Clutch Judder

[john23]

I've noticed my clutch on my YTS seems to be getting a little bit juddery when it's cold recently. First few times in the morning when I pull away from standstill, I notice a bit of judder which seems to happen just as the clutch is gripping (ie- as the friction plates in the clutch stop slipping against each other). The same thing happens after a day at work in the evening, although if I leave the car for just a few hours and then drive somewhere else then it won't be noticeable. It is intermittent, and is sometimes more noticable than others. Once I've pulled away a few times and things have warmed up a little bit, it has so far at least been fine after that.

It seems to be more noticeable through the pedal rather than the whole car shaking or 'kangerooing'. It kinda feels a little bit like the friction plates start to grip, and then slip a little bit a couple of times before gripping properly.

The clutch doesn't slip at all when either hot or cold with the "25mph and floor it in 4th" test, so I'm guessing the friction material hasn't worn through completely.

The car is 3.5 years old, and has covered 56,000 miles. I had a similar problem at around 30,000 miles, which Toyota fixed under warranty - but being warranty work, there was no invoice. They didn't really explain what they'd done at the time other than replace something to do with the clutch, so I'm not sure exactly what they did back then.

It's going in to Toyota next week for them to take a look, although being an intermittent problem, sods law means that it will probably behave perfectly when they test it...

Has anyone else experienced this problem on a Yaris (or any other car), and/or able to suggest anything as to what might be wrong?

Any advice would be much appreciated :)

[seveer unaek]

I think i do.

I get an intermittent problem too, it feels like it's letting the clutch out much slower, like its gone a bit jelly like. It seems to happen in the rain, don't know if that's the same, but it can be a bit annoying... it feels like it doesn't want to let the clutch out.

[clarky]

Never had this with my Yaris, but have had it ages ago with old cars - was put down to oil dripping or leaking onto the clutchplate - hence loss of friction - the same?

Try to find out exactly what they did last time mate

Clarky

[Viper_7]

I get this clutch judder every single morning...have always since new (3 years ago) MR T told me that they had also heard it from a few other people, as I went to get it checked...they said that they found nothing wrong on the other motors and simply said it's because the plates are cold and tend to snatch a little.

Pain in the neck for me...as I need to pull out of a tight country road onto a busy A-road each morning...it really must be knackering the transmission, most cold days as I pull away hard it's just "bang bang bang bang" as the clutch plates get a hold....then lose it...they just don't seem to "slip" as they should. Never happens after that...until the next cold morning.....

Vipes

[mark999]

I'm really glad I'm not the only one getting clutch judder when cold. I have a 1.0GS I reported it under warranty but mr T did nothing.

A new clutch from Toyota is £450 fitted, a clutch specialist in hull quoted £225.

I would be really interested to hear if anyone has got the problem sorted.

Cheers,

Mark

[Viper_7]

That's the first time I've ever heard someone mention it on a non-T-sport.

Even in this post...everyone who's mentioned it has a TS.

Vipes

[john23]

Thanks for the replies :)

I'm taking the car in later today, and will be road testing it with them tomorrow morning from cold. Hopefully it will play up so they can see the problem.

I spoke to one of my friends about it last night, and he reckoned it might be the springs in the clutch wearing out which he said would cause judder when cold. If this is the case, then I suppose that is likely to mean a new clutch assembley (which I'm guessing replaced the bearings, friction material and springs?). The dealer reckoned that would be around £500 if required.

I'll see what my dealer has to say in the morning, and will post here again tomorrow.

[minidoughty]

i've just had a similar problem SOLVED. but it was to do with crap burnt out spark plugs!!!!!!!!

[mark999]

I've recently heard from a owners of a 1.3 and a D4D who also have clutch judder.

The clutch specialist in Hull reckoned that the springs in the clutch could be knackered and these could be fixed rather than having a new clutch.

[Viper_7]

I've recently heard from a owners of a 1.3 and a D4D who also have clutch judder.

The clutch specialist in Hull reckoned that the springs in the clutch could be knackered and these could be fixed rather than having a new clutch.

←

Well if that's the case...I know at least 4 people who have had this problem....and all had new cars...so can't see the clutch springs being knackered.... perhaps a design flaw.....yaris has quite a few of those.

vipes

[john23]

The dealer had a look at it this morning, but couldn't find anything wrong on the test run (which I accompanied them on). I thought I could feel the odd slight shudder as he was pulling away, but I never normally travel in the passenger seat so that could be normal and to anyone else perhaps not noticable. The problem is intermittent, and so sometime behaves normally in the morning - which perhaps happened today.

Last time the car went in for a very similar problem, Toyota replaced the whole clutch assembley. That was Jan 2003, at 32,000 miles according to their records. They didn't have any information on exactly what the problem was though unfortunately, although fitting a whole new clutch assembley did sort out the problem. If I remember rightly, the juddering was a bit more violent last time.

The mechanic who went out on the test run with me speculated that it could be down to consensation forming on the cold clutch plates which evaporates as the plates warm up or rust/corrosion somewhere on the clutch assembley. He also mentioned (as Vipes' dealer did) that it is relatively normal for the plates to snatch a little bit sometimes when cold.

My dealer quoted £540 for a new clutch (4+ hours labour at £70+vat/hr starts getting expensive...), but suggested that I leave it as is for the time being, and see if it deteriorates at all (or not, hopefully).

I also got a quote from Mr Clutch, who reckoned £360 for a 'manually' operated clutch. Apparantly there is also an 'electronically' operated clutch, which they said has caused them problems in the past and is best left to Mr T. I'm guessing 'electronically' operated would be for an automatic gearbox? Or perhaps on some manual ones, the clutch has some kind of electronic control mechanism? Mr Clutch also suggested writing to Toyota and asking if this is a common problem, and if I can expect the replace the clutch every 25-30,000 miles - which seems like a reasonably good idea to me.

I'm gonna leave it as is for the time being anyway, and see if it deteriorates or not.