New clutch (and gearbox...)

[kkv444v]

I went to fetch my Evora yesterday after the fitting of a new gearbox, and of course a new clutch. I was told that the clutch would feel lighter but I was not expecting it to feel quite so light - it's a major transformation! I shall no longer dread being stuck in traffic, or clutch wear, or gearbox failure...

Oh, and if anyone fancies a spare gearbox to play with or rebuild for whatever reason, I have one sitting around doing nothing. It does have some rather worn parts but if anyone wants to take it off my hands and lighten the recent load on my wallet, I am off to place an ad for it now.

[trcm]

Was this a change on an NA or an S, and which clutch did you go for as a replacement?

[jep]

Who did the work? I had a 400 clutch and flywheel put in my NA when the gearbox was fixed...clutch pedal feel just as heavy.

Justin

 

[kkv444v]

It is an NA. The latest available clutch from Lotus (B142Q0007S), fitted at Silverstone. 

[jep]

Good news and a good result. My bill was £7k for gearbox fix and clutch. I had the original 'box repaired which had lost 4th,5th,6th. New 'box from Lotus was quoted at £8k with fitting and clutch on top. 

Justin

 

[kkv444v]

The difference in quotes to fix or replace was not very large so it wasn't such a difficult decision to go new. Thankfully I didn't pay list price for the 'box. 

It's a long-term investment. 

[au-yt]

I just got a quote for a new clutch in my 400 and I'm still in recovery..

[jep]

I believe Hangar111 do a clutch change without following the full factory 'engine out' procedure, so it is possible to save on the labour depending on the bravery and/or skills of your preferred mechanic.

Justin

 

[au-yt]

when I bought the car (57,000ks) I asked about the clutch change and doing in the car they believed was possible.

I believe this car is the highest mirage 400. now at 70,000ks. 43,000miles. miles.

the car done mainly freeway and 3 track days.

I am having the car serviced on Friday with a request to the techs to assess what they think.

the techs are really good and support the SSC Targa cars.

 

 

[jep]

Rare and low volume cars always have some quirks that make ownership servicing costs dearer. 9 series engines is cambelt every 2 years. 

With Evora, if you average a clutch every 50,000 miles (mine was still good at 68,000) and say 5 years, that equates to roughly £1k per annum to add to the pretty cheap routine servicing that Evora require. 

For such a splendid and rare car, that seems value to me.

Justin

 

[kkv444v]

I don't go with the cam belt change every two year thing on my 900-series engines. Four years, more like. 

[jep]

Fine, your choice but factory recommendation is 2 years. If mileage very low, highly unlikely to be an issue if left longer but if advising folk who have to pay for any consequences, best they have the factory guidance.

4 years on K series for the 190bhp spec (6 years on 118bhp) but if my mileage is under say 1500 per annum, I have left it to 5 years. 

Justin

 

[exeterjeep]

4 minutes ago, jep said:

4 years on K series for the 190bhp spec (6 years on 118bhp) but if my mileage is under say 1500 per annum, I have left it to 5 years. 

My KV6 belt was changed after 18 years at 60k ! Living on borrowed time?

[jep]

28 minutes ago, exeterjeep said:

Living on borrowed time?

We all are .......that is brave if it ain't a chain.

Anyone can do what they want, cambelt failure is rare but does happen, certainly advisable to check tensioners as a minimum.

Justin

 

[au-yt]

1 hour ago, jep said:

Rare and low volume cars always have some quirks that make ownership servicing costs dearer. 9 series engines is cambelt every 2 years. 

With Evora, if you average a clutch every 50,000 miles (mine was still good at 68,000) and say 5 years, that equates to roughly £1k per annum to add to the pretty cheap routine servicing that Evora require. 

For such a splendid and rare car, that seems value to me.

Justin

 

Justin, Thank you that's actually encouraging, however early pre 4XX 30,000 miles seems comon.

[Bravo73]

7 minutes ago, au-yt said:

however early pre 4XX 30,000 miles seems comon.

I’m not sure if it is. Some early cars had a manufacturing issue which required an early change of clutch. (Not due to wear though. Due to incorrect installation). 

Otherwise, unless driven poorly, Evora clutches seem to get closer to 100k miles than 30k miles. 

@au-yt, is your clutch showing signs of actual wear? ie slippage etc. 

[jep]

My 2010 NA clutch still good at 68,000.......the CR box lost some gears so we changed the clutch to a 400 spec inc flywheel.

As @Bravo73 says, some early cars had failure but still a low %. I don't read on TLF of incidents with S or 400 onwards, though there are less higher mileage of those that we hear about.

Justin

 

[au-yt]

48 minutes ago, Bravo73 said:

I’m not sure if it is. Some early cars had a manufacturing issue which required an early change of clutch. (Not due to wear though. Due to incorrect installation). 

Otherwise, unless driven poorly, Evora clutches seem to get closer to 100k miles than 30k miles. 

@au-yt, is your clutch showing signs of actual wear? ie slippage etc. 

Jonny

No slippage, I just spooked by reports of low clutch life and have been asking about clutch life on 4XX cars including the caveats re use and your the only one who has given any insight.

With 43500. miles I'll keep driving and start saving. I can do the work myself as that my retirement hobby on classics so money spent on a hoist and spares

 

 

[Bibs]

Touch wood, but you've more than likely about half the clutch life left, they last a decent amount of time in reality.

[Bravo73]

1 hour ago, au-yt said:

I can do the work myself as that my retirement hobby on classics so money spent on a hoist and spares

If you are on your own, I think that the trickiest part of the job would be removing the rear clam. (This is the labour intensive stage which the 'in situ' technique tries to avoid, IIRC). If you do remove the clam, I'm pretty sure that you will need assistance.

[au-yt]

I have a bunch of petrol head friends to call on for those type of jobs, and the rear hatch needs to people. I will be putting an S2 Elan together shortly for a friend so a Coffee and cake bribe works.