I had to reverse out of a very steep driveway today and, as it is the first time that I have done it, I made a bit of a pig's ear of it.
I started with a fair bit of gas and thought I had the biting point, but slipped forward.
On the second attempt, I gave it a lot more gas and some more bite (in hindsight I should probably have just given it more bite).
Anyway, the upshot was that I reversed slowly up the driveway with the car shrieking quite loudly at me, and my wife shrieking as loudly that I was "burning the clutch". The whole process took about 30 seconds.
My wife then claimed that she could still smell burning, although I couldn't. But, when we got home, and I got out of the car there was definitely quite a strong burnt-like smell.
The car seems to drive normally, but I just wondered if it is likely that I might have done any damage.
Any thought would be greatly appreciated.
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You've probably taken 10k miles off the life of the clutch, but if it was in good condition to start with it will probably survive. Only time will tell.
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>> You've probably taken 10k miles off the life of the clutch, but if it was
>> in good condition to start with it will probably survive. Only time will tell.
Wow, 10K miles in 30 seconds! :(
What wear will I have actually done? Is it wear to the clutch plate, or some other part of the mechanism?
I had hoped that it would have been a bit hardier than that, and that I might just have got the plate hot and burnt off a bit of grease/dirt...
Last edited by: SteelSpark on Thu 27 May 10 at 18:10
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Well done SS you've passed the transporter drivers test..;)
You've given it a heat up but i wouldn't be worried about it, i've seen clutches smoke the compund out before now when a new driver has been loading his truck....see i can say stuff like this now i'm out of it....don't mention DMF.
You pinpointed something i've been waffling about for some time though but many rarely discover, thats the relatively poor stall speed torque of modern cars coupled with very high geared reverse making steep slopes a real problem.
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The wear will be to the actual friction material on the clutchplate itself SS, and that's what you could smell.
The smell can linger for a long time too but they are pretty durable and the wear should only be minimal.
Pat
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Thanks Pat.
As you can probably tell, I know very little about clutches (or any car internals really), but am interested in learning.
I read up a little bit (on Wikipedia) and it was talking about wet and dry clutches. Which sort would I have in my Mondeo? You mention the friction material - what type of material is it?
As I say, I'm just interested in learning.
As for the smell, it seemed to have disappeared when I went back to the car about an hour later.
Thanks again.
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Yours will be a dry clutch. Most wet clutches are on motorbikes.
The actual plate will be a combination of fibres bonded onto a metal backplate, but I'm really out of touch with what they use now.
In my days of being a Rep in the crane/quarry/ coalmine area, it was a mixture of asbestos, copper and brass.
Pat
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Thanks for the re-assurance gb.
Taking into account what you say about this being a problem in modern cars, what could I have done to reduce the problem? My best guess is that I should have raised the clutch higher and put less revs on, so that there was more friction but less speed on the plate. Is that right?
I would have liked to have experimented more at the time, with different levels of clutch and accelerator, but it was quite daunting as the car lurched down towards the garage doors - although not as daunting as the scowl on my wife's face! :)
Last edited by: SteelSpark on Fri 28 May 10 at 11:44
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what
>> could I have done to reduce the problem?
Try and reverse down a slope for parking so you can drive out uphill if at all possible, it's usually easier pulling away in first gear too.
It's a case of balance and feel for the least applied engine power without stalling and the risk of the car lurching forwards.
Other than that do the manouever quickly when swmbo isn't watching..;)
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>>what could I have done to reduce the problem?
Use fewer revs.
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My diesel CC3 'fights back' against stalling on an incline in reverse by raising the revs, without the driver touching the throttle.
Quite handy in restricted spaces, because it means you can cover the brake with your right foot without stalling.
Only works on relatively gentle slopes, though.
As gb and others have said, warming the clutch will have done little long term harm.
And gb's advice about trying to tackle steep hills forwards is very sound, if I may say so.
As regards the friction material, I always understood cork was the main ingredient, but that might have changed now.
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>> As gb and others have said, warming the clutch will have done little long term
>> harm.
>>
>> And gb's advice about trying to tackle steep hills forwards is very sound, if I
>> may say so.
>>
>> As regards the friction material, I always understood cork was the main ingredient, but that
>> might have changed now.
Thanks IIH, I appreciate the input.
I really should have reversed in as you guys recommend. Certainly I have had a few situations with standing starts uphill on similar inclines (it really was pretty steep, but I am no good at estimating gradients) with no problems, so the reversing aspect certainly had a big impact.
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I'm interested to find what material is used now IIH, as my knowledge of it was in heavy duty brake and clutch bands used on machinery.
Much the same material as brake pads as well.
Pat
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Ford Mondeo IV - 09 2.0 Might I have damaged my clutch? - Kithmo
