Clutch retaining clips issue

[Tom74TVR]

Hi,

it seems that about every 18 months my gearbox has to come out of the car to change the clutch retaining clips. The clutch itself is still fine but one or two clips break and this causes gear change problems. First and second gear are really hard to get in to. Sometimes it even grinds. It seems to be caused because the clutch keeps spinning.

Any idea what could cause these retaining clips to break or is 18 months a normal lifespan for these clips?
Or, and I have to ask this in case I am the only one with this problem every 18 moths, can aggressive gear changes be the cause as well? Not that I do many of these, my clutch itself is still ok after 18 months and I use the car a lot.

Thanks,

Tom

[shep1001]

My clutch has lated 11 years and 28k miles. This may mean I show it a lot of mechanical sympathy/drive like a girl but no - touch wood mine has been faultless.

[TVR Tommy]

Mine failed. The reason for the clutch not fully disengaging (dragging) is that the central part of the clutch rubs slightly on one of the clutch plates coursing clutch drag. The clips centralise this middle plate. If mine fails again I'll be changing the clutch itself as it's such a faff removing everything to get to the clutch.

The spring clips should only move one way as the plates wear. I guess if there is a vibration (forced the wrong direction) they may get stressed and the teeth of the clip fatigue and break off.