Clutch Smell???

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MidnightInGotham
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Re: Clutch Smell???

Post by MidnightInGotham »

theholycow wrote:Sounds like it's not clutchstank but could be...still nothing to worry about.

My steep driveway + snow/ice/mud = clutchstank on a pretty regular basis. Also, driving up onto ramps to work on the car...

Might sound dumb but is there a difference between clutch stank and clutch burning (maybe burning more severe than stank)?

Also I was in first around 5k rpm to get to the top so the engine was reving descently (and obviously wheels were mov My because that's what it took to get me to the top of my drive). Idk if that makes a difference. I would think if I was slipping the clutch at that high of rpm it might be a bit more odorous and lingering if it were clutch but obviously I don't know
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Re: Clutch Smell???

Post by bk7794 »

When you breathe in, your lungs burn.

Think about walking around in your favorite congested city, New York City for this example. You walk around and you breathe in but you get scratchiness on the way down. That's brake stink. You slam on the brake and ride the brakes down a long hill...thats burning the brakes.
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Re: Clutch Smell???

Post by Rope-Pusher »

MidnightInGotham wrote: Also I was in first around 5k rpm to get to the top so the engine was reving descently (and obviously wheels were mov My because that's what it took to get me to the top of my drive).
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How steep is this driveway?!!!!!

1st gear at peak torque engine rpm puts the most thrust to the wheels to push you uphill. Slipping the clutch or revving higher can't improve upon that.

If you find yourself short of uphill traction in a FWD vehicle, try backing up the hill!

In a RWD vehicle, try applying the park brake a bit if you have uphill wheel-slippage with an open differential.
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MidnightInGotham
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Re: Clutch Smell???

Post by MidnightInGotham »

Rope-Pusher wrote:
MidnightInGotham wrote: Also I was in first around 5k rpm to get to the top so the engine was reving descently (and obviously wheels were mov My because that's what it took to get me to the top of my drive).
Image
How steep is this driveway?!!!!!

1st gear at peak torque engine rpm puts the most thrust to the wheels to push you uphill. Slipping the clutch or revving higher can't improve upon that.

If you find yourself short of uphill traction in a FWD vehicle, try backing up the hill!

In a RWD vehicle, try applying the park brake a bit if you have uphill wheel-slippage with an open differential.
Not quite that steep. :lol: but it's descent. And spinning the wheels got through the slush and down to the cement so it was kind of necessary.
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IMBoring25
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Re: Clutch Smell???

Post by IMBoring25 »

If you're spinning the wheels as a strategy there's no reason to stay on the clutch.
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Re: Clutch Smell???

Post by MidnightInGotham »

IMBoring25 wrote:If you're spinning the wheels as a strategy there's no reason to stay on the clutch.
Agreed and I'm almost positive I wasn't, pretty sure the clutch was full engaged at that point but I always get overly worried in hindsight.
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Re: Clutch Smell???

Post by MidnightInGotham »

Also we just drove my wife's car around town and I took a sniff by her car and that's about the same smell I was smelling in the garage (warm engine). I'm not too worried at this point and I guess what can I do. Hopefully I wasn't on the clutch and shredding it.

I'm thinking I wasn't slipping at that point because at 5k rpm I think I would have smelled that lung burning scent described above
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MidnightInGotham
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Re: Clutch Smell???

Post by MidnightInGotham »

MidnightInGotham wrote:Also we just drove my wife's car around town and I took a sniff by her car and that's about the same smell I was smelling in the garage (warm engine). I'm not too worried at this point and I guess what can I do. Hopefully I wasn't on the clutch and shredding it.

I'm thinking I wasn't slipping at that point because at 5k rpm I think I would have smelled that lung burning scent described above
Also I would assume that clutch is fairly different smell than tires?
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Re: Clutch Smell???

Post by tankinbeans »

MidnightInGotham wrote:
MidnightInGotham wrote:Also we just drove my wife's car around town and I took a sniff by her car and that's about the same smell I was smelling in the garage (warm engine). I'm not too worried at this point and I guess what can I do. Hopefully I wasn't on the clutch and shredding it.

I'm thinking I wasn't slipping at that point because at 5k rpm I think I would have smelled that lung burning scent described above
Also I would assume that clutch is fairly different smell than tires?
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Re: Clutch Smell???

Post by MidnightInGotham »

tankinbeans wrote:
MidnightInGotham wrote:
MidnightInGotham wrote:Also we just drove my wife's car around town and I took a sniff by her car and that's about the same smell I was smelling in the garage (warm engine). I'm not too worried at this point and I guess what can I do. Hopefully I wasn't on the clutch and shredding it.

I'm thinking I wasn't slipping at that point because at 5k rpm I think I would have smelled that lung burning scent described above
Also I would assume that clutch is fairly different smell than tires?
Burnt coffee, brewed in vinegar, with a side of garbage.
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MidnightInGotham
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Re: Clutch Smell???

Post by MidnightInGotham »

Also if I was burning clutch, are we talking about major damage? I would guess this happens from time to time?
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Re: Clutch Smell???

Post by tankinbeans »

MidnightInGotham wrote:Also if I was burning clutch, are we talking about major damage? I would guess this happens from time to time?
Not likely. Depends on how long. Clutches, like brakes, are wearable parts and are meant to be replaced from time to time. How often depends on your driving, but wearing a clutch out isn't major damage.
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Re: Clutch Smell???

Post by theholycow »

Yikes, 5000RPM is an awful lot of noise and drama for barely moving! You'll improve with practice.

It's no worse than some of the shenanigans I've pulled on my driveway/ramps...lower RPM, but heavy clutch slipping with heavy throttle pushing a lot of torque through. I think I may even have produced clutch smoke once.

If you were spinning up the tires then you'd have seen it on the speedometer and probably heard the sound of tires turning snow into ice, which sounds like...uhh...I dunno, a toy car spinning its tires on carpet I guess. Anyway, avoid doing that. It doesn't usually dig down to the ground, and if it does then you're in a hole out of which you must climb...and now the bottom of the hole has sheet ice, from tires melting snow and the cold ground/air refreezing it, and your tires have their treads full of hardpack. More importantly, it's quite abusive to the tires. It heats them up and subjects them to abnormal stresses...even worse if you spin them fast enough to eject the white crud from the treads.
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Re: Clutch Smell???

Post by MidnightInGotham »

theholycow wrote:Yikes, 5000RPM is an awful lot of noise and drama for barely moving! You'll improve with practice.

It's no worse than some of the shenanigans I've pulled on my driveway/ramps...lower RPM, but heavy clutch slipping with heavy throttle pushing a lot of torque through. I think I may even have produced clutch smoke once.

If you were spinning up the tires then you'd have seen it on the speedometer and probably heard the sound of tires turning snow into ice, which sounds like...uhh...I dunno, a toy car spinning its tires on carpet I guess. Anyway, avoid doing that. It doesn't usually dig down to the ground, and if it does then you're in a hole out of which you must climb...and now the bottom of the hole has sheet ice, from tires melting snow and the cold ground/air refreezing it, and your tires have their treads full of hardpack. More importantly, it's quite abusive to the tires. It heats them up and subjects them to abnormal stresses...even worse if you spin them fast enough to eject the white crud from the treads.
Tires were definitely sawing away and i did have a little lip to get out of after. We only had a couple of inches so nothing major but I'll keep it under control in the future. In hindsight I really think I was completely off the pause pedal because I had to make a second run up the drive.

Definitely didn't feel like this...https://youtu.be/6U9p-mu1TBA
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Re: Clutch Smell???

Post by IMBoring25 »

Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. My worst was with my old C1500 (2WD, open diff). The girl who was running the stable where I was boarding my horse buried her uncle's 4WD Titan in the mud almost up to the hubs. I didn't use much RPM, but a lot of throttle through a slipping clutch on repeated tries. That was the only time I had ever had the clutch that far out while slipping it.

Unrelated to my driving, that truck had four clutches in it over the 95,000 miles I had it. I bought it with an ostensibly new clutch in it (at around 120k), but they didn't do all the bearings, and the pilot ground itself to dust in only about 35,000 miles, so it only seemed sensible (at the time) to do everything. Then we dropped the 305 in it with the transmission from the donor truck without separating them (clutch #3). It didn't take long to realize the internals of that transmission weren't activating the back-up light switch, so the original transmission went back in and it got a new 350 clutch while the transmission was coming off anyway.
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