Clutch

How can you tell when a clutch is worn out? Is there any warning or will
it all of a sudden stop working?

Must a mechanic check it periodically?

2000 SC2

XINO

 

he engine will rev up faster than the car is accelerating. At first,
you'll notice it under high load situations - going uphill, trunk full of
heavy stuff, trying to rocket away from stop signs. Then it will get
progressivly worse.

when I first asked this question, I was always told "you'll know." Having
experienced it (at 95K miles in a car that for the 1st 55k was driven by
teenagers, then for the next 40 driven hard by me), I can tell you -
"you'll know."

 

True dat.
It will often smell bad too inside the engine - often getting sucked into
the passenger compartment when the fan is on. Smells like burning brake
pads (because that's basically what it is) which smells acrid and pungent -
like burning leaves sort of.

Once, however, on a 1983 Audi 4000 - it just collapsed after what seemed to
me to be an unfairly brief warning period. I just pressed the pedal, I
heard a "thunk" in the engine, the pedal went dead and the car stalled.

End of clutch.

-e