Symptoms of bad clutch

[CorollaMan1]

The guy I bought my avensis from said that the car needed a new clutch.

I thought I felt the clutch slip when I first drove it home when I was in 3rd but Im not able to recreate it. 

Took it out for 3 days now on the roads and dual carriageways to try and there is no slipping. It pulls well in every gear and the rev counter is in sync with my speed even whem I floor it. 

The bite feels high to me and the pedal feels spongy/creaky and makes a sound like an old barn door when I press the pedal and it is maybe 2/3's of the way through the motion. It doesn't feel like the clutch on my Corolla.

My local independents have quoted between 300-500 for the clutch replacement which im happy to pay but everyone is too busy round here to do diagnostics.

I have provisionally booked it in with a kwik fit plus for a road test as the guy said to me if its not slipping it probably doesn't need replacing but slave cylinders are a common issue on this car. (1.8 vvti). 

So I don't know what to do. Happy to replace the clutch but its stupid to waste money 

 

 

[Mooly]

If you dip the clutch and let the revs drop when in say fourth gear and doing around 30mph and then just let the clutch in again very smartly without giving it any revs then there should be no sense of slippage, you should feel the jolt as the engine comes back up to speed. Any softness due to slippage should be apparent. Although a bit harsh you can also accelerate hard in fourth and dip the clutch momentarily to let the revs rise. As you release the clutch onto the now higher spinning engine there should be no slippage, the revs should come back down instantly. 

If slave cylinders are a known issue then you have to go with that and regard it as suspect. A high pedal sounds like wear of the friction surfaces as does a hard pedal.

 

[CorollaMan1]

What is slippage or the engine slipping? I think this is where I am struggling. 

What does it sound, look or feel like when the clutch slips? 

I thought that it was when you put your foot down the revs rise but the car doesn't accelerate straight away or feels laggy. 

So just to make sure I understand go about 30mph in 4th gear, take my foot off the accelerator and then press my clutch in, wait a second then release the clutch so it goes back in gear, then watch if the revs rise? 

What will I notice if its slipping, a delay in the revs rising straight away? How subtle is it? 

Sorry for the 20 questions. 

 

[Mooly]

A clutch that is obviously slipping will do as you as you say, the revs rise while the car doesn't accelerate, however you can have a clutch that just about passes that test and yet is almost at that point wear wise.

1 hour ago, CorollaMan1 said:

So just to make sure I understand go about 30mph in 4th gear, take my foot off the accelerator and then press my clutch in, wait a second then release the clutch so it goes back in gear, then watch if the revs rise? 

Yes, that's it.

And the reverse of that is dipping the clutch at speed and blipping the revs higher (while in neutral) and then smartly letting the clutch out again which should feel as if the engine speed has been pulled back down instantly. If you can sense the revs falling back without much of a jolt then the clutch is slipping.

Remember when the clutch pedal is released, the engine and gearbox should be effectively clamped tightly together and so you should never really sense any softness or lag as the two come to the same speed. What you should feel is the car protesting at being asked to do that and feel it as a sudden ***** through the transmission.     

[Harry Carri]

You could also select first gear and with the hand brake fully applied raise the clutch whilst adding a few revs. 

This could induce clutch slip as you try to drive the car against the brake. 

I was advised to have a new clutch once the clutch started to slip. 

[gezhenry]

Doesn't sound like it's obviously slipping I'd wait until you can definitely detect it.

a clutch can be high up on the biting point for some time.

if you squirt grease under the rubber bellows of the clutch slave cylinder and any joints near there and maybe the pedal linkages too it should take away the creaking.