Also…it is possible to completely ruin a clutch in one afternoon…OR…if you drive properly it can last well over 100K miles. Im fairly sure we have been over this topic many X on this site…and probably on other sites as well.
Many MANY people do not know that they are unintentionally destroying their clutches with their particular driving “style”…I say “style” because people invariably come up with their own techniques for using a manual transmission and quite frankly many people DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING. Its sad…it really is.
There are many NO-NO’s when it comes to clutch use…
NEVER…NEVER…Hold the vehicle on a hill using the clutch… EVER!!! Its like driving with your brakes on… You are burning up the clutch friction disc as well as heating up the flywheel ALL for no reason other than bad driving technique.
Unless you are racing…or are out of control on a mountain downhill road with no brakes…YOU SHOULD NEVER NEED TO DOWNSHIFT and release the clutch to come to a stop… just ride in the gear you are in and use your brakes…or go into neutral and use your brakes…YOU NEVER NEED to use the clutch and transmission to slow the vehicle…or downshift repeatedly in order to come to a gradual stop. LOTS of people do this…and it is simply DOUBLE the wear on your machine…DONT DO IT
ANOTHER COMMONLY OVERLOOKED CLUTCH MISHAP…IS Holding the clutch to the floor while engaged in 1st gear lets say at a Red Light. THIS IS BENDING AND WEARING OUT your pressure plate spring fingers… and A LOT OF PEOPLE DO THIS…It is WRONG… PLEASE DONT DO THIS.
If you are at a stop light…Just move into Neutral…and wait for the light to turn green…then depress the clutch…find first gear…and drive away… DO NOT WAIT IN GEAR WITH YOUR CLUTCH FOOT ON THE FLOOR… IF YOU DO…you will have the exact same clutch failure you have explained above…the pressure plate spring steel fingers will fatigue…and then require more throw or movement in order to disengage fully the friction disc…and thus make it impossible to shift from neutral to 1st gear with the engine running. Its very sad…especially when you cannot simply adjust the clutch for more throw…Ford especially should put a provision for adjustment into their manuals…BUT THEY DONT…Same as many other manufacturers
Blackbird