Clutch slipping

[Newts]

Yesterday I put my foot down hard in third gear and wasnt sure if the wheels were spinning or if the cluch was slipping, so I tried again a bit later and absence of an out of control back end led me to the clutch slipping.

Later on last night gave the car a few beans whilst following Mr Clements down the A11 and no clutch problems.

So... is the clutch slipping only attributable to wear in the plate etc or is there anything else that could cause an intermittent issue ?

[Dave Freeman]

Hi Colin, I had a similar problem last year where periodically the clutch would appear to slip, on examimation I found the slave cylinder rod to be bent and not properly located in the adjuster. Its worth checking......

It may also be worth bleeding the clutch, nice fresh fluid and all that.

Hope you get it fixed

Best regards

Dave

[Advantage]

There's also the chance of contamination from an oil leak.

[gumin]

Had the same problem last month and I noticed the RPM rising rapidly but no noticable increase in speed. The car had been standing in the garage for a few weeks without being driven prior to that. I booked the car into the Factory for its yearly service and with only a week to go before dropping it of the cluch has started to behave itself. Rowland at the factory didask if I had a oil leak anywhere? Is it possible I have burnt the oil off and it is now working normally?

[Newts]

Aha, so typically Lotus then !!

Not too difficult to check the slave cylinder and replace the fluid and check the oil levels

Has anyone had a whining noise on their clutch (see Vacuum pump post) as I'm not certain if thats the pump or the clutch

Thanks guys and see you tomorrow (hopefully)

[ozontour]

a whining whirring noise? it could be tat the clutch plate has worn to the rivets and it is your rivets grinding and cutting an nice new groove into your flywheel.

I would put the car into 5th gear while stationary. If you can take off or th car stalls then your clutch is fine. if it sits there witht he clutch out in 5th without moving the car, it is slipping.

if this is the case, do not drive the car as you will create more work and worn parts

HTH

Justin

[Tony94S4]

wile back I bought an s4 engine and transsmision that cought on fire from clutch slip,

be carefull,

[Newts]

This is a constant whine that increases with revs and does not change if you've put the clutch in or not.

I'ts also been suggested this could be the water pump and not had any slipping since last week

[lotus4s]

Have you done or had any work on the cam belt lately? Cam belt will whine if too tight. Could also be vacuum pump. Increasing with revs does sound belt related.

Can you tell if the noise is at the front of the engine or rear?

Edited March 16, 2009 by lotus4s

[Paul C]

I would not still be driving the car. It's not going to make it better.

[fflyingdog]

I had simular symptons when my clutch went,it does sound as though yours is trying to tell you something,as already said check clutch before you need a fly wheel,how many miles has the clutch done? When your clutch slipped were you on high boost?

Nick S4s

Edited March 16, 2009 by fflyingdog

[Newts]

I was in third gear in low revs, put my foot down and the revs rose until the car caught up (if you know what I mean) the first time it happened I thought the wheels might have broken away, but tried it again a little while later, however it hasnt happened since.

I dont think it is the cambelt, not been touched. The noise seems to be coming from the front low down on the passenger side and is also louder from the nearside rear wheel, I think it is probably the water pump or vac pump now and the clutch slipping and noise starting at the same time was purely coincidence.

But if the engine has to come out to replace the water pump it makes sense to do the clutch at the same time. On the other hand this now sounds like its getting expensive so I might do a Punky and put something else back in

[gumin]

Spoke too soon It went into the factory and the clutch was gone so it needed a new one. The strange thing was that when they checked they found that the clutch pedal had tha master cylinder attatched to it in the wrong location. Further inspection revealed that the master cylinder was the wrong part When I checked my records the previous owner had had it replaced by a Lotus main dealership in Scotland about 5 years ago and the part number they quoted on his invoice was for the wrong part. So I need a new master cylinder as well as a clutch.

That was unfortunately only the tip of the iceberg when it came to what needed doing

Still when I get it back it will be like new.