URGENT: What would cause a clutch to slip after a few months

DannyW

DannyW

DannyW

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Hi guys, my mondeo has gone in today for new clutch as it was slipping under accelleration and big hill starts, however the clutch they took out looks brand new! it is an LUK aswell (probably the best replacements)

the previous owner told me it had a clutch at about 125-128k (dunno exactly) when i bought the car it was slipping so i didn't beleive him. but i have now seen for my self the clutch which came out of the car, even the mechanic said it looked new.

so, what would cause it to fail after just 5-10k miles?? its only done 135k

it also got gradually worse from the time i bought it until now

i will post up the pics of the clutch when i collect the car (its only around the corner from my house)
 
the big metal bit with like lots of metal fins on it had like loads of deep scratch marks on it (pressure plate i think)??

but the clutch its self looked fine lots of 'meat' on it
 
Could be a slave cylinder or other hydraulic problem which isn't allowing the clutch to fully engage.

Oil contamination should be fairly obvious.
 
mechanic never said out about a leak and he said the DMF was fine too.

also, the clutch pedal was very light, a lot lighter then brand new hire/company cars i've driven
 
Lopéz said:
Hmmm.

Danny are you sure it was slipping?
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yes

if you did the clutch test, dump it in 5th at high revs with the handbreak on, it would rev at 6k and do nothing, not even hesitate to stall.

when accellerating hard through 1st, 2nd and 3rd you could feel it and watch it reving and not accellerating.

hill starts were very tricky, too many revs and it wouldnt set off(stunk aswell), not enough and it would stall

the clutch deffinatly was slipping.

when tom drove my car i followed him he did not accellerate hard (i didn't see the arse end go down like it noramally does through the gear changes)
 
DannyW said:
yes

if you did the clutch test, dump it in 5th at high revs with the handbreak on, it would rev at 6k and do nothing, not even hesitate to stall.
Click to expand...

Mine does the same but I don't notice it slipping when driving. I also revved your car to around 4k and did not notice any slipping whatsoever. I wouldn't lie would I. The again I really wasn't testing for slipping but I can say I didn't notice any sort of slip while driving your car.

Proof is in the pudding get some pictures of the clutch and slave up.
 
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aye will get them pics up, i went up 2 hours ago before posting this, all he had to do was put the bloody wheels back on! dunno what he's playing unless he's cocked it up lol
 
Danny, I mentioned this in Tom's thread too but revving to 6k and trying to pull off in 5th won't stall it, you'll just melt the clutch. You'll be able to pull off in any gear with enough skill with the acclerator and clutch.

Put it in 5th at about 35-40mph, the revs shouldn't rise disproportionately to the speed, which won't be rising by much unless you've got a few hundred pounds-feet of low-revs torque under the bonnet ;)


If it is slipping yet looks in good enough nick, it's probably just not adjusted properly
 
howardcanning said:
Danny, I mentioned this in Tom's thread too but revving to 6k and trying to pull off in 5th won't stall it, you'll just melt the clutch. You'll be able to pull off in any gear with enough skill with the acclerator and clutch.

Put it in 5th at about 35-40mph, the revs shouldn't rise disproportionately to the speed, which won't be rising by much unless you've got a few hundred pounds-feet of low-revs torque under the bonnet ;)


If it is slipping yet looks in good enough nick, it's probably just not adjusted properly
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Yea it's a good way to kill a clutch prematurely :p

I could pull away in 5th easily enough though.

Also Howard. They are automatically adjusting clutches so you can't adjust them unfortunately.
 
Good point, lol.

I remember a friend of mine went through clutches on his Mk4 Golf like you or I do hot dinners, partly because of poor workmanship when they're installed I think!
 
DannyW said:
yes

if you did the clutch test, dump it in 5th at high revs with the handbreak on, it would rev at 6k and do nothing, not even hesitate to stall.

when accellerating hard through 1st, 2nd and 3rd you could feel it and watch it reving and not accellerating.

hill starts were very tricky, too many revs and it wouldnt set off(stunk aswell), not enough and it would stall

the clutch deffinatly was slipping.

when tom drove my car i followed him he did not accellerate hard (i didn't see the arse end go down like it noramally does through the gear changes)
Click to expand...
what a completely retarded "clutch test". where did you get that little gem from? didnt you hear them say "not" at the end of the sentence?

if youve done that, i wouldnt be suprised if the friction material isnt glazed, but it was such a stupid test to do.

to see if its slipping, drive the car, low revs in 2nd, 1krpm or so, and then floor the accelerator.

then you will know if its slipping
 
The clutches adjust throughout their life automatically so a high bite point points to a fairly worn clutch. Mine is at the top of the pedal travel but the car still drives so I'll not be replacing it until there is **** all drive. Danny the biting point in yours seemed fairly low so there was every possibility that your clutch was in better condition than mine..
 
Matt82 said:
to see if its slipping, drive the car, low revs in 2nd, 1krpm or so, and then floor the accelerator.

then you will know if its slipping
Click to expand...

Yep that's the test I did. Just try and set off normally with normal revs. 2nd should also stall quicker than 5th AFAIK.
 
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