Hello Emira community,
I have received the disturbing news that my clutch is now confirmed as being badly burnt and worn and according to views of Lotus CC, not therefore liable for repair under warranty (c£6k costs) for being classed as "wear and tear."
Our car has only ever been mollycoddled and (I'm ashamed to say in this company) not truly driven beyond a couple of mildly spirited demo drives for friends and family. It is certainly not down to driving style, as both my wife and I have owned many manual cars over almost four decades with none requiring a clutch replacement and several being run for more than 100k miles. We don't ride the clutch or regularly hold the car on hills by feathering the clutch.
Should a clutch just go pop after just 12k miles of normal (careful) daily driving? Is this anyone else's experience? The dealer (a well known and largely favoured Lotus dealership) could only speak to having changed one Emira clutch at 14k miles, and that was on a very intensively tracked vehicle. (Ours has been no where near a circuit, nor ever driven as such)
Our experience doesn't seem right and I fear speaks to something failing on the car, but I am not mechanically minded and am looking for help from those who are.
One minor issue we have had during this last year, and I have read about it from others on here, is the sticking automatic brake. I was going to have it addressed at our next service as it seemed to us to be only a minor issue; but the car has often required higher revs to push through the disengagement of the auto brake. This has happened to us on several occasions and I had taken to using the brake release button instead, but I fear this fault may indeed have been a major cause of our burnt clutch.
Internet searches also suggested a number of other potential mechanical root causes. The dealer has been rather dismissive of these and not wished to spend any time addressing these items individually (merely referring to my search as coming up with "incorrect information"). I'd be grateful for any insights from those with better knowledge than me for things that could be looked into to explain our rather early onset experience of a burnt clutch.
Search response:
"Yes, there are many common mechanical and operational issues where a clutch does not disengage fully (often called "clutch drag"), causing the clutch to slip constantly, overheat, and burn out. Here are specific examples of issues leading to this failure:
1. Hydraulic System Failures
- Leaking Master or Slave Cylinder: If the hydraulic system leaks, it cannot maintain enough pressure to fully push the pressure plate, leading to incomplete disengagement.
- Air in the Hydraulic Line: Air bubbles in the hydraulic fluid are compressible, meaning part of the pedal effort is wasted compressing the air instead of releasing the clutch, resulting in "drag".
2. Mechanical Linkage Issues
Improper Cable Adjustment: If a clutch cable is too loose or stretched, pressing the pedal to the floor does not move the release fork far enough to fully disengage the clutch.
- Bent/Broken Clutch Fork: A damaged or weak fork may bend under pressure rather than pushing the pressure plate effectively.
- Broken/Bent Pedal Assembly: A cracked or broken clutch pedal bracket allows the pivot point to twist, reducing the total distance the slave cylinder moves.
www.sachsperformance.com +4
3. Internal Transmission/Clutch Damage
- Damaged Pilot Bearing/Bushing: A seized pilot bearing can lock the input shaft to the engine, causing the clutch to spin even when the clutch pedal is depressed.
- Damaged Splines: If the clutch disc spline is damaged, corroded, or dirty, the disc can jam on the input shaft and cannot move away from the flywheel.
- Warped Pressure Plate/Flywheel: Extreme heat can cause the metal components to warp, meaning even when disengaged, high spots on the pressure plate continue to rub against the clutch disc.
- Improper Installation: Installing the clutch disc backwards or not centering the clutch properly can prevent full release "
I will provide an update on the outcome in due course, but please be aware of any clutch slippage or even a light burning smell as these may indicate you are developing a similar problem to ours.
Best regards to all, and thanks in advance for any constructive comments from the community.
