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OT: car question... trying not to get ripped off here


guitarbilly74

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Yeah, it sure can be. I had a girlfriend that bought an MGB. (Cute British sports car for you kids). Very soon after the clutch starts slipping. Sure, no problem, I'll fix it. Turns out for that model, the engine has to come out to get to it.

 

 

I would never own an old Brit car. Never. Most bass-ackwards, low rent designs on the planet. I think I'd rather own something built by the French than a brit automobile.

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You can tell the clutch is slipping if you see your RPMs going up faster disproportionately than your speed when the clutch is engaged (pedal up).


Oh and btw don't be scared to do the clutch yourself. If you have a jack and some jackstands, you can pull the tranny out by hand.

 

 

Dude...a clutch is not a job for a beginner.

 

To the OP...yes the clutch is slipping. You don't need to actually replace the clutch though. You can replace just the friction plates for much cheaper.

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how long can I drive like this before all goes to {censored}??

 

 

Just drive the thing normally. You're not a hot rodder so you're not gonna be putting crazy strains on it anyway.

 

Just get a stock replacement clutch and it's good to get hte flywheel resurfaced, but if they dont do it, it'll probably work just fine anyway.

 

There are different schools on breaking in clutches. I've heard one company say to baby it for a thousand miles, then heard someone say that wehn tehy called and talked to one of their reps, he said to let the thing slip and burn it the {censored} up trying to start teh car in 3rd gear and do taht a couple of times to break it in.

 

Really... you're just trying to get something will work so you can drive around to where you need to go. because of that, I dont think it really matters that much how you break it in. Just drive it normally. I dont think you're gonna notice the thing slipping at 5k RPMs at wide open throttle.

 

 

Also, I wouldn't suggest you change a clutch out yourself unless you've got a good selection of tools (sockets, extensions, u-joints, and a floor transmission jack) to do it. If your car is anythign like mine, you'll need to pull the driveshaft, lower the crossmember, support the engine, then carefully undo all the trans to bellhousing bolts, then pull everything apart, remove the flywheel, get it resurfaced, mount it back on... etc etc... and all those clutch parts need to be torqued to specific torque ratings and I dont see you as the type to have a torque wrench. You're gonna spend $350 on tools and a couple of days doing it probably. It's not a hard job but it does take a while.

 

 

Edit: Whoops, I thought I was responding to the post where they were talking about breaking in the new clutch. Change the old clutch out as soon as you can afford it. All you're doing is {censored}ing up your flywheel in the meantime.

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how long can I drive like this before all goes to {censored}??



Yeah it may go a while yet. Eventually it will get the point where you won't have any friction left at all and it will barely move. Right now all that slipping is causing a {censored} load of heat which wears the clutch plates out real fast.

I'd imagine it smells kinda funky too. I remember that smell from when I first started driving a manual... kinda like burnt toast :lol:

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if you're going through the hassle of dropping the tranny, not replacing the disc, pressure plate, T/O bearing, pilot bearing, etc would be stupid.

As others have said, a slipping clutch can work for a very long time. Will it hook up with d/r's or slicks and cut a 1.6x 60' time? no....

but to get you to and fro, if you're easy on it...it could last quite a while.:thu:

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Yeah it may go a while yet. Eventually it will get the point where you won't have any friction left at all and it will barely move. Right now all that slipping is causing a {censored} load of heat which wears the clutch plates out real fast.


I'd imagine it smells kinda funky too. I remember that smell from when I first started driving a manual... kinda like burnt toast
:lol:



No smell at all and no issues once I get the {censored}er going. Just hard to get it going again once I stop at a light or something. Once the car is at 35mph or higher it drives just fine.

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Billy your probably better off getting the assembly, it costs around 200-300. I just checked it out for your car.

You could get your plates replaced, but the thing is they will probably charge labour to do that, and you will most likely just be better off getting the assembly once it's said and done.

Getting the plates replaced is more of a thing for your typical garage mechanic.

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when you guys suggest only doing "plates" are you talking about the clutch disc itself?

because there is only ONE clutch disc/friction plate(on his car).....the other is a pressure plate. Suggesting plates as plural you're saying he should get a clutch kit...

I said it before, if you're going to have the tranny down, just replace it all clutch disc, pressure plate, throw out bearing (why not?), pilot bearing, you'll even get a nifty clutch alignment tool...yay!:thu:

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It needs replacement now. You're generating a ton of heat when it slips.

This is bad for your transmission input shaft seal. Not to mention the flywheel.

It's not going to last 20K, or even 5k miles like this. Fix it asap.

 

 

Thats probably the best advice. You could avoid replacing the flywheel too that way.

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I would never own an old Brit car. Never. Most bass-ackwards, low rent designs on the planet. I think I'd rather own something built by the French than a brit automobile.

 

 

My very first car, 1952 MGTD MKII. I was 15 when I first got it. Paid $200. Had to pull the engine three times to regrind the crankshaft. Finally, the fourth breakdown, after pinching an external oil line to the head and seized the valves (my fault). Sold it for $4000 as is.

 

BUT.... I would never own a German car after buying my wife a used VW Rabbit. Tried to replace a blown headlight. Had to read a MANUAL to figure out how. You have to BREAK the grill off, replace the light and then buy new rivets and replace the grill. My first and LAST German vehicle.

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Those little pop rivets that cost 20 cents each? OH GOD NO!

:lol: just pullin your leg. I know what you mean. They had those on my '90 civic, dealer was charging something retarded like $14/clip because some ass hat slammed me and my door accent dent stopper thing that runs along the car was coming off.

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Those little pop rivets that cost 20 cents each? OH GOD NO!


:lol:
just pullin your leg. I know what you mean. They had those on my '90 civic, dealer was charging something retarded like $14/clip because some ass hat slammed me and my door accent dent stopper thing that runs along the car was coming off.



Yeah, but when they're on the invoice from the dealer, they're not "pop rivets", they're "door accent retainer mechanisms".

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