A faulty clutch is a much more serious problem than people sometimes think. In this case, you can diagnose a breakdown on your own, paying attention to extraneous sounds, incorrect "behavior" of the clutch and other problems. Observation and the habit of monitoring the condition of the car will be very useful.
The main signs of clutch failure
One of the most common "symptoms" of a faulty clutch is a strange noise when you press the pedal. You may hear thumping, grinding, or other abnormal sounds. Noise can be a sign of a number of breakdowns: failure of the release bearing or vibration damper parts in the driven disc, severe wear and deformation of the splines, loss of elasticity or movement of the return spring. Please note: the pedal can make noise not only at the moment of pressing, but also when it is released and it starts to rise up. By the peculiarities of the noise, you can determine what kind of breakdown is in question.
An even more unpleasant sign of a clutch breakdown is gear shifting problems. If you notice this problem, urgently contact the service station, as the situation will only get worse over time, and it will be unsafe to drive a car. It is easy to diagnose a breakdown: when you change gears there is a grinding noise, the clutch pedal is not pressed all the way. Later, some programs simply stop turning on. There can be many reasons: malfunctions of the clutch cable, failure of friction linings, diaphragm spring, driven disc.
Faulty clutch: what to look for
To diagnose a clutch malfunction, it is worth trying to pick up speed on a straight road, gradually changing gears and carefully observing the behavior of the car. If the car accelerates more slowly than usual, as if it has lost some of its power, and the clutch often "slips", then it's time to visit the service station. Probably, the surfaces of the flywheel, driven plate or pressure plate are heavily oiled. It is also possible that the cause of the "slipping" was the incorrect adjustment of the drive, which leads not only to problems in gear shifting, but also to accelerated wear of the elements.
Finally, sniffing is enough to realize that the clutch is faulty. If, after pressing the pedal and shifting gears, you notice a sharp unpleasant smell of burnt rubber, the car must be repaired. In this case, the problem may lie in the wear of the linings, as well as the failure of the clutch disc. Interestingly, in some cases, the smell may appear only from time to time, and not every time you press the pedal, but this does not mean that the car was repaired by itself.
