RotaryNoob

If you smell it, you are burning it. Let off faster once it starts gripping.

dkelly3854

How long, in total, do you guys have your foot on the clutch while changing gears? 1sec, 2 sec?

Just curious. I try to be as quick as possible to I don't burn the clutch.

Tbone

It's not a question of how long. You can hold your foot on the clutch for 5 seconds for each shift if you want. Over time that will cause problems, but it would take a very long time. What you DON'T want to do is keep your foot on a paritally engaged clutch for any length of time. While it is engaging, it is slipping on the disk. That sort of behavior will wear it out the fastest.

Jaguar_MBA

I think I have a similar issue. Inside my RX8 I can smell burnt clutch sometimes too...normally when I am in engaging first gear and trying to have a smooth engagement so that my wife does not yell at me. I also always try to have a smooth engagement to protect the transmission. I have never had any other car "smell" from simply engaging of the clutch in 1st gear. Is this something that the dealer can fix by adjusting the clutch pedal or the hydraulics?

By the way, I have the Racing Beat lightweight flywheel installed with the replaceable flywheel surface....could this be part of the reason?...along with the underdrive pulley kit....freed up to much HP?

Tbone

The clutch disengages the drive from the engine, but not entirely. If you just sit there with it depressed, you are still going to very slightly wear out your clutch. As for time, I think that would vary with each vehicle. I would think that several months of just sitting with the clutch depressed at each stoplight would be enough to ruin your clutch.

w0rm

uh, so you're saying we should be putting the car in neutral at lights?

Gambit

how high are your RPM's when you can smell the clutch burning?

gansan

On most clutches, you won't wear the clutch disk significantly if it is completely depressed, but if you are waiting at a stop light with the clutch down, you ARE wearing out the throwout bearing. Think about it, the clutch pedal is activating a fork which is pushing down in the middle of a spinning clutch pressure plate (stationary object pushing against a spinning object), and the throwout bearing is between them that allows that to happen. It is lubricated with just grease usually, and does wear out over time.

Xystas

I have got into the habit of placing my vehicles in neutral at stop lights. I only engage the clutch when I need to shift, period. There is no reason to have the car in gear with the clutch depressed if you're stopped.

BasenjiGuy

Save the clutch throw out bearing. It's also safer to keep the car in neutral at a stop because there's no chance your foot will slip off the clutch pedal and nudge the car forward, even with its low torque. Even if you don't end up in the intersection, you could still hit the car in front of you if your foot slips. Besides, it's really satisfying to to hone your ability to get a quck shift from neutral into first, bring up the revs, and get a firm launch. I love the rifle bolt sound the tranny makes when you do this.

BTW, after maturing into a low end torque lover with my previous cars, and then about facing and buying an 8, I am actually starting to enjoy having to really feather the clutch on firm launches. It reminds me of how sport bikers do tasteful but hard launches. Not abusive, just a little aggressive. I guess it's because the 8 has so much rev range per gear that you are slipping the clutch thru several thousand rpms instead of just 2 to 3 on say, a BMW inline six, or, maybe 1500 rpms on a V8... The 8 demands a little more skill in this department. With a muscle car like a Mustang GT the launches are so easy... of course, it also feels like the hand of God is pushing the car along. But, we get that surge of torque from 6k on up to 9xxx rpms!

BasenjiGuy

Oh yeah, one more thing, at really slow speeds, in parking lots, stop and go traffic, etc, I notice that I occasionally smell the car's tell tale oil-tinged exhaust as the car slows down and/or stops and its wake catches up with it. I'm still getting used to smelling the burned oil in the exhaust, even though years ago I had an '84 GSL-SE. My car problem radar just goes off when I smell that oil.

Back in the 12A/13B days we felt the engines would go 200k if you kept the oil fresh and never let the engine overheat. And, the engines were pretty cheep to replace. I don't want to find out how a much a replacement Renesis would cost in this day and age.

EandGWZ

I don't know where this is coming from. In my 12 years driving I never heard of anyone doing anything but leaving the car in heutral at a stop sign/light. I highly recommend you do not leave it engaged in gear.

dj.stains

I just had my clutch master replaced because there was a squeaking noise comin from it

bxb40

I did a search looking for the cause of the burned clutch smell I felt when warming the car or working on it while parked. The catch? I have the AT so... what in there can smell like a burned clutch?!? My suspicion is that all of us are smelling something unrelated to the clutch. After driving for a while, the smell is missing while the car sits. If it is the clutch, the smell should still be there.
I am thinking, do they use some special coating on the catalyst as I think I read somewhere? Newish car warming up first thing in the morning burns a little of that stuff...
Other ideas?

borble

I have had a smell coming from the clutch (or I think it comes from there) since I bought my car 2 years ago...I have put 16000 miles on the clock, and I am now on my 3rd clutch...

The smell was only when I reversed at first, then the clutch went completely at 7000 miles...this one was replaced. The car was out of the garage for less than 24 hours before it was back in, it had the worst smell ever, and was performing like a tractor...I was not best pleased, so back it went. It was better when I got it back, but the smell was still there.

I finally had enough of the smell, and they replaced the clutch again (16000 miles). The smell is still there, but not as bad. I have no idea if it is the clutch or not, all I know is that I have never had to replace a clutch in any other car I have had, I don't believe this issue is down to my driving. I also notice the smell more when I am parking.

The starter motor also had to be replaced after a few hundred miles, the garage then tried to blame the clutch after it packed in the first time....

grapes

Were the clutches covered under warranty. Sounds like your going to need number 4. Why do you think it's happening.

borble

The first one was not covered under warranty, the second one was...which leads me to think the first one should have been as well.

2 clutches, 1 starter motor and two oil leaks, I am wondering what will happen next.

RazzyBRX-8

$8,000