Not a euphamism 😆

I’ve only recently started driving after passing my test.

Went out yesterday for my first longish drive by myself in my girlfriends car and going up a steep hill in heavy-ish slow moving traffic realised that as I was in 4th gear it wasn’t going to get to the top. Changed down, but somehow f**ked it up (I’m not really sure what happened here)- cue me crunching the gears several times and the engine revving at a pretty alarming rate before I managed to get it going again 😳

The thing is there was a definite burning smell in the car several minutes afterwards which I presume was the clutch burning?

Basically I’m trying to gauge how guilty I should feel here?

After I parked the car and met my mate for some lunch I drove it home again and it seemed OK so that was a relief but presumably I’ve took some life off the clutch at the very least?

Also, might something like that change the biting point so as it’s noticeable?

Naturally I have not informed my g/f of this incident but she’ll be driving to work tomorrow morning.

If you think you might have damaged the car that she hurtles down the road in then DO tell her what happened. Bit unreasonable not to!

My ex overheated the clutch in my old car once. Never seemed to do it any long term harm.

Edit – now go tell her.

Rachel

It will be fine, you have just shortened its life by a tiny bit

Where does she keep her clutch ? 😉

The car will be fine BTW.

Dont do it often it will be fine

I see old folk melting their clutch all the time. They seem to thin te accelerator is digital. My grandad being one of the worst i know.

Yes, if you smelt burning you have def shortened the life of the clutch but it should be ok!!! If the car is under 10 years old it will probably have a self adjusting hydro clutch, so you or the GF shouldn’t feel any difference.
But defo be the nice guy and chip in some £££ when it does go.

It’ll be right. In my teenage years I’ve had cars absolutely reeking of clutch after seeing how quickly a 1.0 noddy car can get away from the lights. As other’s have said, there’ll be some extra wear to the friction material (which wears out over time anyway) but it’s unlikely to be long term shot.

There’s only one thing I know that’s guaranteed to ruin a clutch, and that’s using it as a footrest. I know someone who does that, the clutch turns into an on/off switch and lasts about 30k…

Time for an auto gear car me think.

Cheers guys that’s a bit of a relief. Will deffo have to chip in when it gets serviced!

Just doing it once like that won’t cause any significant extra wear.
It’ll be self adjusting as well, so there won’t be any difference in the bite point.

Rachel

???

I’d replace it without her knowing just to be sure

Like the others said it will have took a bit too much off the friction plate.

It does happen to me teaching learners every so often when they don’t do as you ask and it proper stinks.

Must have happened about half a dozen times in my last car, but I took it back with 70,000 on it on original clutch.

Reminds me of some guy the other morning when I was walking the dog. He was reversing into a unit in a sprinter or transporter and he had a trailer on with one of them mini diggers on. He was revving the engine wwaaayyyy to much and I could smell clutch as I walked past 😯

Opens thread. Walks away disappointed.

Try not to make a habit of it, otherwise it should be fine. I’ve had that horrible smell after trying to reverse my Octavia back up a 1:6 hill because the muppet in front couldn’t cope with the idea of putting their foot on the clutch and brake, and rolling back downhill for forty feet.

You made her clutch smoke! You stud-muffin you 😀

Ok, I’ll say it. Excessive use of the girlfriend’s clutch can easily cause funny smells and reduction in performance. Leaving it alone for a few hours, preferably overnight is best.

it’ll be fine, rachel.

Reminds me of some guy the other morning when I was walking the dog. He was reversing into a unit in a sprinter or transporter and he had a trailer on with one of them mini diggers on. He was revving the engine wwaaayyyy to much and I could smell clutch as I walked past

Unfortunately reverse gear is normally too high and it shows when you try and reverse a heavy trailer up any kind of incline. I’ve fitted a front tow bar to my van which makes it easier, but still struggle to not torture the clutch. Revs have to be high otherwise it will just bog down and stall.

Young guys are often too eager to push it in, resulting in a lot of unnecessary screeching. Better to learn to ease it in gently.

went up a hill in Chatel once, about 1 in 3. Had to use the clutch a lot to get the car up, with “a hint” of burning in the air.

Got to the top; Was in 3rd 🙄

Got to the top; Was in 3rd

Skillz 😉

Is Rachel your gf?

Ok, I’ll say it. Excessive use of the girlfriend’s clutch can easily cause funny smells and reduction in performance. Leaving it alone for a few hours, preferably overnight is best.

😆

They all have their own distinctive aroma.

If the aroma gets offensive then it’s time to get another one.

I saw a bloke on a caravan site try to put his van in position by reversing it up an incline. It wasn’t moving very well, so he just applied more and more revs. Not only could you smell clutch, but there was a huge cloud of smoke.

Pillock.

If you are really worried about the smell from her clutch then you should book her in for a service or fault diagnosis.
I am sure the grease monkey will enjoy the test drive – he will of course drive it like he stole it and it will be returned to you equally smelly.
The smell could also be a contaminated clutch, could the clutch have come into contact with foreign fluids or objects? In which case you may be looking a big repair bill to clean it up. With big mechanical jobs though sometimes it is quicker and easier to replace than repair!

Pillock.

Is that your weekend name molgrips?

😉

😆

Maybe, not sure. People seem to keep calling me it.

Why is MTG signing off as Rachel? I’ve seen photo’s and he didn’t look like a Rachel.

My son passed his test last year and I was pretty shocked to be honest that there was nothing really representative of this on the test.
Prior to the test, I’d been making him do T-junctions on 1:4 incline, crossing the flow of trafic. He learned clutch control pretty well. 😈

You’ve probably just used up a bit of her clutch disc (it’s made of similar materials to bike brake pads).

If you had damaged the gearbox you’d know.

When I was younger a friend sold his Renault 5, and the day before the guy picked it up he managed to knacker the gearbox by being a prat. He could then only get it in 2nd and reverse IRC. Ended up having to reduce the price by £1000-1500 or something.

In Ludlow there’s a really tricky corner that’s on a steep-ish hill joining a main road at an angle. To turn right out of it you have to go through 135 degrees on a steep slope, and you can’t see very well. Really difficult junction, but it was on the test route when I did it.

I think they may have stopped you turning right out of it now actually.