[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by srivatsahg

After enough postponing I finally decided to give-in and go for the clutch / gear lever overhaul and timing chain/belt replacement . The very scary thought of engine stalling in the middle of nowhere I considered this as a prudent thing to do especially since I frequent a lot on highways.

• Paid service : 8000 + 2500 (labour cost)
  
• Clutch kit : 8600 + 3200 (labour cost.. really ??)
  
• Timing chain: 10000 + 3000 (kill me now)

Misc. Glow plugs, mud liners, passenger sun visors. etc added to the final cost.

Can understand the need to replace the timing chain, but clutch kit? Was it really required incase your highway usage is more?

[ecenandu]

I have seen lot of people doing clutch overhaul at around 60K. My City's clutch is fine even though it has clocked more than a lakh kilometres. To be fair, City has not subjected to crawling city traffic that much.

What symptoms should I tell my dad to look for incase it needs a clutch overhaul. Is the hard clutch the only symptom or the location of clutch bite point, IIRC city 2009, comes with hydraulic clutch actuator.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Can understand the need to replace the timing chain, but clutch kit? Was it really required incase your highway usage is more?

I agree to the extend that even on the timing belt you should stick to whatever it says in the manual. Why replace a clutch if it still works fine?

[humyum]

My 2008 Swift's VDI's first clutch was first replaced at 56 thousand kilometers as Leh took a lot of toll on the clutch as I had to rev dump a lot many times.

The second set is running strong at 1 lakh 7 thousand kilometer and to top it all, It's still light.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by humyum

My 2008 Swift's VDI's first clutch was first replaced at 56 thousand kilometers as Leh took a lot of toll on the clutch as I had to rev dump a lot many times.

The second set is running strong at 1 lakh 7 thousand kilometer and to top it all, It's still light.

What were the symptoms upon which you decided to have the clutch replaced?
Thanks
Jeroen

[samish_g]

Originally Posted by ecenandu

What symptoms should I tell my dad to look for incase it needs a clutch overhaul. Is the hard clutch the only symptom or the location of clutch bite point, IIRC city 2009, comes with hydraulic clutch actuator.

A few symptoms may be: -

1. Lesser pick up (assuming that the diesel filter, engine oil filter, engine oil viscosity and other parameters are OK). In other words, the vehicle movement is less even though the engine is revved sufficiently.

2. Excess fuel consumption (again assuming the above parameters are OK)

3. Jaddering effect in low gear (1st and 2nd gear) when moving from stationary condition.

These are just a few which came across my mind. Clutch pedal hard (effort point of view) need not be the only parameter to conclude a clutch plate wear out. The effort may be high due to a hydraulic problem in the clutch circuit also.

Regards,

Samish

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by samish_g

A few symptoms may be: -

1. Lesser pick up (assuming that the diesel filter, engine oil filter, engine oil viscosity and other parameters are OK). In other words, the vehicle movement is less even though the engine is revved sufficiently.

By and large I would say the most relevant is the first one. If you feel that your engine revs more then your car accelerates you are very likely to have to face a clutch replacement. I.e. Slippage, it feels and sounds as if you are riding the clutch, but your foot isn't even on the clutch pedal.

Technically it could be just the pressure plate, but in practice you would always replace the clutch plate with the pressure plates and a few other bits and pieces.

There are only a few cars Im aware of where you actually measure the thickness of the clutch without having to take the whole thing apart.

You can do afew tests. Step on the brakes, rev the engine, let the clutch out. Will it stall or can it pull the car through its brakes? If so, your clutch is beginning to slip.

Jeroen

[dilipkumar7278]

My 2008 October swift vDi has clocked 117000kms till now. The first clutch change happened at 1,10,000 kms. Actually I could have prolonged the change for another 6-7k kilometres but did not want to put strain on other components.
Regards
Dilip Kumar

[humyum]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

What were the symptoms upon which you decided to have the clutch replaced?
Thanks
Jeroen

Well, the gears had suddenly become hard to engage and yes I did try bleeding the clutch, no difference.

On opening the assembly, realized one of the pressure plate spring had broken too.

As a driver, I am very forgiving towards the clutch, but in Ladakh because of the huge turbo lag, thin air and unbelievably steep slopes, I had to put my heart aside and do some 4000 rpm clutch dumps. That must have taken a toll on the clutch I believe.

After the change, at 56000, the car has run nearly 51 thousand kilometers and things are as good as new even now.

[Ashir]

My 2006 Oct Wagon R clutch lasted 138,000Km, changed last week. The lining on clutch plate was completely flat, with zero friction. I wonder how the car had been running for the past few kms!

Just for info:
The whole assembly costed me ~3500Rs at MASS (incl. 750Rs labour)

[asethi]

Originally Posted by srivatsahg

After enough postponing I finally decided to give-in and go for the clutch / gear lever overhaul and timing chain/belt replacement . The very scary thought of engine stalling in the middle of nowhere I considered this as a prudent thing to do especially since I frequent a lot on highways.

I had already clocked 65K+ so my MJD also was due for 60K scheduled service.

Really?! That was quite early IMO if you drive mostly on the highway. My 7.5yr old Swift (same engine as yours) which has run ~98K kms with almost 50% highway driving is still running on its original parts, both clutch & timing belt! Am not boasting anything, but I feel this is quite short time for clutch & timing belt overhaul! I guess the Fiat parts must be sturdier than Maruti! Correct me if I'm wrong.

[ameyawaghmare]

Considering the question raised in the thread title, I believe Team BHP's advice articles on how to drive a car for longer life would be helpful here. (unable to get the link now)

From what I understand read in the article, your bad driving habits are directly related to an early clutch replacement. I did have a clutch replacement at 34,000 kms in my used Fiat Punto 1.2 Active. That was the first car and living alone in Noida, I learned driving in it. Of course, at 9,000 kms, I am sure it was already somewhat abused and during the initial days, I did drive on half-clutch! After many a drives, a hard clutch was experienced and I get the reason now.

It costed me a full 8k along with labour,etc. But the car's performance has improved since the change. Now, it is my driving habits that I am very cautious about to avoid any such instance in future.

[condor]

A lot depends on how one drives. A fellow TBHP-ian & I were a little surprised when we heard of a Sumo with original clutch @ 2.0L km. But that's what we had heard from the mechanic where my friend's Jeep was at.

But closer home, my cousin's Tavera LS is now at 1.9L km with the original clutch. Pretty much single driver, and mostly rural roads & highways.

[car_crazy1400]

I got my Toyota Fortuner's clutch replaced at just 19k Kms as it was slipping and refusing to climb up inclines on full load.

However the replaced clutch is still going strong at 85k kms. Makes me think that some thing was wrong with the clutch plates originally only.

We still have my Old Innova running on its original clutch at 128k kms. It's just become slightly hard to use in traffic and slight slippage on cold starts.

[adnaps]

My 2008 swift vdi had its first clutch plate replaced at 120000 Km , the second one was replaced after another 100000 Km last month. My drive is predominantly on the highway.