Clutch wear

[Becky Roberts]

Can anyone tell me what causes a clutch to wear like this? It's only covered 50,000 miles and it's not ridden and does mainly motorway miles.

[johnnyroper]

Heat, you can tell by the blue colour of the metal. If it's not ridden then has it been slipping?

[SirDavidAlhambra]

Yes, I would say either:
- A sparrow flew into the engine bay and got caught up in the clutch
- An 18 year old son has been driving it like a Formula 1 car when mum's not looking
- Grandma has been holding the engine at 7,000 rpm while reversing into parking bays at Tesco at 0.25mph
- There's a problem with the clutch release mechanism (for instance the clutch release bearing), causing it to slip and get hot even when the pedal is fully depressed or alternatively, when the car is being driven (loss of clamping pressure). I think this is the most likely explanation. The solution would be to get them to change the lot, making sure they use quality components rather than cheap ones.

I am however not a clutch expert so others who have more experience of the workings of a motor car will no doubt be able to draw on their practical experience and give better advice!

Thank You

[brianh]

I'd be checking that its the right clutch and slave cylinder thats been fitted if you still have the old bits, as said above looks like its got hot from slipping for some reason. Doesn't look like its down to contamination as no signs of any leakage onto it either?

[Mirez]

That's from a Touran? Looks incredibly small in diameter for 2.0 TDI?