Clutch Repairs and Maintenance Services.

The clutch system in a vehicle is based on friction between the flywheel and pressure plate, and eventually these parts will begin to wear and the clutch will need replacing.  If you drive your vehicle smoothly, without towing extra loads, you can expect to get around 100,000km or more out of a clutch. Common  abuses of the clutch are known as “riding the clutch”, and excessive revving. When a vehicle is thrashed, or is commonly used to tow or carry heavy loads, or improper clutch release is exercised, the clutch will wear out much faster. Once the friction materials on the clutch parts start to wear out, the two parts spin at different speeds and caused increased wear.

The most common Clutch problems.

• Clutch Slipping - A clutch that is slipping is when it loses its ability to put the car into gear completely, and may feel as if the clutch is still partially engaged when it's completely released, and should be rectified immediately by way of an adjustment, before unnecessary wear occurs or the clutch will fail and require replacement.
• Clutch Sticking- The main causes of a sticking clutch are that the clutch cable needs replacing, the flywheel is warped or damaged, and oil contamination of the clutch linings.
• Clutch Chatter – This is a grabbing or jerking condition that occurs when the clutch is engaged and may be cause by a variety of reasons.
• Hard Clutch – If you find that you have to depress the clutch pedal flat to the floor, then you may need some adjustment in the clutch cabling, pedal linkage, cross shaft, or pivot ball. This is a seldom problem for vehicles fitted with a hydraulic clutch release mechanism.

Possible Symptoms of clutch failure.

• Engine revs increasing but little power
• Poor performance with increased fuel consumption
• Burning smell
• loss of drive
• Unable to engage gear while engine Running

Possible Symptoms of dual mass fly wheel failure.

• Car is "juddering" when setting off or changing gear

• Chattering sound when starting car
• Loss of drive

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, or generally poor performance then your clutch or dual mass flywheel may need attention and should be checked. If you leave a failing clutch too long before having it checked, this could cause further damage to the vehicle, including damaging the flywheel itself, which is a significantly more expensive repair procedure.

Clutch maintenance and replacement

• Genuine and OEM replacement Clutch components to suit your vehicle

• Dual mass flywheel replacement

• Clutch operating maintenance inspection and servicing

• Automatic and semi-automatic gearbox maintenance

The clutch acts as the transfer of energy between the car's engine and gearbox, undergoing significent stress each time a gear is selected, particularly whenever a gear is missed or the clutch is released too sharply.

As an active component the clutch of your vehicle will fail at some stage as the car ages, and is designed to fail rather than cause more serious damage to other components in the drive system. Automatic vehicles do not use a clutch mechanism.

Clutch Replacement.

The clutch assembly of your car is made up of multiple components, depending on the make and model of your vehicle and together with the clutch master cylinder, clutch slive cylinder, clutch fluid, clutch plate there is often a "dual mass flywheel" in modern vehicles that can also fail. Clutch components are large items tightly coupled with the engine and therefore time consuming to replace. For this reason during any clutch related service all components including the dual mass flywheel would also be checked to ensure they are in good working order before reassembling the clutch casing.