Does the clutch fail suddenly?

[RichGBM]

Hi all,

I know/have experienced that in some makes of car, the clutch is designed to fail suddenly when it reaches a certain threshold of wear. Does this happen on a 2003 Fusion2, or will it just slip more and more until replaced? I am currently only experiencing slip at high torque, so can drive about fine as long as I don't push it. I have the car booked in for a new clutch next week but I need to decide whether it is worth risking a journey at the weekend. If the clutch only 'fades' gradually, I reckon it'll be fine, but don't want to risk being stranded awaiting the RAC...advice welcomed

[TomsFocus]

I've never heard of a clutch being designed to fail suddenly at a certain degree of wear.

If the actuator fails (slave cylinder/thrust bearing etc) or the diaphragm spring fails then they'll fail suddenly.  But if the friction material is wearing down they'll generally be ok at low torque for a while.  Eventually they all reach a point where there is no longer enough friction to transmit engine power through the gearbox, but that's not by design.

Ultimately, no-one can say how long a slipping clutch will last.  If you don't want a risk a breakdown, and don't have an urgent need to make this journey, it's probably best just to wait until the new clutch is fitted.

[RichGBM]

Thank you for your reply. That makes sense. It was a VW Golf where the clutch pedal suddenly 'disappeared' and I was told it was designed to do that, but maybe I was misinformed and the failure was the diaphragm spring, as you suggest. At the moment the slippage only occurs occasionally, if I accelerate hard, so I will limit use.

 

thank you for your response - very much appreciated!

[StephenFord]

19 minutes ago, RichGBM said:

 

thank you for your response - very much appreciated!

You struck lucky, not only is Tom very knowledgeable, he's also a VW fan!