Clutch Replacment?
 

I figured I would ask before I spent the money to get the clutch replaced because I am not 100% sure it is the clutch. After long drives, my clutch slips quite a bit in first gear when taking off, and the car shakes a ton. But it never slips when the clutch is cold or just being driven around town. Does the clutch simply just need to be replaced, or is it possibly something else?

Mileage? What RPM level do you take-off at? Does the clutch slip in 5th at WOT from 3k RPM-ish?

The clutch only has about 18k miles on it, which is why I am not so certain it's that, but my brother/dad have driven it at times and REALLY roasted the clutch because of how weird the clutch is on our cars and how not used to it they were. 69k miles on the car. No, it doesn't slip in 5th at WOT from 3k miles. I take off at a low RPM, maybe 1.8k rpm? I always take off at the same rpm, and it's never high.

Seems like normal use cases. Maybe uneven deposits from being driven overly-hard/improperly?



Stock or aftermarket clutch?


The stock full organic clutch disc is pretty resilient.

Okay, it's a stock clutch. I also wanted to add that what I mean by slipping in first gear is if I don't rev it significantly higher than normal when moving from a stop, the car will shake a ton like it's about to stall; the lights have flickered too at times during this too. But again, this only happens after long trips or the clutch has been heated up by bad driving.

Yeah I'm not too sure. Maybe someone else will chime in with more insight.


I've had "chugging" when RPMs dip too low and the car is getting lugged, but that was on aftermarket clutch kit.



1800 RPM held seems pretty reasonable; maybe try raising take-off RPM a little bit to 2000 and see if it persists

So you say it's slipping, but you describe the exact opposite.

What do you mean by "If I don't rev it significantly higher than normal" ? What's significant" what's normal? If I had to put words to what you're describing, it sounds like choppy engagement at idle?

There could be a number of reasons for that, some related to the clutch and some not. The throttle could be caked up and the computer has trouble compensating for the load at idle, the clutch may not be worn but you could have overheated spots on the flywheel or pressure plate, engagement could feel harsh if the throwout bearing is binding on the colar, likewise if the clutch disc is contaminated.

It's really hard to get a feel for a clutch via text.

I see, I'll probably just take it into a shop. Normal is what I said above, taking off at around 1800 rpm, but when I am experiencing this issue I have to take off a lot higher maybe around 2500 rpm to not almost stall. What confuses me the most is that it doesn't happen on drives shorter than maybe 25 miles, I've narrowed it down to what I think is the clutch because if I deliberately heat up the clutch by driving it like I am new to manual (taking off at maybe 3000 rpm and getting it to smell)the symptoms will happen immediately after that.

If your normal is taking off at 1800, damn, maybe you do have some hot spots because "normal" should be barely above idle...

These cars are actually pretty hard to stall and gladly hook up at idle with no throttle at all.

You describe something similar to what happened to me when I had old oil. If I recall correctly, it threw an error code for the VVT, perhaps lack of enough pressure.
Does it feel like the vibrations/shudders come from the footwell or somewhere else?

You’re right that was an overestimate, I’m by no means launching my car and am taking off a little higher than ideal, but maybe there are hot spots from previous mistakes?
It’s interesting you say that because I’ve and everyone else who has driven my car think that it is extremely easy to stall, when I first bought the car and when I had the clutch replaced the first time. Even after driving my car for the past 4 years I’ve found it SIGNIFICANTLY easier to stall than say a wrx, evo, 370z, civic. If I try to get going without using throttle I have to release the clutch very very slow to not stall.

In regards to oil i don’t think it can be, if you are talking about engine oil I replaced it 2800 miles ago and had a oil analysis done and it was perfect. I want to say the vibrations come from the transmission because my shifter will shake violently but it’s hard to pinpoint because the whole car kinda shakes. There’s a lot a sort of chatter sound which sounds like it’s coming from the trans.

You sure it's not tires slipping?

Haha, yes 100% sure