Why would a clutch burn out in less than a 1000 miles?
Discussion
My best mate (honestly!!) drives a Peugeot 3008. He bought it 2nd hand just over 2 years ago and has done @14k since he purchased it. The car now has done just over 96k. He had a big service done in November including a replacement clutch. My friend lives in a small Welsh village; the chap who did the work is a retired mechanic (who lives locally) and does a bit of work on the side for pin money at home.
Between Xmas and New Year, whilst driving, the car suffered a catastrophic failure whereby it just suddenly stopped. RAC called; the mechanic stated it was either a gearbox failure or a drive shaft but wasn't certain. RAC recovered the car; it's now back with the 'retiree'. He has told my mate the gearbox & driveshaft are both fine, but the new clutch is completely burnt out and will need replacing again.
Since the service, my mate has done @1k. This included 2 trips too & from London which accounts for about 650 miles which is mainly motorway driving. Therefore he has done @ 350 miles driving locally. His mechanic has suggested that the reason for the failure is due to my mates driving. Living where he does the area is hilly but nothing major.
My friend is quite a sedate driver and has a modicum of mechanical sympathy. Whilst chatting I suggested that perhaps it wasn't his driving which is at fault but MAYBE down to the installation. My rationale is that he has done over 14k without incident and that given the relative low & type of mileage he's done since November it's unlikely due to his driving style.
Your thoughts please.
TIA.
Between Xmas and New Year, whilst driving, the car suffered a catastrophic failure whereby it just suddenly stopped. RAC called; the mechanic stated it was either a gearbox failure or a drive shaft but wasn't certain. RAC recovered the car; it's now back with the 'retiree'. He has told my mate the gearbox & driveshaft are both fine, but the new clutch is completely burnt out and will need replacing again.
Since the service, my mate has done @1k. This included 2 trips too & from London which accounts for about 650 miles which is mainly motorway driving. Therefore he has done @ 350 miles driving locally. His mechanic has suggested that the reason for the failure is due to my mates driving. Living where he does the area is hilly but nothing major.
My friend is quite a sedate driver and has a modicum of mechanical sympathy. Whilst chatting I suggested that perhaps it wasn't his driving which is at fault but MAYBE down to the installation. My rationale is that he has done over 14k without incident and that given the relative low & type of mileage he's done since November it's unlikely due to his driving style.
Your thoughts please.
TIA.
Higgs boson said:
Does his "modicum of mechanical sympathy" extend to definitely not resting, however gently, his foot on the clutch pedal?
Could something have recently changed in his driving to permit this to happen? It's a really quick way to destroy a clutch.
I also posed that question too him. As far as he's concerned he doesn't keep his foot on the pedalCould something have recently changed in his driving to permit this to happen? It's a really quick way to destroy a clutch.
Agreed, it's a very quick way to go through a new clutch hence my original post.
Having done a bit more reading, apparently it is possible to 'glaze a clutch n 600 miles' causing it to fail. It's something I've never heard of although I suppose it's not too dissimilar to bedding in new brake discs.
_Rodders_ said:
A full clutch in 1000 miles. I struggle to believe you wouldn't be smelling that constantly.
My thoughts exactly.There's always the possibility that it was never changed in the first place. My friend told me he was shown his old clutch. I highlighted he may have been shown an old clutch but it may not be HIS old clutch! Although his accepted this could be possible, he's of the opinion this isn't the case.
Is it possible that a clutch could be incorrectly fitted which would cause to fail so quickly
Without seeing the parts, mode of failure, impossible to say
A bad driver could destroy a clutch in 10 miles if they wanted
A good driver might make one last 1,000,000 miles.
Really, far too many unkowns here.
From parts originally needed, parts used, whether fitted correctly etc etc
Plus you'd hope any good driver would notice a clutch slipping from symptoms, or smell, long before it was driven to destruction, IF that is the mode of failure.
But we have zero factual information on actual mode of failure.
A bad driver could destroy a clutch in 10 miles if they wanted
A good driver might make one last 1,000,000 miles.
Really, far too many unkowns here.
From parts originally needed, parts used, whether fitted correctly etc etc
Plus you'd hope any good driver would notice a clutch slipping from symptoms, or smell, long before it was driven to destruction, IF that is the mode of failure.
But we have zero factual information on actual mode of failure.
stevieturbo said:
Without seeing the parts, mode of failure, impossible to say
A bad driver could destroy a clutch in 10 miles if they wanted
A good driver might make one last 1,000,000 miles.
Really, far too many unkowns here.
From parts originally needed, parts used, whether fitted correctly etc etc
Plus you'd hope any good driver would notice a clutch slipping from symptoms, or smell, long before it was driven to destruction, IF that is the mode of failure.
But we have zero factual information on actual mode of failure.
Thanks for your insight ST A bad driver could destroy a clutch in 10 miles if they wanted
A good driver might make one last 1,000,000 miles.
Really, far too many unkowns here.
From parts originally needed, parts used, whether fitted correctly etc etc
Plus you'd hope any good driver would notice a clutch slipping from symptoms, or smell, long before it was driven to destruction, IF that is the mode of failure.
But we have zero factual information on actual mode of failure.
The car is currently at the mechanics who's going to replace the latest clutch with the new one on Monday Unfortunately I'm about 200 miles away and not in a position to see it for myself. It may have to go down as one of those things.
Maxdecel said:
Complete STAB in the DARK !
I only discovered this last year, thinking wtf ? Different to my day, why make it harder ?
May have no relevance whatsoever but worth investigating.
It's odd he didn't wreck the previous clutch in the same mileage.HTH.
self adjusting clutches are a thing these days, and can require special fitting methods.I only discovered this last year, thinking wtf ? Different to my day, why make it harder ?
May have no relevance whatsoever but worth investigating.
It's odd he didn't wreck the previous clutch in the same mileage.HTH.
However, if done wrong, the end result could be premature slipping. Which goes back to the same thing, that any half witted, half competent driver would realise it is slipping, and seek a remedy long before the burnt it to a crisp
Thanks for all your replies and suggestions.
Alas I can't get down to see the parts due to work commitments and the distance involved. I'm no mechanic but I'm pretty certain that to replace a clutch is straight forward, so what could have gone wrong? Like I originally said, it maybe down to incorrect installation.
Alas I can't get down to see the parts due to work commitments and the distance involved. I'm no mechanic but I'm pretty certain that to replace a clutch is straight forward, so what could have gone wrong? Like I originally said, it maybe down to incorrect installation.
V8covin said:
Could be a counterfeit/Chinese knock off clutch, lots of dodgy parts about these days.
Where did the mechanic buy the cutch from ?
That's a good point. I'm not sure where he gets the parts from.Where did the mechanic buy the cutch from ?
Apologies to all, as you can see this is all 2nd hand information I'm passing on
Make sure the next new clutch comes from an official dealer regardless of price.
One of the catches with clutches is the big, expensive metal bits last for ever but some of the other bits are wear items. Clutches are therefore ideal for "repair".
Repair can mean either "remanufacturing" or "reconditioning". These concepts sound the same but are different.
A "remanufactured" clutch will be completely dismantled and every component checked for tolerance. The good bits will be re-used and the rest thrown away. The good parts are then rebuilt into a complete clutch using new parts where appropriate. The finished item is exactly the same as a brand new clutch. Sometimes remanufacturing is done by the original manufacturer and they may or may not mark the item as remanufactured.
A "reconditioned" clutch is one of those "how long's a piece of string" questions. Somewhere under the railway arches a clutch can be dismantled, cleaned and put back together with a new friction plate. It will look lovely. However, it's a good question what friction material might be on that plate. In extreme cases you can get rubbish from the far east that looks like friction material but is in reality little better than cardboard.
The bottom line is be careful where you buy clutches and brakes. They're both widely counterfeited and often very badly. It's just as easy to copy the official manufacturer's box as it is to put rubbish inside it.
One of the catches with clutches is the big, expensive metal bits last for ever but some of the other bits are wear items. Clutches are therefore ideal for "repair".
Repair can mean either "remanufacturing" or "reconditioning". These concepts sound the same but are different.
A "remanufactured" clutch will be completely dismantled and every component checked for tolerance. The good bits will be re-used and the rest thrown away. The good parts are then rebuilt into a complete clutch using new parts where appropriate. The finished item is exactly the same as a brand new clutch. Sometimes remanufacturing is done by the original manufacturer and they may or may not mark the item as remanufactured.
A "reconditioned" clutch is one of those "how long's a piece of string" questions. Somewhere under the railway arches a clutch can be dismantled, cleaned and put back together with a new friction plate. It will look lovely. However, it's a good question what friction material might be on that plate. In extreme cases you can get rubbish from the far east that looks like friction material but is in reality little better than cardboard.
The bottom line is be careful where you buy clutches and brakes. They're both widely counterfeited and often very badly. It's just as easy to copy the official manufacturer's box as it is to put rubbish inside it.
My father a semi retired mechanic has worked on cars on the side for 50 years plus now and has used a local motor factors for all his parts,some of which I've never heard of but rarely gets problems.
Back in the day he would specify borg and beck only for clutches and mintex for brake pads but sadly these days they are not the same parts.
He doesn't live on the Internet so is still stuck back in those days even when I tell him they are no longer what they were.
Problems do happen sadly due to parts quality.
Back in the day he would specify borg and beck only for clutches and mintex for brake pads but sadly these days they are not the same parts.
He doesn't live on the Internet so is still stuck back in those days even when I tell him they are no longer what they were.
Problems do happen sadly due to parts quality.
stevieturbo said:
self adjusting clutches are a thing these days, and can require special fitting methods.
However, if done wrong, the end result could be premature slipping. Which goes back to the same thing, that any half witted, half competent driver would realise it is slipping, and seek a remedy long before the burnt it to a crisp.
My thoughts were just that, not knowing of a set up procedure (IF ? it applies in this case) He simply replaced the unit like I've done in the past.However, if done wrong, the end result could be premature slipping. Which goes back to the same thing, that any half witted, half competent driver would realise it is slipping, and seek a remedy long before the burnt it to a crisp.
Yes it's difficult to imagine the amount of slipping that occurred to burn it out that quickly without the driver noticing both the smell & engine rpm, but I did have someone drive a car 20 miles with the oil light on ! Nothing's impossible.
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