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Lifetime of a clutch

5K views 17 replies 7 participants last post by  DannoXYZ 
#1 ·
I have a 94 Prizm with 166k miles. I've had it for 6 years, and I believe the clutch has never been replaced. When do clutches usually give out, and how much would it cost to have one professionally replaced?
 
#2 ·
They give out when they give out. Sounds like a smartass reply, but what I mean is that how the clutch is treated, and what kind of miles were put on it, have more to do with when it wears out than the passage of a certain amount of time. If the miles were mostly highway miles where the car stays in one gear, it's likely to last 250k or more. If a moron drove it and held the cars still on hills by slipping the clutch instead of using the brakes, well, it would already have been replaced. So, I guess what I'm saying is don't worry about it if it seems to be fine. As for cost, I dunno. I wouldn't pay someone else to do that, I do that sort of thing myself.
 
#3 ·
My first car, an '82 Supra that my dad taught me to drive stick with, lasted 245k-miles on the original clutch. I had friends with the same MKII model and some of them went through clutches every 30k-miles. What's the difference? It depends upon your clutch-technique and how much grinding & slipping of the clutch is involved.

For example, most people let off the gas and step in the clutch at the same time to shift. Then they move the lever, the let out the clutch and step on the gas at the same time. What this does is make the synchros spin up the engine & gears to match the road-speed of the tyres. The slips the clutch and slides the friction-disc against the flywheel to match up the two sides.

If you've ever driven non-synchro transmissions, you know there's extra steps involved to match the engine to the road-speed. Matching the throttle/engine-speed to the road-speed before stepping in the clutch. You'll notice that when you step in the clutch, the engine-speed won't change and there won't be any jerking of the car. Then while shifting gears, put the engine at the same RPMs they'd be in the next gear before letting out the clutch. With the RPMs matched properly, you'll find that the engine-speed won't change when you let out the clutch; no jerking of the car. In both the clutch-in and clutch-out operation, the RPMs are adjusted so that the flywheel is at exactly the same speed as the clutch-disc/transmission, so there's very little slippage between the two. Clutch-disc will pretty much last forever when driven this way.... until you upgrade to so much power that the engine-torque will slip the clutch...

Then it'll be about $100-200 for a new clutch-kit and $300-500 for someone to install it.
 
#4 ·
I've put 3 clutches in my dodge dually. This is due to more than doubling the stock hp and torque output of the engine, and purposely abusing the clutch (doing burnout starting in 3rd gear). This is a perfect example of how to finish off a clutch in record time. Likewise, doing what the poster above said is a perfect example of how to make a clutch last forever.
 
#6 ·
The best clutch I've found for street & occasional track cars with upgraded power is the Centerforce clutch. It's got 2-3x the clamping pressure of stock yet doesn't have a super-heavy pedal.

Beyond that would be a Borg & Beck. If you have to ask about that, you don't need it.
 
#8 ·
I will warn you to NOT buy a clutch from your local discount parts store. I learned that long ago having to fit two even three before getting a good one. The magic word for a good clutch is Exedy. Best quality and driveability, by far!

Dont forget to replace the rear crank seal and the front transmission seal when removing the transmission. They both will need replacing.

-SP
 
#14 ·
My original clutch let go at 317k miles.

My $58 ebay spec clutch that I installed in 2010 now has 158k miles with many curbside burnouts, and about 50+ clutch dumps.

Not that I recommend you do any of those things.
 
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