Making your clutch last longer

While manual gearbox clutches have benefitted from many detailed improvements over the years, driving style remains the biggest influence on their lifespans. Replacement parts are not just costly but so too are labour charges for clutch replacement. This is because renewing a clutch involves significant dismantling.

As many car warranties treat manual gearbox clutches as wear-and-tear items, they can have reduced time/mileage terms imposed. They may even be excluded altogether. The situation may be different for clutches fitted to single, or twin-clutch automated manual gearboxes, to which much of this advice does not apply.

GEM hopes, therefore, that these top tips help you get maximum and economical life from your clutch:

Minimising clutch wear in traffic

Riding the clutch occurs, when waiting for prolonged periods in traffic, or at traffic lights. Keeping the clutch pedal depressed, even slightly, for relatively long periods puts strain on not just the clutch hydraulics (or cable) but also the release bearing. The correct technique is to apply the parking brake, engage neutral and release all foot pedals.

Extensive release bearing (or concentric slave cylinder) wear also results if the clutch pedal is used as a footrest, while driving.

Reducing clutch slip: strategies for longer clutch lifespan

Maintaining the clutch biting point for long periods, especially at elevated engine speeds, overheat the clutch plate rapidly, Very often, you can detect a pungent smell from the friction linings as they vapourise. Stopping the car from rolling on an incline, using clutch slip alone, is a common poor driving technique that shortens clutch life

markedly. So too are fast getaways, or slow parking manoeuvres while towing. To avoid overheating, clutch slip should be kept to a minimum, preferably less than five seconds at a time.

Choosing the right gear

Labouring the engine in too high a gear, especially under hard acceleration, when towing, or climbing a steep hill, might not harm the clutch but it comprises the dual mass flywheel, to which it is bolted. If the flywheel fails, the clutch will need to be replaced, too. This is because the flywheel has to absorb the vibrations that result from being over-laboured at low engine speeds. Another condition that promotes flywheel failure is allowing the car to idle for long periods, with the engine-driven air conditioning compressor engaged.

Changing gear tends not to wear the clutch. Selecting a lower gear and raising the left pedal gradually, to take advantage of engine braking, should not overheat the clutch provided that it is not slipping for more than five seconds.

Safeguarding your clutch from oil spillages

When topping up the engine compartment with oil, be wary that any spillages could find their way into the clutch, causing slipping. The resultant overheating causes a glaze to form on the friction surfaces, which may never be resolved. Therefore, a new clutch may be the only cure.

Engine and gearbox oil leaks from elderly oil seals may also promote clutch slippage. For this reason, have the engine crankshaft and gearbox input shaft oil seals replaced, whenever the clutch is renewed.

The impact of engine tuning on clutch and flywheel wear

If your engine has been modified, or 'chipped' to increase its power output, you will place the clutch and its flywheel under extra strain, should you use the extra power. The main way you can tell is if the clutch 'slips' in a high gear under full power, a

situation that will overheat and wear it out. The same situation occurs, if the car is overloaded.

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