1st gen Auris, 1.4 petrol, clutch slipping, then catching:

[brainii]

1st gen Auris, 1.4 petrol, clutch slipping, then catching:

 

so wife had the fine idea of starting the car on a slightly inclined road in 3rd gear. Car started giving out a burnt smell and wouldn't move till she realized and put in 1st gear. I drove the car around for a week and it seemed fine.

However, since yesterday, I noticed that the clutch is slipping, specifically:

1) after hard acceleration revs go up but the car doesn't accelerate much (especially noticeable in 2nd gear).

2) sometimes while revs are up, the clutch seems to "catch" on and the revs go down quickly and then normal acceleration.

Am I right to think that the clutch disc should be replaced and how urgent is this?

Thanks

 

[furtula]

She most probably glazed the clutch while doing that.

Could be it just got worn out, if high mile, or stock clutch.

There are some DIY deglazing advices, but i would not try them.

Just drive the car normally, don't accelerate hard as it will slip and make it worse. Hopefully after some time enough material will be removed from the clutch plate to get it more sticky again. That's if the clutch still has material left.

If it's on its way out, eventually it will just slip when trying to start, but it's nothing urgent if it still drives.

[Catlover]

The clutch is on its way out, be prepared to replace it and soon I would suggest. When you do get it changed make sure you fit quality parts, including a thrust bearing. Quality parts make cost more, but cheap ones will give up sooner, then you going through the whole procedure again. It’s not a diy job unless you have done some mechanicing, so find yourself a trustworthy garage or mobile mechanic.

[brainii]

34 minutes ago, furtula said:

She most probably glazed the clutch while doing that.

Could be it just got worn out, if high mile, or stock clutch.

There are some DIY deglazing advices, but i would not try them.

Just drive the car normally, don't accelerate hard as it will slip and make it worse. Hopefully after some time enough material will be removed from the clutch plate to get it more sticky again. That's if the clutch still has material left.

If it's on its way out, eventually it will just slip when trying to start, but it's nothing urgent if it still drives.

I should add that it is the original clutch, the car has about 70k km's on it and it's a manual gearbox car (don't know if that matters). I wonder if indeed it could "fix itself" by removing enough material as you suggest, or if by waiting longer it could damage the flywheel, leading to more expenses that could be prevented.

[Catlover]

I never heard of a slipping clutch fixing itself, but there again I don’t hear everything.

if you leave it, and it does not repair itself then damaging the flywheel is a strong option, more cost. 
The choice is all yours.

[brainii]

58 minutes ago, Catlover said:

I never heard of a slipping clutch fixing itself, but there again I don’t hear everything.

if you leave it, and it does not repair itself then damaging the flywheel is a strong option, more cost. 
The choice is all yours.

I never heard it either, but the member above mentioned it 🙂

Well, I've been quoted close to €600 by Toyota and €150 labour + parts by my local mechanic. Toyota also said they need half the money now to preorder the components (which will take 2 weeks to arrive).

So, I suppose I'll take it the local guy, but I gotta ask if it's not a terribly complicated job is it??? (I mean no Toyota specific tools/skills needed or anything like that)? My guy is an experienced /trusty enough mechanic (parts won't be original but he says there is no difference other than price).

[furtula]

You need to read again what i wrote, i never said it will fix it self, but that problems might fix itself over time, not that they will. For all i know, the clutch could be 6 months old with plenty of meat, just glazed on top, and that might wear our over time with normal use.

As for the flywheel, it should be resurfaced with every clutch change anyway, but not every mechanic does it.

 

[Catlover]

I don’t think any special Toyota tools are required.

“Parts won’t be original but he says there is no difference other than price”

that raises my concern. There is a lot of difference between brands of clutches, don’t be fooled.

What exactly is this mechanic quoting for?  Labour seems reasonable for non Toyota job, but you need to know whose clutch cover, pressure plate and thrust bearing he using, and has he thought of a new flywheel if that has been damaged ie can he get one and return if not needed, if he can’t do that how long will it take to get one if he finds he needs one (how long might your car be off the road).

I know LUK clutches have a good reputation, the 3 parts mentioned above maybe 160-180 euro (bit of a guess) 

Where are you from?

[Catlover]

4 minutes ago, furtula said:

You need to read again what i wrote, i never said it will fix it self, but that problems might fix itself over time, not that they will. For all i know, the clutch could be 6 months old with plenty of meat, just glazed on top, and that might wear our over time with normal use.

As for the flywheel, it should be resurfaced with every clutch change anyway, but not every mechanic does it.

 

Hi Dean, in one of his post brainii says the car is on original clutch and done about 70,000 kilometres, about 43,000 miles. Not a lot, but depends how it’s been used.

[brainii]

1 hour ago, Catlover said:

Where are you from?

Im from Cyprus, we have a very good stock of parts over here especially for Toyotas as they are very popular. No idea what actual brand it is, but whatever it is, it's gonna work fine (I trust my local garage, the parts they use are OEM compatible).

[Catlover]

It’s good to have a mechanic who you can trust, worth their weight in gold.   Come back and let us all know how you get on. 

[TonyHSD]

The idea of clutch clean itself make sense but that if the car is new, or the clutch is new, here we have an older car with probably already worn out clutch and IMO the op should get it replaced ASAP. There is nothing better than using original parts where possible, however good quality aftermarket like blueprint are also recommended as these are almost as good as oem or exact same quality, some others not really and the price it’s not the only difference between oem and third party parts, the difference in quality and performance can be huge. It’s up to the owner what to do from now, all comments I found helpful. 
Regards 

[brainii]

all done. replacement brand was exedy, kit, disc, front and back cover.

clutch pedal feels lighter now, but bites more "abruptly", rpm revving is gone, car accelerates normally.

 

paid less than half that toyota wanted

 

here"s a pic of the old parts

[Catlover]

I very pleased you got it sorted, now you can relax and enjoy.

[Mooly]

Excellent. That old one does look to be pretty much down to the rivets in parts. 

[furtula]

Clutch glazed like it's a cake, but looks like it still had plenty of meat left.

 

[brainii]

well from what i saw holding and inspecting the old disc, wear looked uneven, in places it was down to the rivets, in other places plenty of meat left i wonder how thats possible.

 

[Catlover]

Something warped.