how long does a clutch last ?
Discussion
Well in this case 2 years and 3027 miles!
Owner is an old boy, 85 and a habitual clutch rider
i fitted the clutch pre MOT 2 years ago and it went on the way to me for this years MOT so i know the timing exactly and the MOTs show the millage exactly.
If anyones interested it was an LUK kit (as was the OE clutch), the LUK kit even had both GM and LUK stamped into it so not like it was a cheap ste kit (£300 cos it uses an F17 box and rare release bearing) apparently.
Anyhoo there you go, you cant engeneer for stupid
Owner is an old boy, 85 and a habitual clutch rider
i fitted the clutch pre MOT 2 years ago and it went on the way to me for this years MOT so i know the timing exactly and the MOTs show the millage exactly.
If anyones interested it was an LUK kit (as was the OE clutch), the LUK kit even had both GM and LUK stamped into it so not like it was a cheap ste kit (£300 cos it uses an F17 box and rare release bearing) apparently.
Anyhoo there you go, you cant engeneer for stupid
I always recall an article in Car Mechanics where a mechanic wrote in about a customer complaining about no power, clutches etc would never last and car was generally bad.
The mechanic could never find anything wrong other than destroyed clutches, so eventually got the owner to take him for a drive.
Again elderly person. They only used 1 gear...4th gear. And just slipped the clutch as required to make the car move !
Really...people like that should never have a license
The mechanic could never find anything wrong other than destroyed clutches, so eventually got the owner to take him for a drive.
Again elderly person. They only used 1 gear...4th gear. And just slipped the clutch as required to make the car move !
Really...people like that should never have a license
Reminds me of a few stories. The first going back over 30 years was my neighbours with a VW Polo in Aberdeen when I lived up there briefly before moving back to England. The car lived in the garage and had an absurdly high cold idle speed, possibly the auto choke wrongly adjusted and every day they'd start it up and then crunch it into reverse at what sounded like several thousand rpm. I could hear and feel the shudder through their garage wall, through my house wall and into the kitchen or lounge. It never occurred to either of them to put it in reverse first and start it with the clutch in to save the gear teeth.
Then at Chalfont there was the unknown person from somewhere down the road opposite my house who used to arrive at the junction with the engine screaming and use the clutch to modulate speed as they pulled away rather than the throttle.
Finally one of my audit clients before I went into engines who used to let me borrow the works van at weekends if I needed to shift anything. I think it was a Toyota Hiace but it's a long time ago. First time I needed it was for a motorway trip up to the Scottish borders. It had a column gear shift which I'd never used before so I took a while to familiarise myself with all the controls and then off we went. Brought it back on the Monday morning and they asked how the trip had gone. I said it ran like a dream and cruised really nicely on the motorway once it was into 5th. Astonished looks from both my friend the MD who drove it when he had to but not very often as well as the main delivery driver who drove it every day. "It's only got a 4 speed box" they both agreed. I took them out to it and showed them the markings on the gear shift. They'd had the thing for ten years but no one had ever realised it had a 5th gear.
Then at Chalfont there was the unknown person from somewhere down the road opposite my house who used to arrive at the junction with the engine screaming and use the clutch to modulate speed as they pulled away rather than the throttle.
Finally one of my audit clients before I went into engines who used to let me borrow the works van at weekends if I needed to shift anything. I think it was a Toyota Hiace but it's a long time ago. First time I needed it was for a motorway trip up to the Scottish borders. It had a column gear shift which I'd never used before so I took a while to familiarise myself with all the controls and then off we went. Brought it back on the Monday morning and they asked how the trip had gone. I said it ran like a dream and cruised really nicely on the motorway once it was into 5th. Astonished looks from both my friend the MD who drove it when he had to but not very often as well as the main delivery driver who drove it every day. "It's only got a 4 speed box" they both agreed. I took them out to it and showed them the markings on the gear shift. They'd had the thing for ten years but no one had ever realised it had a 5th gear.
Pumaracing said:
Finally one of my audit clients before I went into engines who used to let me borrow the works van at weekends if I needed to shift anything. I think it was a Toyota Hiace but it's a long time ago. First time I needed it was for a motorway trip up to the Scottish borders. It had a column gear shift which I'd never used before so I took a while to familiarise myself with all the controls and then off we went. Brought it back on the Monday morning and they asked how the trip had gone. I said it ran like a dream and cruised really nicely on the motorway once it was into 5th. Astonished looks from both my friend the MD who drove it when he had to but not very often as well as the main delivery driver who drove it every day. "It's only got a 4 speed box" they both agreed. I took them out to it and showed them the markings on the gear shift. They'd had the thing for ten years but no one had ever realised it had a 5th gear.
I used to work somewhere that had a couple of VW T3 Transporters, being petrol and rear engined they were whisper quiet and had no rev counters, it wasn't uncommon for employees to drive down the motorway in third bouncing off the rev limiter....227bhp said:
I used to work somewhere that had a couple of VW T3 Transporters, being petrol and rear engined they were whisper quiet and had no rev counters, it wasn't uncommon for employees to drive down the motorway in third bouncing off the rev limiter....
I did that in a hire car once...lolWas actually purely by accident, wasnt even thinking. Only wondered why it kept cutting out every now and then, it was bouncing off the rev limtir
Honda Civic CRX when I worked for a main dealer in the late 80's 6 k from new fried , wanted it under warranty the doughnut I even changed the fly, he collected the car after we explained the cause while we watched him pull away past the showroom shredding the new clutch for a 100 yards some people
Many years ago the garage I worked in sold one of the first MK2 Cavaliers to an 80 year old farmer wh o was notorious for driving about slipping the clutch, said to the boss Id give it a fortnight before he burnt the clutch out. 12 days we get a call car broken down wont move, clutch burnt out. Replaced the complete clutch, 8 days later, car broken down wont move, second complete clutch fitted, 6 days later clutch burnt out again.
stevieturbo said:
I do wonder these days why people like that just dont buy an auto.
Modern auto's can be pretty damn good ( or DSG of course )
Nevermind GP's informing the DVLA of incompetent/unfit aholes who shouldnt have a license...some mechanics should be allowed to inform on the same !
Modern auto's can be pretty damn good ( or DSG of course )
Nevermind GP's informing the DVLA of incompetent/unfit aholes who shouldnt have a license...some mechanics should be allowed to inform on the same !
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