Clutch time!!!!!.....oh brother!!!

[IvanHoe]

I noticed on the way home from work that my clutch is starting to slip in 5th gear at about 60+ .....I know that I can ride it out for awhile, but Im not the type to do that.....I'll be doing the clutch in a weeek or two (not me, but my freind/mechanic will do it)......
I remember when the clutch went in my firebird, it only took a week to totally kill it (no doubt the V8 and the torque that it puts out shortens the life of a slipping clutch greatly)
I could probably get away with it for a good while, but psychologically I cant put it off!!!!
One of my thoguhts is to just buy another car, but I cant do that....."she" runs too damn good and the AC is blowin ice cubes, so I will fix her ..............

[boi_si]

i would too. i was planning to sell mines but after thinking of all the hard work i put in im going to keep it. all parts i put on are genuine toyota parts anyway.

i was wondering if the celica 3sfe clutch will work but maybe give a greater grab? possibly?

but i hate the camry tranny. someday i will swap it for a celica 3sfe 5spd trans. gas milage shouldnt be too far as old cars are.

[IvanHoe]

funny thing......it's not slipping anymore, to be honest it only slipped once on the way home from work.......but even though.......
Im gonna keep my eye on it

[marc780]

Sure ivan, so the car is almost 20 years old - 132,000 is not alot of miles on a Camry. My 2002 V6 just clicked over 100,000 - and i still owe lots of pmts on it!!!! Why not keep it esp if you can fix it for cheap. If the trans slips and you think the clutch is worn - it is - i'd just bite the bullet and change it!

If you want to make SURE the clutch is worn out, try this test. Its a little tough on the car so i wouldnt advise anybody to do it more than once if you can avoid it.
Park the car somewhere where there is nothing and no one to hit for a hundred feet or so. Set the parking brake really good, block the wheels so the car cant move. Push the clutch pedal down and put it in second, rev the engine up to about 2000 rpm, let off the gas and and drop the clutch at the same time. the engine should immediately stall. If it doesnt, its time for a new clutch.

Dont forget to change the trans oil while he's got it out, and make SURe he greases the splined shaft that the clutch disc rides on. Also - if you think your CV drive axles might be ready to go out now too - (if they are original, they probably are already worn out and howling at you by now) - now's a great time to change those too, since they have to come out anyway.

[HomeGrown]

That seems like a really odd time to feel the clutch slip... 60+ mph in 5th gear? I would think that a slipping clutch would be more prevelant in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd gear when the engine is producing more torque. I could be wrong, because I haven't had that much experience with clutches going bad. When my S-10 clutch started slipping, it showed up more in 3rd gear, IIRC. Couldn't have had anything to do with the turbo.

[IvanHoe]

Originally Posted by marc780

Sure ivan, so the car is almost 20 years old - 132,000 is not alot of miles on a Camry. My 2002 V6 just clicked over 100,000 - and i still owe lots of pmts on it!!!! Why not keep it esp if you can fix it for cheap. If the trans slips and you think the clutch is worn - it is - i'd just bite the bullet and change it!

If you want to make SURE the clutch is worn out, try this test. Its a little tough on the car so i wouldnt advise anybody to do it more than once if you can avoid it.
Park the car somewhere where there is nothing and no one to hit for a hundred feet or so. Set the parking brake really good, block the wheels so the car cant move. Push the clutch pedal down and put it in second, rev the engine up to about 2000 rpm, let off the gas and and drop the clutch at the same time. the engine should immediately stall. If it doesnt, its time for a new clutch.

Dont forget to change the trans oil while he's got it out, and make SURe he greases the splined shaft that the clutch disc rides on. Also - if you think your CV drive axles might be ready to go out now too - (if they are original, they probably are already worn out and howling at you by now) - now's a great time to change those too, since they have to come out anyway.

I have fresh gear oil in it and recent axles as well....
When I eventually 100% need a fresh clutch, Im gonna have my mechanic leave the axles in while he slips the tranny out to get to the clutch assembly(dont wont to mess with the gear oil AT ALL!!!...long story)
thanx for the advice.....especially greasing up the splined shaft. Im also gonna resurface the flywheel

Originally Posted by HomeGrown

That seems like a really odd time to feel the clutch slip... 60+ mph in 5th gear? I would think that a slipping clutch would be more prevelant in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd gear when the engine is producing more torque. I could be wrong, because I haven't had that much experience with clutches going bad. When my S-10 clutch started slipping, it showed up more in 3rd gear, IIRC. Couldn't have had anything to do with the turbo.

I 100% agree, it was odd to me that it would show slippage in 5th......if a clutch is really bad, then yes.....but initial slippage usually starts in 3rd.

[Kep]

OK, I feel foolish asking but I didn't notice any comment that you have checked your pedal play or linkage. You have, right?

Kep

[IvanHoe]

Originally Posted by Kep

OK, I feel foolish asking but I didn't notice any comment that you have checked your pedal play or linkage. You have, right?

Kep

everything feels fine.........no leaks, clutch fluid at proper level........it's odd how it slipped that one time, I thought for sure that it's time for a new clutch.

[HomeGrown]

Maybe it was a fluke... just one of those weird occurences that make you scratch your head at why it happened, but then it doesn't happen again (hopefully). Weren't you talking about picking up a new tranny anyway Ivan?

[IvanHoe]

Originally Posted by HomeGrown

Maybe it was a fluke... just one of those weird occurences that make you scratch your head at why it happened, but then it doesn't happen again (hopefully). Weren't you talking about picking up a new tranny anyway Ivan?

at one point I was....slightly cracked the case where the fill plug screws on, but Ive managed to fix it, JB Weld and silicone did the trick (it was cracked above the fluid line anyways)




.....im guessin my clutch slipped due to some type of freakish linkage thing.......in fact I drove like a manic tonite all over the city with no problems whatsoever

[marc780]

Originally Posted by Kep

OK, I feel foolish asking but I didn't notice any comment that you have checked your pedal play or linkage. You have, right?

Kep

Clutch pedals can be adjusted to get a few hundred more miles from a dying clutch. But when they have worn to that stage where they require it, in my experience its a warning from the clutch telling you its worn out.

The issue here is if you change the clutch before its down to the rivets, often only a light sanding of the flywheel and a cleaning with brake cleaner is needed to make it like new again. (The sanding is done with fine emery cloth, back and forth across its surface not round and round. The sanding is done to break the "glaze" from the old clutch disc so your new one wont wear out too fast. If you change your own clutch, and you are not resurfacing the flywheel, don't skip this step unless you like changing clutches alot.)
But if you let the clutch go too long, it might take the flywheel with it by scoring it with its lining material rivets and requiring you to resurface or replace it. And if you think taking off the CV joint spline nuts are tough - just try getting those flywheel bolts off while lying under the car without an impact wrench (they are torqued to almost 200 ft. lbs.)

Mileage and driving conditions are your best guide as to when to change it, or just do the rough-and-ready test i described above. Clutch is a normal wear item and is probably not going to last the life of the car. 50,000 - 100,000 miles is about what you are going to get from most of them.

[Doctor J]

On my 79 supra the OEM clutch was installed at 73 Kmi. It lasted until the car was rear-ended at 147 Kmi.