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How long should a clutch last?

E

elraido

I kant speel
Joined
Oct 28, 2004
Messages
15,657
Location
Northern MN
I am curious as to how long a "normal" clutch on these cars should last. I know a huge factor in longevity is how you drive the car and how often you shift. But I am up to 195K miles on my clutch and it isn't slipping one bit after reading how to do the slipping clutch test. How long has yours held up?
 
elraido said:
I am curious as to how long a "normal" clutch on these cars should last. I know a huge factor in longevity is how you drive the car and how often you shift. But I am up to 195K miles on my clutch and it isn't slipping one bit after reading how to do the slipping clutch test. How long has yours held up?
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Clutches really can last an extremely long time when driven properly. The average clutch life is about 80-100K and thats with your average ignorant stick driver. If you know how to drive stick properly; not holding your foot on the clutch lever all of the time, rarely running the car at WOT, not short shifting in daily driving, they cant last way over 100K miles. My Contour had the original clutch in it at 138K miles when I got rid of it, and it wasnt slipping, but the TOB was going out on it. I guess you have nothing to worry about, clutches don't just FAIL unless you do clutch dumps all of the time and such. if driven properly you can baby a slipping clutch for quite sometime.
 
Good, it's not just me then. I've got 96K miles on the original (previous owner was a careful driver too), and I've been holding my breath for the past 10K wondering if and when I'd start to feel it slip. I've even got a freakin' SVT flywheel on a shelf right now.
 
Mine is almost shot with 118k and alot of drag strip time. So it's all depends on the driver and driving style.

-Andy
 
When the tranny was out of my dad's old '86 BMW 325 at 196K miles to fix a flywheel problem, the clutch looked fine. He had it replaced anyway, to save on labor in the long run. This ties into the recurring flamewar on downshifting: Sure it's more expensive to replace a clutch than it is brakes, but if driven properly your clutch is going to need replacement once every 100K-200K+ miles, in stark contrast to the brakes. Oh, one set of brakes on the Bimmer went 90K, the other 110K. :shocked:

As for my SVTC the clutch exploded at 30K-35K thanks to abuse on the part of the first owner during the first 9K miles. :censored:

--T.J.
 
127k until nitrous burned it up. hard launches, etc. it actually held for about 3 months using nitrous every weekend. the spec stage3 only has like 14k on it but you cant make that thing slip! :)
 
Bought my SVT with the clutch completely toasted. Had to tow it home from purchasing it. Had 123,000 miles when it went.
 
my old 99 had just shy of 100k and the clutch felt fine. my 00 has 93k and it too seems to be in good shape. and thats with teaching 2 little cousins (both girls, one riding the clutch in a parking lot and one dumping it at 3000 rpms in the desert sand) how to drive a stick.
 
150 K on my 98 & still going strong & that's teaching 3 16y olds how to drive stick includes my daughter who went through 4 light cycles before getting under way. Surprisingly, in Eastern MA, the folks behind never blasted their horn. They must have been out of state. :)
 
When treated with care, there's no reason why it shouldn't last over 200k miles. The clutch should last the life of the car as long as it's driven properly.
 
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