Clutch wear

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Ewilon1988
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Clutch wear

Post by Ewilon1988 »

Hi, I'm now 5000 miles in with driving a standard and am light years from where I was 6 months ago when I bought the subie. Only question I have now is how much wear can a typical clutch take? I don't race, hard launch or stuff like that. My 1-2 shifts still aren't the smoothest out there(slight buck every time I shift, stupid rev hang). I'm just curious if I should be worried about the clutch failing before 100k miles or so if it's not always perfect shifts. Thanks
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potownrob
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Re: Clutch wear

Post by potownrob »

Unless you are either adding a good amount of gas while letting out the clutch, or you're letting out the clutch very slowly, it is unlikely you are putting a lot of wear on the clutch. Whether it will last 100k miles or not is hard to say and will depend on several factors. Botched upshifts aren't going to cause much if any extra wear. I wouldn't worry much about it.
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Ewilon1988
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Re: Clutch wear

Post by Ewilon1988 »

Thanks rob. I'm not shooting a lot of throttle when I up shift. I feather it while up shifting and actually I should probably add some more to my 1-2 shifts in hindsight.
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Re: Clutch wear

Post by Squint »

Ewilon1988 wrote:Thanks rob. I'm not shooting a lot of throttle when I up shift. I feather it while up shifting and actually I should probably add some more to my 1-2 shifts in hindsight.
Yeah, sounds like you're fine from the basic description. The clutch is designed to wear - but after a certain period of time, it's a bit of a crapshoot on whether it will last 75,000 miles, or 150,000 miles. Basically, a long time, unless you're driving quite a bit.
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Ewilon1988
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Re: Clutch wear

Post by Ewilon1988 »

Yeah I'm not really driving quite a bit. I went and interviewed for a job today that's an extra 25 miles away from me but it's through New Orleans so it's a lot of stop and go and red lights so I think that's where the anxiety is setting in. If I get the job I'll have to make that kind of commute daily.
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Re: Clutch wear

Post by tankinbeans »

Ewilon1988 wrote:Yeah I'm not really driving quite a bit. I went and interviewed for a job today that's an extra 25 miles away from me but it's through New Orleans so it's a lot of stop and go and red lights so I think that's where the anxiety is setting in. If I get the job I'll have to make that kind of commute daily.
Worry about it not. My brother is the definition of abusive and the last car he had with a manual died with 250k on the clock (120k of which were his in 6 years). He never bothered with smoothness or being unabusive, or even trying to revmatch.
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Teamwork
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Re: Clutch wear

Post by Teamwork »

tankinbeans wrote:
Ewilon1988 wrote:Yeah I'm not really driving quite a bit. I went and interviewed for a job today that's an extra 25 miles away from me but it's through New Orleans so it's a lot of stop and go and red lights so I think that's where the anxiety is setting in. If I get the job I'll have to make that kind of commute daily.
Worry about it not. My brother is the definition of abusive and the last car he had with a manual died with 250k on the clock (120k of which were his in 6 years). He never bothered with smoothness or being unabusive, or even trying to revmatch.
These are the stories that I love hearing because I too have a bit of anxiety and wondering what kind of condition I'm in also. My commute didn't greatly increase in terms of mileage (only about 2-3 miles added each way to what I was originally doing for years) but my door to door and traffic conditions greatly changed. I pretty much doubled over my door to door and I've been shuffling 1st and 2nd gear the most I've ever with this car. I rarely have any stints where I can break 25 mph for longer then 3 seconds and these are highways that are speed limited to 55 but during normal hours have people regularly going 65-70. If I had any anxiety about driving stick before, it's surely subsided now.
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potownrob
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Re: Clutch wear

Post by potownrob »

Ewilon1988 wrote:Yeah I'm not really driving quite a bit. I went and interviewed for a job today that's an extra 25 miles away from me but it's through New Orleans so it's a lot of stop and go and red lights so I think that's where the anxiety is setting in. If I get the job I'll have to make that kind of commute daily.
If you want to worry about something, worry about your launches and downshifts. Upshifts in general are not going to put much wear on the clutch as long as you aren't powershifting.
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Ewilon1988
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Re: Clutch wear

Post by Ewilon1988 »

Launches aren't terrible. My downshifts are getting better. I do struggle with downshifting to second though. I blip for the others but second gear I normally feather the throttle because it works a bit better than blipping.
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Re: Clutch wear

Post by Rope-Pusher »

potownrob wrote: If you want to worry about something,....
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Bill B
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Re: Clutch wear

Post by Bill B »

I also recommend putting your car in neutral at stop lights or when stopped for an extended period of time. That will reduce the wear on the clutch. Not a ton of miles, but my Element is at 104,000 with the original clutch.
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Re: Clutch wear

Post by IMBoring25 »

If your clutch is properly adjusted and you're flooring the pedal, that shouldn't directly affect the clutch itself, but there would likely be some extra wear to the throwout bearing, which still requires a clutch job. My truck had just had a clutch replacement when I got it with 120k on it, but it became apparent they hadn't done everything while they were in there when the pilot bearing ate itself at 162k.
Ewilon1988
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Re: Clutch wear

Post by Ewilon1988 »

I was taught from the beginning to take my foot off the clutch while driving and at stops so luckily I didn't have those bad habits.
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Re: Clutch wear

Post by theholycow »

The clutch is made for its job. It's not going to crap itself just because you're learning. People learn and even become sloppy half-assed drivers and get plenty of life from a clutch, never needing to replace it. Then some people do end up needing to replace it, sure, maybe because they were abuse, or very sloppy, or because a zillion miles or a bad route or just bad luck.

Don't worry about normal driving that most people would think is reasonable, even if you're learning and just can't seem to get the hang of doing it well. Don't put it in neutral at a red light that you expect to be green quickly either; holding up traffic trying to launch is stressful enough without the additional delay of being out of gear and off the clutch pedal. Same goes for an unknown light where you can't see when the other traffic gets their yellow light.

Do avoid driving like a rich kid 17 year old racer wannabe. Do shift to neutral at a known long red light, and any light where you can see the cross-traffic's light and declutch/shift into 1st when theirs is yellow.
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Ewilon1988
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Re: Clutch wear

Post by Ewilon1988 »

I'm happy to hear that Cow. I do almost all of the good things that you say. If I know I'm going to be a light for awhile it goes in neutral. I might own a sports car but I don't drive it like a jackass. I'm 27 and am not rich lol. I buy everything with my own money so I learned the value of a dollar a long time ago which is why I just wanted to make sure I'm not creating bad habits while driving
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