Nursing a slipping clutch

[DogsBody]

How long have you managed to keep a clutch going when it started to slip ?

at the moment it is slipping at low revs if I put my foot down in 4th and 5th, it seems ok if the revs are a little higher, obviously this is only to tesdt how bad it is I am trying wherever possible now not to accelerate hard.

I need to keep this clutch alive as long as possible so that i can
a - raise fund for new car
b - have enough time to find new car once a is done.

It isnt worth repairing as the car will be scrapped as soon as another is bought.

I have only had one clutch go on me before exactly like this but it didnt last long as it was my first car and being young I found it quite funny to rev the car and not go anywhere, which obviously killed it quicker than it would have gone under "noirmal driving" conditions.

If it matters in anyway the car is a 2000 Escort 1.6 petrol

 

[Uriel]

Not long when it went on my old Skoda Fabia 1.4 8v. Went from just noticing to driving up hills practically impossible in the space of a couple of days.

 

[Father Ted]

From when it first started slipping on my old Escort to having it replaced was about six months.

 

[alexthecheese]

When I had a Renault 19 the clutch gave up. I had probably a couple of months of slipping and then it really gave up.

When it first start slipping I did a 5th gear clutch burnout at a roundabout for a laugh (I was young and at uni ). The smell of burning clutch was really acrid. Horrible.

 

[bledd]

Why not get it fixed?

 

[Father Ted]

Because he's about to buy a new car and scrap the old one?

 

[loltim]

Because he's about to buy a new car and scrap the old one?

yeah, because of the slipping clutch? will be cheaper just to fix it.

 

[DogsBody]

was looking to buy new car in 3 - 4 months anyway. and this car is worth approx 20p.
It is touch and go whether it will pass the MOT due in 2 months anyway, so no point wasting £200 on a clutch change that will likely need another £300+ spening in 2 months to get through the MOT. expecially as I am looking to get rid anyway.

 

[therealnerd2]

It was about a month on my v6 mondeo before it became what I would consider dangerous, and I had it fixed.

 

[Begbie]

Can you drive without a clutch?

Like when you change gears without a clutch? Surely if its worth nothing and your replacing it just drive it till it dies then replace it?

 

[loltim]

Surely if its worth nothing and your replacing it just drive it till it dies then replace it?

That's what he's doing... he's asking how long it's likely to last as he's still saving up for a new car.

 

[Jonny ///M]

Depends on the way you drive,where you drive and other such variables. Mine went from slipping a little booting it at 70 on the motorway to being able to just lift the clutch and go/quite a bit of slip between gears in a few weeks. I do 300 miles a week and drive in the city a lot.

Could still drive it but just touching the accelerator with precision.

 

[Zuma]

i nursed a slipping clutch for 2 years in a citroen xsara 1.4 petrol

i got that car for my mum and the clutch was slightly slipping when i bought it. she used it for about 15 months then moved abroad and i used it as a stop gap car for ages cos i was skint.
I used it for 6 months after my brother declared it undrivable.

you just have to adapt your driving style to use almost imperceptable acceleration. If you can avoid slipping it then you will reduce further wear to a minimum. normally when a clutch starts slipping, the driver wil be constantly slipping it and making the problem worse. During this period i got mentally high fuel economy also

and to the question about driving without a clutch, that's a different situation cos you are talking about changing gear without disengaging the clutch, not a slipping clutch

 

[indyskyz]

The clutch was always pants in my Micra. Until I adjusted the bite point
when I got the car it must have been set to bite right at the top of the pedal, after adjustment the bite was centre ish and bit like a **********

 

[Begbie]

That's what he's doing... he's asking how long it's likely to last as he's still saving up for a new car.

I was asking if you can still drive without the clutch completly.

 

[Ahleckz]

I was asking if you can still drive without the clutch completly.

Surely not. The engine and gearbox won't be connected if that's the case?

Both me and Begbie are self confessed newbs about cars so we're probably both wrong...

 

[Lopéz]

I was asking if you can still drive without the clutch completly.

No. The clutch transmits drive from the engine to the gearbox. If the clutch were missing (or slipping so badly it was effectively missing) you would have no drive at all. The car would not move.

A snapped clutch cable is different - that prevents the clutch from moving away from the flywheel - so you get the opposite effect, the car has drive all the time even when you are trying to slow down/change gear/stop.

 

[adam cool dude]

Is it a cable clutch? Maybe you can adjust it to get more life?

 

[MagicBoy]

Dunno. I've never needed a new clutch as yet.

I do recall my driving instructors car went from slipping slightly to being utterly useless within a couple of days.

 

[Django x2]

The only time I used the clutch in any of my manual cars was when it needed to go into 1st, or reverse. Never touched it after that unless breaking quickly.