How To Know If Clutch Needs Attention?

[EViS]

I have a Ford Ranger Mk2 (2004).

How do you know when your clutch is slipping or needs attention? The biting point is still high for me, but a passenger friend this weekend told me that the juddering when coming out of gear means that the clutch is slipping. I said that this was me not giving the engine sufficient gas, but am unsure.

[JAHetfield]

Go to a steep hill, stick it in fourth and give it full throttle, if the engine revs up but you don't go anywhere, your clutch is slipping.

[bitwrx]

Without adjusting anything, the higher the biting point, the more worn it is. (Usually. I've no experience of a Ranger, but can't imagine it'll be any different.)

Put your handbrake on. Hard. Select first. Keep revs at tickover whilst easing off the clutch. By the time you've entirely released the clutch, one of three things will happen.

1. You will start moving. This means your handbrake doesn't work properly.
2. You will stall. This means your clutch is working OK (but might nevertheless be close to being worn out).
3. You won't stall. This means you just finished off a clutch that was very close to being dead anyway.

If you have trouble selecting/deselecting gear, it's possible your clutch needs adjusting. Not normally necessary once a new clutch or clutch cable has settled though.

ETA Damn too slow.

[EViS]

JAHetfield said:

Go to a steep hill, stick it in fourth and give it full throttle, if the engine revs up but you don't go anywhere, your clutch is slipping.

I take it you don't mean stopping at the bottom of the hill and trying to go up it in fourth from stationary?

[EViS]

bitwrx said:

Without adjusting anything, the higher the biting point, the more worn it is. (Usually. I've no experience of a Ranger, but can't imagine it'll be any different.)

Put your handbrake on. Hard. Select first. Keep revs at tickover whilst easing off the clutch. By the time you've entirely released the clutch, one of three things will happen.

1. You will start moving. This means your handbrake doesn't work properly.
2. You will stall. This means your clutch is working OK (but might nevertheless be close to being worn out).
3. You won't stall. This means you just finished off a clutch that was very close to being dead anyway.

If you have trouble selecting/deselecting gear, it's possible your clutch needs adjusting. Not normally necessary once a new clutch or clutch cable has settled though.

ETA Damn too slow.

I just tried this (as I don't have any steep hills near me) and I stalled, although when I revved just over the idle, I did move.

[EViS]

What's the technical reason for either of your methods working as a clutch-slip test?

And does this mean that the 'judder' of the vehicle when going into 1st gear from stationary (and sometimes also from 1st to 2nd gear) is just me not revving enough? Or could there be another reason?

[one eyed mick]

My ex boss had probs with both the rangers he had altho I must admit they had a pretty torid time!!

[JAHetfield]

EViS said:

I take it you don't mean stopping at the bottom of the hill and trying to go up it in fourth from stationary?

Sorry, I should have explained better. What I meant was put in fourth when you're moving, around 30mph or so, then hit the throttle hard. If the clutch is slipping it will become apparent due to the high revs and lack of speed.

[bitwrx]

EViS said:

What's the technical reason for either of your methods working as a clutch-slip test?

And does this mean that the 'judder' of the vehicle when going into 1st gear from stationary (and sometimes also from 1st to 2nd gear) is just me not revving enough? Or could there be another reason?

If the clutch is worn (i.e. friction material getting thin), the spring pressure will be reduced. This will limit the amount of torque the clutch can handle before slipping. So when you try and put a lot of torque through it (by pulling away with the handbrake on, or accelerating up a hill in top), it may slip. If it doesn't slip, it's not gone yet.

Modern diesels do need to be revved a bit more than old ones. Could be you're trying to pull away from too low revs?

But without having a go myself, it's a bit difficult to tell.

[EViS]

So is a clutch plate a flat plate (with a 'sandpaper'-like finish) and does not have any 'teeth' which need to lock in like gears do?

Yes, I may not be revving it sufficiently, having come from a petrol vehicle.

[davepoth]

EViS said:

So is a clutch plate a flat plate (with a 'sandpaper'-like finish) and does not have any 'teeth' which need to lock in like gears do?

Yes, I may not be revving it sufficiently, having come from a petrol vehicle.

It's not quite like that, but the sandpaper analogy is pretty good and how I try to explain why slipping the clutch is a bad idea.