Recently I did the “friction test” on my clutch several times to check for trouble, and actually determined it was ok.
I asked a trusted friend about this and he seems to think I put between 30 to 50k worth of wear on the clutch. It has about 60k on it currently.
Seems like he’s exaggerating a bit. Is he ?
It isn’t slipping under load or anything and the pedal still feels pretty good.
I’m taking the car on a 1400 mile round trip for my spring break next week,
Should I have the shop look over my clutch just to be safe ?
I know I already made a thread regarding this a while back but I just want to be sure.
Thanks.
Thanks.
If your clutch were already bad, you would have made it slightly worse.
As it isn’t bad, you put the same amount of wear on it as one commute. No big deal…
A couple of “friction tests” will not add 30 to 50k miles on your clutch. Its only equal to a couple of normal takeoffs.
maybe a bit more than that, but relax. It’s OK.
ok, i’ll bite… what’s a friction test?
is this a new name for power braking?
I believe a friction test is the ol’ try and put the car in gear with the parking brake on test.
It shouldn’t be any worse for a clutch than a hill start-- you probably don’t want to get compulsive about it.
Check your clutch only if it is not working right.
Recently I did the “friction test” on my clutch several times to check for trouble, and actually determined it was ok.
Don’t “test” a clutch unless you believe there is a problem. If you do a single test is enough. If it is bad it will be obvious with the first test. Doing several right in a row can damage the clutch. Normally testing it without overheating it with repeated test will do very little to no wear.
Unless you are not telling us the whole story, it sounds like there was no damage.
close. put the car in 4th, parking brake on, release clutch, see if it stalls.
The “friction test” recommended by Click & Clack is to put the front bumper up against a brick wall, let the clutch enegage, and see if the engine stalls.
I personally do not support this idea. If, in high gear at cruising speed, you can floor the engine and the clutch does not slip, it’s fine.
For the OP: even if your clutch did begin to slip suring your trip you’d have many more safe miles in which to address it. Clutches begin to slip gradually. At firs you’d only notice that when you tried to accelerate on the highway it slipped. You’d still be able to drive it without problem until you got it addressed, you just might not be able to pass lareg trucks as readily.
I don’t know what to think about the post where mountainbike refers to Click and Clack stating that the vehicle should be placed against a brick wall as a means of testing a clutch. They actually said this and were serious about it?
If they were serious it is yet another reason why neither of them should be allowed around an automobile since I’ve heard some pretty ignorant advice given by them on a number of occassions.
Guess there was no concern about crushing painted plastic/grilles/headlamps or possibly setting the airbags off? Jeez.
The OP does not likely have any damage due to the test being performed several times. The park brake should be set, the trans placed in 3rd gear, the engine revved to about 3k RPMS, and the clutch released while the foot brake is held. If the engine dies quickly the clutch is good and of course, the process should be done quickly and only once or twice.
Hah! You can bet your a** neither one of those two windbags would have the ba**s to stand behind that brick wall during that test.
Yeah, they said that. If they were joking there was no sign of it that I could detect.
But the advice was not to bang the car into the wall, but rather to put the front bumper against the wall using the wall to hold the car in place. The driver was, as I understand it, then to slowly allow the clutch to engage with the engine idleing. Under those circumstances not only would the airbag not trigger but even a Bugatti Veyron would stall before pushing the wall over…or the clutch wouold slip.
Again, it’s not something I’d do. My test is to floor the pedal while the vehicle is cruising at legal speed in high gear. Although in a Veyron I might not floor it!
A brick “wall” is usually a cosmetic covering and may not structurally able to withstand the push of a vehicle. You may have to rebuild the “wall”. Try another vehicle or tree or something that can withstand this type of force.
Since I’ve heard some moronic advice from them on a number of occassions I can probably believe they were dead serious in recommending the brick wall method. I was just curious as to whether they were adding some humor at the time.
So their recommendation, assuming the bags don’t go off, is to force painted plastic against brick or concrete and destroy the entire nose of the car as a means of testing the clutch? What happens if the plastic nose collapses and the bags go off on an unsuspecting driver?
There are a number of things that are going to give way and become damaged before the clutch even fully takes hold.
I won’t say that’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard but it has to rank in the top 2%.
I can just see someone putting the nose of their Corvette Z06 against the concrete block wall at the rear of a Wal Mart Supercenter now. 
Right. And it’s always backed by a strong support structure. Except in very old buildings from before concrete blocks, where they used to multilayer the bricks.
Anyway, the point is the same. And I still wouldn’t recommend it as a test protocol. Even with a tree.
Are you experiencing any problems with the clutch? Smooth operation? Decent travel and pickup/engagement? I’d test drive it carefully and watch for problems . . and if none appear, forget about it and drive it. Don’t do any more tests . . . and don’t ever nose your car up to a wall and try this test. I wouldn’t do this with any vehicle . . . gotta imagine that 100 hp pushing against a solid wall is gonna break/squash/scratch/wreck something on the front end of the car. Have fun on your Spring Break! Rocketman