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

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.

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!

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!