Motors clutch wear question

I'm with xeno on this, quality tires, pads and discs and the fact my car weighs nothing ive recently found i can practically stop on a dime now, well it helps the car weighs about 8 times my body weight xD

 

can you redefine "my car has the brakes fitted from one twice its weight"? i cant understand what it means<---- language barrier.

it would be nice if everyone had your equipment and experience... that way we would have less accidents....

 

My car weighs about 800KG, I removed the front brakes, and fitted the brakes from another car, that weighed about 1500KG. The discs, pads and calipers are much bigger now.

 

ow.... i get it. that is a great idea.

 

Also, when you have the footbrake on the pads cool the brake disc in one specific place which causes it to warp.

To the OP: it doesn't wear your clutch, but your release bearing. However, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

Its amazing how many people dont know that, I still haven't been able to convince my parents that their car shakes so much when the brake is applied because they stop at the last second. and all that friction in just a few seconds instead of over a longer time heats the brake and it has no time to dissapate. so much that its warping the... whats it called? the rotor or the caliper? anyway, I let the car slow down as much as possible without using the brake.
Which in itself can be dangerous because the brake lights dont come on, so I keep my foot just on the brake so that the lights are on to warn people behind me that i'm slowing down.

 

Could be the ABS?

 

Yep exactly the same as me. My driving instructor always said 2 phrases that me and friend who went with him will never forget because of the hilarious way they where said, they where

"let the car do the work"

"keep braking...keep braking"

Now without fail every time I come up to a junction I can just imagine him saying it, so I always let the car slow down a bit then gradually brake.

 

Its very rare for discs/rotors to warp during normal use, the vibration is usually caused by pad deposits that are stuck to the disc.

 

I believe it's more likely to happen in an automatic, as you use the brakes more (no engine braking) down hills and this causes them to heat up more.

 

how about a car thats pushing 14 years old?

 

My driving instructor told me it was "gears to go, brakes to slow" - I.e. using engine braking is bad practice. 1) because your lights don't come on and 2) because modern brakes are easily reliable enough to brake smoothly under any conditions and that overheating isn't an issue.

 

If we're on classic quotes for driving instructors mine used to say " slip it into third and DRIVE! the car" , since he taught about a third of my year to drive in 6th form it became an instant classic.

I also tend to slow down using the engine and then use the brakes if i need to lose speed more quickly.

Moriquendi

 

I only use that on parkways and if no one is right behind me. On slower roads coming off the accelerating barely makes a difference to speed anyway as the gears can easily keep rolling.

I 100% agree with what your saying, but also most of the time, the time I am coasting people are slowing down anyway, and if they see my brake lights go on they instictivly brake a little harder and so on.

 

From the highway code:

122

Coasting. This term describes a vehicle travelling in neutral or with the clutch pressed down. It can reduce driver control because

* engine braking is eliminated
* vehicle speed downhill will increase quickly
* increased use of the footbrake can reduce its effectiveness
* steering response will be affected, particularly on bends and corners
* it may be more difficult to select the appropriate gear when needed

I was taught (last year) that whenever you come to a stop for more than a couple of seconds, it's handbrake on first and foremost, into neutral, then feet off the pedals. With the handbrake on there is no chance of the car moving again (unless you get hit by something travelling fast, in which case it's impossible to get out of the way anyway.)

_C

 

Read my post earlier, if you are looking around, then you will see something coming up behind you and if you plan ahead and have room in front of you, you will be able to plan an exit.
Unless of course you have your handbrake on, because then you have to nail the gas and either force the rear wheels to overcome the brake, or drag them along the ground. not to mention that being in neutral is a bit of a problem, because now you have to take the time to get the car into gear to move it in time to avoid an accident.

again, my point is that by paying attention, you are safer than you are by relying on a piece of equipment that a: you dont know if its working unless you test it, b: it may get damaged in an accident and not even do anyting c: prevents you from being able to avoid an accident d: gives you a false sense of security, etc, etc.

on the subject of using the engine to slow down a car, anyone driving a standard may want to consider just using the brake instead. wear on a brake pad, cost = 200$, unless you get cheap ones. wear on a clutch from downshifting over 50,000k = 1000$(yes, I know, the clutch may last longer than that). Of course these prices may be a little off but using the brake is a cheaper way to go. Not to mention that by slowing down gradually you will prevent the brake pads from heating up as much and will help extend their life.

 

i love engine braking as it keeps my right foot free to toe in some more power, iv tried heel toe but my feet are just too big for the pedal box. As for junctions i hold the car on the clutch, and handbrake for any long duration, any longer and i turn the dam car off as its a waste of fuel!

clutchs can take alot of abuse, but slaming the clutch plates together dosen't help, so high rpm or huge torque then slamming the clutch plates together to pull away at full bore off the lights WILL cause damage, normal driving it'll be fine, as manufactures test clutches to death before release. Iv blow an autobox in my time, and the clutch was fine. thats living testament to how much abuse a clutch can take!

my beauty of a 14yr volvo can still out pull and out last most modern cars. iv never had to replace anything other than oil filters, odd water hose that a pigeon destoryed and brake parts i.e pads and discs. Friends seat leon on the other hand has had the clutch master cylinder replaced 4 times in the 3 years from owning since shiney! anyone interested in a seat leon? lol!

 

@OP - surely if the car is stopped at the lights, and you have the clutch disengaged, the engine flywheel is spinning but the clutch itself isn't spinning (as the wheels clearly aren't) so the release bearings aren't actually wearing out at all? of course if you are rolling along then the clutch is spinning so the bearings are wearing out.

Our defender had it's clutch master cylinder pop after ~108000m apparently due to water damage (mhmmmm), and being towed along there was NO braking at all with the engine off. I had to leave it idling otherwise I got a wee bit too close to the towing car.

For pulling away, it's a 2.5L diesel so even on a decent hill, I can sit at traffic lights with the foot brake on (it's a heavy car so anyone piling into my backside will regret it) and in neutral. At red/yellow put it into 1st, then at green gently let out the clutch and take off the brake and it'll hold itself for the 0.5s it takes to open the throttle.

Recently I've been towing large trailers, and I can just feel the clutch being hurt as I try to pull away in traffic jams (grrr I'm looking at the M42-M40 on monday afternoon!!).

When some one did run into me, I was at traffic lights on green, sat behind someone waiting for an ambulance to go past. This old guy was going too fast and smacked me (I was in an automatic corsa at the time). I had my foot on the brake fairly hard as I had to brake hard to not hit the person in front when they stopped. The car jerked forwards a bit, but I didn't release the brake so didn't move particularly far. (hehe it turned out his smart car sports car had it's bumper wrecked, corsa was unharmed)

 

Mine was produced in august 1990, but anyway, at 14 years old the chances are that you've had the discs replaced at least once anyway due to wear .

 

$1000 for a new clutch? Clutch kits for most average family cars seem to go for around £50 ($100) on Ebay.

I'm not really sure about engine braking for slowing down, though.

It's acceptable to shift into a lower gear when going down a hill, as using the brakes all the time is dangerous (they may overheat). But when coming up to a set of traffic lights, I usually stay in gear (clutch engaged) and slow down using the brakes, disengaging the clutch just before coming to a stop. If the lights turn green again before I stop, I bung it into second and carry on.

On the bike I normally do the same - stay in gear until just before stopping then tap it down to first (bike gearboxes don't like going down into first when you're at a standstill.)

Granted, you won't be in the right gear to 'get out of a dangerous situation' immediately, but if you're driving properly (pre-empting what other people will do, scanning ahead and checking in the mirrors) then you won't need to. Other cars don't just come out of nowhere.

(By the way, sorry if it seems like I have my head up my arse - I'm not a brilliant driver and I accept I probably have a lot to learn, but my common sense tells me that this is the correct way to do things).