Hi all, hopefully a simple one for the more mechanically minded of you. Car has not been used much lately and is at 50k miles. A couple of weeks ago noticed that the revs started falling slightly at around 3000rpm (where the power starts) in 3rd gear up while accelerating. Slipping clutch think I. Next couple of drives I was able to get revs to rise in 2nd gear also without an accompanying rise in speed. Have booked in for a new clutch on Thursday. Today (warmer) i go out and have no slippage at all as far as i can tell. So, just a matter of time so still get the clutch sorted before a heavily laden car gets taken to the lake district or was this a temporary issue due to lack of use so should cancel the clutch replacement?

Cheers.

50k doesn’t sound too high mileage but it will depend on how the car has been driven. If its been sat for a while it may just be surface corrosion on the clutch or flywheel that needs to scrub off. Could try finding a steepish hill and go up it in a high gear at lowish speed. Put your foot down, if the car chugs up the hill clutch would appear OK, if the revs rise and the car doesn’t speed up it could point to clutch problems.

Best way to test for a slipping clutch is to get it into 5th or 6th gear at a low speed & stick your foot down. If the revs climb, but the speed doesn’t it’ll be the clutch.

EDIT – your symptoms of the revs falling, don’t sound like clutch slip to me.

I had this happen to me a few years ago with what seemed like an intermittent clutch slip problem. It turned out I was wearing a different pair of shoes to normal & the edge of my foot was just resting on the clutch in such a way that occasionally it would slightly depress the clutch & it would slip a bit. Took me a week or driving home from work trying to work out if it was a real or imaginary problem. Felt like a right muppet when i realised it was self-induced.
I’m not saying that’s the case here, but just check whether you actually have a real problem before changing it!

A couple of weeks ago noticed that the revs started falling slightly at around 3000rpm (where the power starts) in 3rd gear up while accelerating.

Not a clutch symptom

Next couple of drives I was able to get revs to rise in 2nd gear also without an accompanying rise in speed

Potentially a clutch symptom but not normal to see it only in second.

Suggest you have multiple issues and probably want to get it diagnosed by a professional. Clutches although do fail rarely do so catastrophically. (Yes it does happen but more often tends to be gradual decline)

What is the car.

Hmm. Thought this would be simple. Its a petrol toyota avensis. No DMF.

Any codes from the OBD port? Note they dont always throw a engine management light up but could still be stored. Could be a misfire. Check spark plugs, clean MAF sensor if present, check air intake hose connections and check for vacuum leaks. Clutch very unlikely at that mileage and youd notice it more doing hill starts not accelerating in third gear.

Is it turbocharged?

Will dig out the odb reader in the morning then. Sounds like time to cancel the garage, at least for the moment. Not turbo charged. 1.8l petrol

I’m not particularly mechanically minded, but your symptoms sound like what i had in a VW Jetta years ago where lots of knowledgeable people thought it was the clutch until it turned out the fuel pump was dying.

Doesn’t sound like a clutch, and way early unless driven very badly or the rear main crank seal has leaked oil onto the clutch.

I will confess I spent a while trying to diagnose a lack of turbo boost and falling revs at cruise. I won’t say how long I spent checking for leaking pipes before I noticed the floor mat scrunched up under the throttle pedal.

Yep revs dropping isn’t a clutch issue. Revs rising and the car not accelerating could be a clutch. But you normally get it in a higher gear at low speed when there’s more torque going through the clutch and greater resistance from the car, if that makes sense. Had this in my diesel accord in 6th gear.

50k does seem early for clutch friction material to wear, assuming that it’s not been driven by someone who constantly slips the clutch. TBH I’d be surprised if 1.8 non-turbo petrol would have enough torque to slip the clutch 😀

Do what stumpy01 says.

Ok, cancelled the clutch replacement. Service is due in a month or two so will get that done early and get them to have a look for any codes for me.

The clutch on my car has been slipping for a while now, but only tends to do it in 2nd and 3rd when I get to about 3k revs and then it sorts itself out around 3.5k revs.

It doesn’t do it in higher gears.

Mind you, I have not been on a motorway for a good while, so I don’t know what it is like at 3k res in 6th gear.

I will give it the hill and 6th gear test as noted above though.

My car has done almost 130k miles now, so I do expect that the clutch will need replacing soon.

When it first started going I thought that I was doing a similar thing to @stumpy01 with a lazy left foot/leg resting on the pedal slightly.

Had a similar issue with a Focus. Turned out to be a snapped/wornout bit of cable from the loom to the primary coil. Must have been a fairly common issue as you could buy ready made repair kits off of ebay. Relatively simple splice and dice job.