2017 Mirage ES Clutch Replacement (broken clutch spring)

[Wallythacker]

Nothing lasts forever but I should say "for the working life of the car"

In my ownership of too many vehicles to count, 90% MT, I have replaced 3 clutches. My 1970 Mustang which I drag raced. Slipping the clutch quickly behind a near 600hp @6100rpm engine in a 3500lb. vehicle tends to kill the friction surface.

My 1987 Ranger 2.8l 5MT. It was the hydraulic cylinder that caused the failure. grrr. The clutch would likely have survived till I scrapped the car. That one really miffed me, only 250,000km on the truck.

A 3.5hp Briggs powered minibike with a centrifugal clutch. At age 10 I didn't know it had a friction surface that would wear down i I did stoopid things. Even so, it took 3 years. Funny how my first real bike, a Honda 65 4 spd survived my learning to ride it.

The only people I ever knew who needed clutch replacements always, without fail, rode the clutch.

[foama]

I never ride the clutch! Mine has had a slightly slipping clutch for years. Not worn, but defective.
Slipping is only noticeable when driving up a long steep hill at normal revs. Then it might stink, what I very much try to prevent. If I drive uphill in first or second gear at elevated revs and consequently low torque, it is OK. Just as otherwise in flat areas, were it behaves totally normal.

I have replaced quite a few OEM Exedy clutches in various Suzuki Swift. The replacement usually was LUK brand. Those LUK were much more comfortable to drive and had a much lighter pedal than the Exedy. LUK invented the sort of clutches we use today, and is OEM in almost every European MT car.
The quickest job was all completed in 90 mins from jacking it up to driving it out. I shall order a new 3 piece clutchkit soon and do the job alone. Will report on how long it took and what was defective on that Exedy clutch.

I used to drive some 60 to 80000km yearly. I've owned probably more than 50 cars in my life, all manuals. Most were old, neglected and rusty, too rusty for passing obligatory safety inspections, but cheap and good enough for enduring a few months of a lot of long-distance autobahn driving. Never once had a clutch failure then. My 2014 Mirage/spacestar is the longest ever owned, but came with an OEM Exedy clutch.

[7milesout]

Driving a car with a bad / slipping clutch makes you ... a very good clutch user! It points out at what conditions the clutch is seeing the most wear. And you begin to compensate for it.

My son had (still has it) a G35 with a clutch going bad. I told him just drive it like that for a while until I can afford, and schedule a clutch replacement. As it got worse and worse, he noticed a pattern of where it would slip the most and would compensate for that in order to prevent it from slipping. He got REALLY GOOD at driving a manual transmission. He drove it slipping for months. It was replaced, and now he now drives a clutch as smooth as butter.

I'm continually thinking about the stresses I'm putting on that little Blueberry clutch when I'm towing. So, as I've posted before, when I'm getting it going, I use very low revs and get the clutch fully engaged as quick as I can (with low revs), once the clutch is fully engaged (clutch pedal up), I then mash on the right hand pedal and release all those shaft snapping torques. And then I "float" gears after that, and repeat (get the clutch engaged, then gas it). Every person behind me is pissed as hell at me, because it IS slow ... but it makes a clutch last.

[MetroMPG]

Somehow I completely missed this thread when you posted it, Mullet.

Big thanks.

The clutch in my 2014 has been questionable since I got it, 2 years ago. Not slipping or having any trouble shifting, but there's a weird noise + resistance at the very bottom of the clutch travel. If I was forced to guess, I'd say something's wrong with the pressure plate. Maybe a busted diaphragm "tang"/spring or two.

Anyway, good to see a useful guide if & when I need it!

[Johnny Mullet]

Glad I could help. It's what I do.

[foama]

...there's a weird noise + resistance at the very bottom of the clutch travel. If I was forced to guess, I'd say something's wrong with the pressure plate. Maybe a busted diaphragm "tang"/spring or two...

If somebody was riding the clutch or there wasn't enough play in the clutch cable, a groove will develop on the tips of the "fingers" of the diaphram spring. Eventually when the groove is very deep, the tips can actually fall off. Then it will make noises when depressed. Hope it isn't so.

There is not much room in the bell housing, in fact it is a very space-saving design. We have a very old thread somewhere of a gearbox casing that was actually penetrated by a defective, maladjusted clutch.

Thank you Johnny Mullet, I watched your clutch video and will watch it again before replaceing the clutch.