Modern cars - clutches

AdrianC

Pincher wrote: »

I thought the pedals in modern cars don't do it by pulling a cable anyway. I thought it just transmits a stepped signal based on a sensor, optical or potentiometer based. There was a Toyota recall on their cars, because a supplier was supply dodgy parts, and people were zooming off unexpectedly, crashing and getting maimed.

That's the throttle pedal.

Strider590

Pincher wrote: »

There was a Toyota recall on their cars, because a supplier was supply dodgy parts, and people were zooming off unexpectedly, crashing and getting maimed..

Actually AFAIK, that was a small number of cars in the US, the majority of the "zooming off" cars, were caused by people using after market floor mats, which due to the shape of the footwell, would curl up and catch the throttle pedal, causing it to stick.

Toyota got dragged through the mud for it, but other manufacturers have done FAR worse, the "prestige" German makes for example.
Difference being that Toyota owners often have their servicing done at other/cheaper garages, where the owner of these "prestige" German saloons normally stick to the dealerships, who in turn fix known faults without the customers/media ever knowing about them.

AdrianC

Strider590 wrote: »

Actually AFAIK, that was a small number of cars in the US, the majority of the "zooming off" cars

7+ million, worldwide...

almillar

Being a dinosaur, I always sit in traffic with the clutch depressed (unless it is a mega delay), whereas most young people I know seem to put the car in neutral just about every time they have to stop.

I also have my clutch depressed, putting a manual car on neutral every time you end up in traffic is going to tire you out in London.

No, sitting with your foot on the clutch is going to give you cramp!
This is laziness, which actually requires more energy.
I'll accept the arguments about some auto cars, especially with stop/start fitted, that they need to have their foot on the brake, but not in a manual.

leaving it in gear and keeping the clutch pressed down wears out the clutch release bearing.

Absolutely. This is what my wife does to my annoyance, and she was caught out in one of the bad winters driving to work - 10 mins on a straight road in 6th - the bearing froze around the groove that she had created. She put the pedal in, it went to the floor and stayed there.
All it needed was for me to turn up and physically pull the pedal back up, but I think she learnt her lesson, for a while!

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

almillar wrote: »

No, sitting with your foot on the clutch is going to give you cramp!
This is laziness, which actually requires more energy.
I'll accept the arguments about some auto cars, especially with stop/start fitted, that they need to have their foot on the brake, but not in a manual.

Advanced driving take on this is that you take neutral and apply handbrake unless you believe the lights are going to imminently change.

Also, at night sitting with your foot on the brake is anti-social for the cars behind so it is better to put on the handbrake. Something I was taught, which I had never considered, was putting on the handbrake and taking the foot off the brake while remaining in drive in an automatic - aside from reducing dazzle, it avoids that anxious flash of reversing light to the car behind.

One thing I don't like about the Hold system on brakes is that it keeps the brake lights illuminated.

onomatopoeia99

Strider590 wrote: »

Most car these days have hydraulic clutches, which don't give the driver much feedback, it's very easy to ride the clutch without knowing your doing it.

Ok, yes they've been around a long time, but only recently in small cars and we all know the sort of drivers that typically drive small cars.

My first car (Morris Marina) had a hydraulic clutch. My next car (Hillman Imp) also had a hydraulic clutch. Trying to drive my parents' Volvo 340 with a cable clutch was odd, I much preferred the feel of the bit point that I got from the hydraulic system.

When my mother had an Imp she used to go through clutches every few months (something to do with resting her left foot on the pedal, according to my dad who used to have to replace them :rotfl: ), whereas the only time I needed to replace the clutch on mine was after trying to do a classic reliability trial in what was a completely standard car, which was never going to end well!

Strider590

AdrianC wrote: »

7+ million, worldwide...

Before or after the media waded in?

The actual figures were nothing like that, but the Americans went to town on it because Toyota as a company are bigger than all of America's car manufacturers put together.

The recall for the actual sticking pedal was 2.3 million, of which an extremely small percentage would have been affected.

Independent tests also confirmed that the braking system fitted to the cars was more than enough to overcome a stuck throttle... Which leads to the conclusion that most of the complaints and horror stories were a complete exaggeration of the facts.

Pincher

Hot off the press.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32716802


"Japanese car giants Toyota and Nissan are recalling a total of 6.5 million cars globally to replace potentially faulty airbag inflators made by Takata."

spendaholic

We bought a brand new Ford Focus eco model in February. We've done 12k miles in it, so it's just due for its first service.

On Sunday we were driving along the motorway when the stop/start light came on and stayed on and the clutch pedal suddenly disappeared. All the hydraulics went on it and it was flat to the floor. We got the car to a safe place as quickly and as safely as we could, and just as we parked, the slave cylinder caught fire.

The car is under warranty. This is the second Ford Focus we've had from this dealer. The first one was 3 years old when we chopped it in.

Today we've been told by Ford that the damage is caused by abuse, due to riding the clutch, and is therefore not covered under warranty. The dealership mechanic sent photographs to Ford and that was their deduction.

We said that the only clutch-riding that went on was when the clutch pedal went. He said, "Oh, no one told me that, I might be able to sway it with Ford." He also asked why we didn't stop the car immediately ... er, we were in the middle lane of a motorway ...

If this isn't covered under warranty on a car that's 8 months old, then it's disgusting and a total cop-out. It's clearly a design fault and not a user fault - or we'd be forever losing clutches and this is the first time ever - in over 30 years of driving, old cars, new cars, hire cars, pool cars, etc.

Does anyone else have experience of either this fault or the Ford warranty? The car is already costing us a lot of money, being a new car. If we can't afford the repair, we may have to give it them back.

bigjl

loskie wrote: »

re the warranty on new cars. You will find that clutches will only be covered for a very brief time and mileage not the whole warranty.

It depends what the fault is.

I had a clutch replaced at over 30k on a Seat Toledo, it wasn't slipping or juddering but was making a shrieking sound.

Never did ask what the issue was, it was a '99 110 Tdi so not even sure if it had a DMF.

Car drove no different at any time, could have been the release bearing.