Clutch is Slipping @ 65,000 km... WTF!!!

PM JDM Sam / Crossover Auto about the excedy clutch. He had the prototype made for the MSP version and could probably cut you a good deal. Tell him I sent you.
 
I honestly never looked into the how but almost every person I talk to that drives standard says not to idle with your foot on the clutch.

I just did a quick search and came up with this...

1. Q: When waiting for a traffic light to change should I have the transmission in neutral or in 1st gear ready to go?

A: Neutral. If youre rear-ended or your overtired leg involuntarily releases the clutch pedal, it will be impossible for the transmission to accidentally engage and unexpectedly propel you forward. Also, when youre in neutral, you dont have to keep your left foot on the clutch pedal-your leg wont get as tired and youll reduce wear and tear to the release bearing.

Remain alert while waiting, especially watching the rearview mirrors and the cross traffic lights, and you should have ample time to prepare yourself to move.
 
chuyler1 said:
I honestly never looked into the how but almost every person I talk to that drives standard says not to idle with your foot on the clutch.

I just did a quick search and came up with this...

1. Q: When waiting for a traffic light to change should I have the transmission in neutral or in 1st gear ready to go?

A: Neutral. If youre rear-ended or your overtired leg involuntarily releases the clutch pedal, it will be impossible for the transmission to accidentally engage and unexpectedly propel you forward. Also, when youre in neutral, you dont have to keep your left foot on the clutch pedal-your leg wont get as tired and youll reduce wear and tear to the release bearing.

Remain alert while waiting, especially watching the rearview mirrors and the cross traffic lights, and you should have ample time to prepare yourself to move.

yeah, i'm always in neutral when i'm at a red light and waiting for it. my roommate likes to keep his car in 1st gear and on the clutch. i dunno... seems like a preference thing. i know in driver's ed with manual, they tell you to hold the clutch down at traffic lights, just in case you need to move quickly or out of the way for some reason.
 
not trying to insult your intelligence. but are you sure it was slipping? i live in Ottawa too and it was an icy day. perhaps tire slippage?
 
luckyP5 said:
not trying to insult your intelligence. but are you sure it was slipping? i live in Ottawa too and it was an icy day. perhaps tire slippage?

On that note, I have an amusing story. My aunt went took her car (2001 or 2002 Auto Neon) to a shop complaining of her wheels slipping just before christmas. They sold her a pair of snow tires for $400 and sent her on her way. So on christmas eve she was telling us about how it was still slipping. So my brother-in-law took it out for a drive down the block and came back and said that the transmission was shot. My aunt is pretty naive when it comes to cars and its really bad that someone would rip her off like that. She ended up donating the car to the blind or something because it was worthless as a trade. I suggested changing the fluid and taking a run at trading it in. I guess that makes me the dishonest one.
 
paranoidxe said:
15,000km really isn't enough for you guys to be the main factors of why the clutch went out, maybe the owner before you wasn't a very good caretaker of the car. My car is at 80,000 miles and it seems to be doing just fine.

The main things (other than just using it) that would cause premature wear on the clutch:
- is launching the vehicle too high, I don't ever launch the vehicle from a stop from higher than around 1,500-1,750RPMs
- pressing the throttle inbetween swifts too early, to a point where the clutch is partly engaged and the driver is giving it gas.
- "riding the clutch", in which the dead pedal never gets used, your foot is always on the clutch pedal.
- using the clutch everytime you need to pull the shifter out of gear, you can pull the shifter out of gear without use of the clutch and it won't hurt the car.

Otherwise, I'd say most to blame is the previous owner. I think its pretty unlikely to burn out a clutch within 15,000kms..in my Talon the clutch is going on 10,000 miles and its my racer so it gets abused..on top of this the clutch is bone stock and it hasn't started slipping yet.

pushing the clutch in to take out the shifter out of gear does not effect the clutch... and pulling it out of gear without properly matching road speed can tear up synchros... i would agree with everything else u said but this fact is wrong
 
I have a act clutch with an indego 10lb flywheel for 80 000km, and it doesn't slip, and i rev it to 15000 to RPM start (have to or I will stall the car)


change your oil in your transmission, use royal purple! its 75W50
 
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luckyP5 said:
not trying to insult your intelligence. but are you sure it was slipping? i live in Ottawa too and it was an icy day. perhaps tire slippage?

No worries, I'm not insulted.

I'm pretty sure that it wasn't the tires slipping. I noticed the slippage driving on Highway 138 between the 417 and Cornwall. The road was dry.

It did it again merging back onto the 417 6 days later under the same circumstances.
 
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well pulling the gearshift out of a gear without the clutch being pushed can hurt your syncro's...it wont hurt your clutch, cause that has nothing to do with your clutch...thats in your tranny. burned out syncro's suck though...

with regard to holding the clutch in during red lights...i can see it eventualy weakening the presure plate. figure the pressure plate fingers are out of thier natural state for so long, and being held at the unnatural state for so long could reduce thier pressure onto the clutch disc after a while...but i dont think that that is a major killer of clutches...many people do it, and it has been done for years.

a lot of people like to think that they are downshifting when they are coming to a stop light...meanwhile they have the clutch all the way in the whole time, and are putting the gear shift in each progressing downshift...therefore never actually engaging the gear...and its just wasting the syncros...
 
ohfosho said:
well pulling the gearshift out of a gear without the clutch being pushed can hurt your syncro's...it wont hurt your clutch, cause that has nothing to do with your clutch...thats in your tranny. burned out syncro's suck though...

with regard to holding the clutch in during red lights...i can see it eventualy weakening the presure plate. figure the pressure plate fingers are out of thier natural state for so long, and being held at the unnatural state for so long could reduce thier pressure onto the clutch disc after a while...but i dont think that that is a major killer of clutches...many people do it, and it has been done for years.

a lot of people like to think that they are downshifting when they are coming to a stop light...meanwhile they have the clutch all the way in the whole time, and are putting the gear shift in each progressing downshift...therefore never actually engaging the gear...and its just wasting the syncros...

skinnyjoint said:
pushing the clutch in to take out the shifter out of gear does not effect the clutch... and pulling it out of gear without properly matching road speed can tear up synchros... i would agree with everything else u said but this fact is wrong

maybe sychros isnt the word im looking for but go pulling out your shifter all the time unproperly....guarantee it will **** s*** up
 
I've talked to two shops in the Ottawa Area.

One said they won't install customer parts. The clutches they were going to install were either by Luk or Daiken (which I've learned is Exedy). They seemed reasonable, but the price for the installation was ~$800, which I think is pretty standard.

The second shop (Robson Racing) was great. The guy was very informative and mentioned I should just go the OEM route as the higher performance clutches don't give you much more longevity vs. driving simplicity. He also had no problems with me bringing in a clutch kit. If can save myself a couple of hundred bucks by doing some legwork, all the better.

I'll keep y'all updated.

Thanks again.
 
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$800?

damn, i paid a mechanic on the side $100 to install my clutch/flywheel...i still have my stockie for sale ;)
 
Topher said:
$800?

damn, i paid a mechanic on the side $100 to install my clutch/flywheel...i still have my stockie for sale ;)

Well the $800 included about $400 for an OEM replacement clutch! I'm gonna go with a new clutch. 'Cause this one died so quickly I'm a little gun-shy. Good luck on the sale though.
 
If I ever hear "We won't install customer parts", I'll be out the door so damned fast. Both STEALERSHIPS I go to have no issue with non OE parts. they even source parts for me if I want them to. And you'd expect the dealerships to say no first. Go somewhere else, and get a new quote!!
 
tiwing said:
If I ever hear "We won't install customer parts", I'll be out the door so damned fast. Both STEALERSHIPS I go to have no issue with non OE parts. they even source parts for me if I want them to. And you'd expect the dealerships to say no first. Go somewhere else, and get a new quote!!

I can see their point, but I'd rather the money be in my pocket than theirs.
 
Topher said:
$800?

damn, i paid a mechanic on the side $100 to install my clutch/flywheel...i still have my stockie for sale ;)

They are in Canada, so I am sure it's CDN$800, that is about US$690 parts and labor.
 
UPDATE:

I ordered the clutch from JDM-SAM (Exedy) and was having it installed today.

The mechanic just gave me a call and said the the clutch was slipping not because it was worn, but because it was covered in transmission oil! I guess the engine side of the transmission is bone dry. I swapped the transmission fluid out at 52,000 km with Redline MT-90.

I called a local dealership, and they are looking into whether this type of problem could be covered by the powertrain warranty.

It's an '02 P5 with 70,000 km.

I'll keep y'all posted.
 

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