Still trying to determine if my clutch is slipping and if so how much performance am I losing.

1. 1996 CE LT4 14,500 miles.
2. Previous owner admitted doing burn outs.
3. Two months ago - placed two wooden 2x10s (4inch height nailed together) that I wedge cut in front on rear tires. Placed rhino ramps in front of front tires. Wanted to get front and rear up. Moved forward coming off clutch trying to get rear tires to climb up wooden ramps and climb rhinos in front. Gave it a little more gas and clutch (not moving) little more little more then saw smoke and smelled burnt odor.
4. Car seemed to drive OK after this.
5. Posted question to forum how to determine if clutch is slipping. Someone suggested take car to a hill shift into 5th and floor it.
6. My driveway has an incline (not too steep).
7. Could not get it to shift into 5th got it into 4th.
8. From a dead stop at the bottom of the driveway, came off the clutch and gave it some gas. Clutch started to chatter and afterwards I smelled the burnt odor.
9. Is this a fair test? Does anyone who thinks their clutch is healthy or new think they could take their car to an incline. Stop it, then shift into 4th and from a dead stop climb the incline without clutch chatter or slipping?

Last question : when a clutch is replaced, does the dual mass flywheel always have to be replaced too?

Thanks,

Trebor

 

The clutch is most likely to slip in the higher gears (more likely the higher the gear). Drive the car normally, and when you get into 5th or (better still) 6th gear, stomp the throttle to the floor, and watch the tach. If the engine revs and the car doesn't accelerate, the clutch is slipping. Chattering is another problem, but also not good. If you smelled burnt clutch, the clutch is almost surely near end-of-life.

If you have any doubts about this, ask a professional mechanic to assess the situation for you.

The dual-mass flywheel is expensive. It isn't a hard and fast rule that you must replace it when doing a clutch, but if you smelled burned clutch, it's almost surely toast. If there is any doubt at all about the integrity of the flywheel, do NOT attempt to save $ by leaving it in there. The labor to get into it again will eat a big hole in your wallet, and it's just not worth it. Replace it while you're having the rest of the job done.

Good luck with it.

Live well,

SJW

 

I agree, put the car in 5th or 6th while going down the freeway and floor it. If the tach rises, and the car doesn't pick up speed, the clutch is slipping.

Trying to climb an incline, in 4th gear, from a stop, is a horrible thing to do to a clutch. There's no reason to put that kind of abuse on it just to see if it's slipping.

How does the car drive? Normally, a slipping clutch is pretty obvious.

With only 14K on the odometer, I really doubt the clutch is bad. Doing some burnouts won't ruin a clutch, there are forum members here with hundreds of drag strip passes on the stock clutch.

Honestly, if the car drives OK, I wouldn't worry about it. Slipping the clutch once or twice climbing ramps or trying to come up a hill in a high gear obviously didn't do it any good, but I doubt it mortally wounded it.

For future reference, just jack the car up. Or only use one set of ramps up front. The clutch is designed for the rolling weight of the vehicle, not the entire ~3300 lb. vehicle. Trying to pick up both the front and rear of the car at the same time is asking much more of the clutch than it was designed to handle.

 

Sorry about the misunderstanding. The uphill in top gear and try to accelerate suggestion assumed that you were otherwise driving normally -- not that you were stopped.

 

Thanks all for replies. The car actually drives fine and shifts fine.. And no problem the misunderstanding is all on me. I tried driving up a hill and shifted into 5th (while moving) and floored it. The tack did not jump much and the car accelerated slowly of course. This whole thing started when I took the ASR off and tried to chirp the tires shifting from 2nd into 3rd while accelerating onto an empty highway spiritedly. I assumed my adventure on the wooden ramps weakened the clutch (obsessing I guess).

Take care,

Trebor