So i'm driving home from work and I'm stuck in traffic. I mean the kind of traffic where you could leave your car and go grab lunch, watch a movie, take a nap, and get a dental check up come back and still the car in front of you would have only moved an inch. So, I'm in this stop and go, stop and go traffic with about a quarter tank of gas (according to the guage) and I smell my clutch burning. Now, I'm a pretty experienced clutch driver so even in thraffic I dont really ride my clutch too hard, but the smell continues. It gets worse as worse and pretty soon the car is not really going forward or responding with too much "umph" in even lower gears. It even felt like it was about to stall or something, as it began to sort of shake, and so I though maybe it was low gas and the burning smell was just from the clutch being over used in traffic. Anyway, I pull over and call roadside assistance. It takes over an hour but they get there. The guy confirms that it is not gas, I have enough, but that I need to just go easier on the clutch. So I start the car again and drive lightly as possible, and I get home. THe clutch felt better, and the smell began to subside, but it still felt a litle weak in the lower gears. Now I assure you I never ride my clutch hard. I didnt experience anything but any normal rushhour traffic, and I drove my car normally for traffic conditions. I think there is a problem with it so Im taking it to the dealers tomorrow. Any thoughts on what might be wrong? [???1]
scare on the road...car probs
- Thread starter pydo82
- Start date
well i dont wanna sound mean, but ill just be straight forward here................I think what happend was that you definitly rhode the clutch to much (which sometimes its unavoidable) for example last saturdAY night i went to a couple bars and got stuck in traffic on a pretty steep incline, and i had no choice but to ride the clutch in order for me not to hit the person behind me cuz it would roll backwards. anyway after riding the clutch so bad it started smelling really bad and well what happens is that the clutch is like a brake rotor and a brake pad!! if it gets to hot it will loose performance untill it cools down. So anyway after i got back on flat land that one night and the clutch cooled down it was working just fine.............. so i guess the best thing to do is to avoid riding the clutch as much as you can.
yeah, i mean I know that it seems like I've been riding the clutch, but honestly, I wasnt. I was on flat ground, I always start in first, and I always let off enough on the clutch before giving it throttle. I've driven it hard a few times (after breaking it in), but nowhere near to the point of others who have no problems with the clutch. Realistically, even if Im a bad driver, it has very little miles on it. I dont think the clutch would wear that fast. I drive very conservatively, and I just dont think this is a problem I should have. I took it to the dealer and they basically said I have to take out the clutch for inspection which means that if it isnt a defect Im stuck with the bill. Dont wanna do that. I guess I'm good for now, but now I feel scared to drive the damn thing. Supposedley a "drivers" car, or ultimate driving machine, but I have to be so careful with the clutch. Again, I stress that I never ride the clutch, I'm very careful not to do that and I dont go up hill ever. Very strange. I just have my fingers crossed and hope it doesnt happen again.
I sit in bad traffic sometimes, too, and sometimes it is uphill. I have a little technique for you guys that some people know about and some people don't. When you are in traffic, you are going to do a lot of starting, and that is when you do the most clutch slipping. My trick is to let the clutch out in 1st gear without applying any gas. When the clutch then starts to make contact and the rpm's drop a little bit, you can hold it there and then slowly let the clutch out and apply just a bit of gas. This is like virtually 0 clutch slippage, and what's good is that this same technique works on a hill, as well. You don't have to use your hand-brake when you are starting from a hill. Just keep your right foot on the brake and slowly let the clutch out and it first hits contact your engine will drop a few-hundred rpm's but will still be turning. Then you can let go of the brake and the car will be held there (it won't roll backwards) and it won't stall out, either. You can then put your foot on the gas and slowly let the clutch out...this is virtually 0 clutch slippage again while preventing you from rolling backwards. Do I use this tecnique? Sometimes yes, sometimes no...depends. When it's very slow-ass traffic, I use it, but when it's stop-and-go at a pace, then I just use my hand-brake to hold my ass on an uphill.
But if you aren't quick to let the clutch all the way out when doing this, you are doing some of the worst slipping you can do to your clutch - you are essentially holding the car on a hill by using the friction created by having the clutch halfway engaged. Think about it - if the car is being held on the hill by the clutch, the clutch disc is stationary since it's directly connected to the non-moving rear wheels while the flywheel is rubbing against the stationary clutch disc at what, 700 rpm? All the while, the friction between the two is essentially holding the weight of the car to keep it from rolling. Not good - the clutch won't last long doing this.
You don't want to hold the clutch pedal at the friction point any longer than you need to. Optimally, the clutch pedal should be either fully depressed or fully released - you want to minimize the time the clutch spends between the two extremes.
pydo, I wouldn't be too concerned. I drove a 2000 Z3 for a summer, and I remember that with the top down in heavy stop and go traffic, you could periodically smell clutch friction material - I think it's just a combination of the tightness of the clutches in Bimmers (one of the reasons they are so awesome) and the soft friction material they use on them (the other reason they are so awesome). If this was a constantly recurring situation, I might get concerned, but I think you're probably still fine.
You don't want to hold the clutch pedal at the friction point any longer than you need to. Optimally, the clutch pedal should be either fully depressed or fully released - you want to minimize the time the clutch spends between the two extremes.
pydo, I wouldn't be too concerned. I drove a 2000 Z3 for a summer, and I remember that with the top down in heavy stop and go traffic, you could periodically smell clutch friction material - I think it's just a combination of the tightness of the clutches in Bimmers (one of the reasons they are so awesome) and the soft friction material they use on them (the other reason they are so awesome). If this was a constantly recurring situation, I might get concerned, but I think you're probably still fine.
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jrt, you are completely right, there is a bit of clutch-slipping occurring with my technique. But the fact is, I idle at 400-600 and when I do my technique and the clutch is partially engauged, revs drop down to 400...that is so low I doubt it is doing any significant damage to the clutch...I conclude this because it is my only traffic technique that doesn't give me any funky smells. =)
But you are absolutely right, it is necessary to quickly let go of the brake and push the gas...fortunately, after practicing this technique a little bit, it becomes really natural and easy to perform. It is the best technique I have for stop-and-go traffic on an uphill.![[:D]](/images/smilies/biggrin.png "Big Grin [:D]")
But you are absolutely right, it is necessary to quickly let go of the brake and push the gas...fortunately, after practicing this technique a little bit, it becomes really natural and easy to perform. It is the best technique I have for stop-and-go traffic on an uphill.
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then we'd loose the gap we created from the AUTOs 
riding the clutch is something that most manual drives do for a very short period of time every day or so. all it means is half engaging the clutch so you can hold the car with out the brake being on and also creep along all without stalling. You effictivly gear down the revs.
e.g. you dial in 2000rpm enough to launch you into car in fronts rear seat . you don't want all the power at once so you slip or ride the clutch and gradually get faster. lifting the clutch as you go.
slipping and riding are pretty much the same alougth people say slip when they are performing a start and ride when you just use it to keep position in traffic.
riding the clutch on hills can also be replaced by an ingenious new system called learning to drive properly
e.g. you dial in 2000rpm enough to launch you into car in fronts rear seat . you don't want all the power at once so you slip or ride the clutch and gradually get faster. lifting the clutch as you go.
slipping and riding are pretty much the same alougth people say slip when they are performing a start and ride when you just use it to keep position in traffic.
riding the clutch on hills can also be replaced by an ingenious new system called learning to drive properly
Can't wait for the cars to come out with SMG-like tranny that does not weight more than a manual, has the same shifter as normal manuals, and can disingage the clutch by itself when you are about to move the shifter.... and oh yeah... heated shifter for those cold mornings. That would be a dream come true, especially with different mode such as normal, sport, and race so the car is ready. ![[:I]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_blush.gif "Blush [:I]")