Five Warning Signs That Your Car Needs a Clutch Disc Replacement

March 15th,

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It's no secret that many drivers prefer a vehicle with a manual transmission. Mechanically speaking, manual transmissions are relatively easy to repair, making them less difficult to care for. Over time, through normal wear and tear, the clutch disc can wear out. When it does, the engine power cannot make it to the wheels, and your vehicle will be stuck in place. Thankfully, there are signs before the clutch disc gives out completely. If you notice any of these in your Subaru, be sure to bring it in to have it serviced by our professional.

5. Soft/Sinking Clutch Pedal

While not directly related to the clutch disc, a spongy feeling clutch pedal is a sign your transmission needs to be serviced. This can be caused by a leak of clutch fluid or air in the system. Both will lead to a soft or spongy feel in the clutch pedal. Sometimes the pedal will even sink to the floor, unable to return to its normal position.

4. Burning Smell

A burning smell may indicate that your clutch disc needs to be replaced. The clutch disc is a friction plate that allows the transmission to work with the engine, so you can shift gears. Through wear and tear, the friction coating of the clutch disc wears off and once bare, it is metal against metal as you shift gears. This produces not only damage but also a burning smell. If you detect a burning scent while driving, it could be your transmission grinding.

3. Grinding Noise When Changing Gears

While driving you may hear a grinding sound when trying to shift gears. This grinding noise could be related to one of two things: the clutch disc or the transmission's synchronizers. The synchronizers work to make shifting smoother when shifting between RPM ranges. Whichever the cause, hearing a grinding sound of any sort while driving or shifting is a sure sign that your vehicle needs to be examined by a professional.

2. Needing Higher RPMs

Typically, those who drive a manual vehicle know their vehicle well. They have a general idea of how many RPMs are needed to hit speeds in certain gears. When your clutch disc is starting to wear, it may start slipping. When this happens, you will notice it takes more RPMs than expected to reach the speed you want. This also goes hand in hand with a grinding sound and burning smell as discussed above.

1. Shifting Gears Is Difficult

A healthy clutch allows the driver to shift between gears without hassle. When the clutch starts to wear, shifting between gears becomes difficult. The smooth shift between gears is replaced with a rougher transition. You may find the clutch pedal is not functioning like you are accustomed to, and you may not be able to slip into the gears as easily as you once did.

The clutch is the component of the vehicle that usually works the most. You must engage and disengage the clutch every time the vehicle starts, stops and changes gears.

Vehicles with manual gear transmission are extremely engaging and enjoyable as you change the gears. Additionally, manual transmission vehicles are often less expensive to purchase than automatic vehicles.

However, clutch replacement is common in manual transmission vehicles due to tear and wear. Various reasons can explain why the clutch wears out, but the hotter it gets, the faster it will wear and tear out.

When replacing the clutch, change other important components as well, which can save you money and aggravation along the road. Below are five parts that you should change along with the clutch disc.

1. Throw-out bearing

Every time you press the clutch pedal, the fork engages the pressure plate and the throw-out bearing. The release bearing causes the clutch disk to spin freely when changing gears.

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Therefore, the release bearing goes through a lot of abuse and rough use and can easily wear out over time due to improper adjustment and lack of lubrication fluid. Since replacing the release bearing is often affordable, consider changing it as you replace the clutch disc.

2. Pressure plate

The pressure plate also needs changing because it may not continue working smoothly for as long as you had thought. The pressure plate is an important component of the clutch system. The pressure plate presses against the flywheel to transfer the torque to the transmission.

The pressure plate contains springy fingers that can bend, crack or even lose tension. Therefore, when replacing the clutch disc, change the pressure plate, as you save on labour and time.

3. Slave cylinder

The slave cylinder is an integral part of a manual transmission system that helps with clutch disengagement from your vehicle's engine. The slave cylinder moves the pressure plate when the clutch pedal is depressed, disengaging the clutch.

When driving your vehicle, you exert a lot of pressure into the slave cylinder with faith that it will not leak or seize to function. The slave cylinder will eventually leak, making it a concern when driving your vehicle.

Therefore, to save time and labour, consider changing the clutch slave cylinder when the transaxle is out for clutch replacement.

4. Clutch fluid

Almost all components of your vehicle need a proper amount of lubrication to work easily and smoothly. If your vehicle's clutch lacks lubrication, it might stick at the bottom every time you depress it down. This may happen if the clutch hydraulic system and its components corrode due to moisture.

Preventing corrosion from happening would be better and less expensive rather than fixing the components later. Replacing the components is more expensive than regular maintenance of the clutch hydraulic system through lubrication.

Therefore, drain and replace the lubrication fluid between the slave cylinder and the master every time you pull out the axle to replace the clutch disc.

5. Transmission fluid

Most mechanics should advise you to change the fluid in the gearbox regularly. A manual gear transmission is extremely durable but requires proper care and lubrication. If you haven’t drained and refilled your gearbox fluid, consider changing it. This is because other potential problems may escalate without proper lubrication of the gearbox.

Therefore, when changing the clutch disc, drain and refill the lubrication fluid.

If you want to change your clutch disc, change all the other five parts to save money and time for extra trips to the garage. Changing all the components at once is less expensive rather than visiting the garage for a single replacement.

For more information, please visit clutch parts(es,ru,fr).