clutch a bit more and every time it slips. This is not necessarily anything to panic about. I ran a rover into the ground with a slipping clutch for months with no probs, except on really hot summers day when it got bad.

Tried this today, didn't slip at all.

Robzere31 · 15 Jan 2010 at 21:33

Sounds like clutch to me. Cost depends on what car it is.

tb2000 · 15 Jan 2010 at 23:32

Another way to test for a slipping clutch is to do the rev test whilst at a complete halt. Put the handbrake on, put it in something like 3rd or 4th, and give it some revs. As you let the clutch in, if it bogs down and tries to drag the car along or tries to stall the engine then chances are the clutch is alright. If however it continues to rev (or revs just a bit less but not moving the car) then the clutch is on it's way out.

One other thing to check is, depending on what car it is, you'll have a clutch cable or a hydraulic system. On some cars you can adjust the clutch cable to take up the slack from the worn clutch. As I say though, it does depend on the make and model of car.