ST170 high biting point - 1500 mile road trip in a few days!

[ghosts_cloak]

Hiya guys,
I have noticed that the biting point of the clutch on my ST170 is getting rather high, although I haven't noticed it slipping yet. I am driving to the South of France at the end of the week, and then back a week later, with some mountain roads in-between... should I be worrying?!
Once a clutch starts to slip, is it a gradual process for it to "go" completely, or does it happen suddenly?
I do have european breakdown cover...
Cheers!
ps: please excuse my mechanical incompetence!

[neiljohnson]

Focus biting point is often high so may be ok. Get it to someone who can check it out before you go as modern clutches overheat very quickly when they start slipping & let go.
Also worth noting your car has a dual mass flywheel which can be easily damaged by a slipping clutch costing you a lot of money.

[ghosts_cloak]

neiljohnson said:

Focus biting point is often high so may be ok. Get it to someone who can check it out before you go as modern clutches overheat very quickly when they start slipping & let go.
Also worth noting your car has a dual mass flywheel which can be easily damaged by a slipping clutch costing you a lot of money.

Thanks for the advice, as soon as it starts slipping I will get it straight to a garage (I looked up the cost of an ST170 clutch and dual mass fly wheel - ouch!). As you say, it is quite possible that the biting point is just high anyway. I just took it for a drive and tried a variety of things to try and make it slip (low revs, 4th gear and floor it up to 60 mph, quick acceleration in 1st gear etc) and I didn't feel it slip/see the revs rise more than expected with the increase in speed. Fingers crossed then!

Does your post imply that the flywheel might not have to be changed when the clutch is? The car is on 80k miles now, and I will probably keep it for a year or two more.
Cheers :-)

[neiljohnson]

ghosts_cloak said:

Thanks for the advice, as soon as it starts slipping I will get it straight to a garage (I looked up the cost of an ST170 clutch and dual mass fly wheel - ouch!). As you say, it is quite possible that the biting point is just high anyway. I just took it for a drive and tried a variety of things to try and make it slip (low revs, 4th gear and floor it up to 60 mph, quick acceleration in 1st gear etc) and I didn't feel it slip/see the revs rise more than expected with the increase in speed. Fingers crossed then!

Does your post imply that the flywheel might not have to be changed when the clutch is? The car is on 80k miles now, and I will probably keep it for a year or two more.
Cheers :-)

At 80k the flywheel may need changing it needs to be checked when the gearbox is out for excessive movement, there is no fixed mileage they last as ive seen flywheels with 40k fail but on the other hand ive seen ones that have done 100k & are ok.