Clutch
An important part that cooperates with the gearbox is the clutch. The clutch is located between the engine and the gearbox. It consists out of 3 main parts: the clutch plate, flywheel and pressure group. The clutch disengages the propulsion from the engine to the gearbox when the clutch pedal is used. This will reduce the speed within the gearbox, which gives you the possibility to shift gears. When you release the clutch pedal, the pressure group will press the clutch plate against the flywheel. The clutch passes the propulsion on between the engine and the gearbox by using friction. The friction is provided by the clutch plate which is being pressed against the flywheel by the pressure group.
The so called slipping clutch is nothing more than the clutch plate that is not fully pressed against the flywheel. If not fully engaged, the clutch plate grinds against the flywheel, this prevents the passing on of all the power. The down side is that the clutch plate will wear. When you use the gas pedal while the clutch is slipping, you will notice a nasty smell. This is the clutch plate getting overheated and burning up.
If you want to check whether the clutch plate has enough friction coating and/or if the pressure group needs maintenance, you can do the following test.
- Drive the car with a low rev (rpm) count n
- Shift a gear up
- Now give full power
Normally the engine will slowly begin to make revs and slowly gain speed. When the clutch needs maintenance the clutch plate will start to slip during this test. You will notice this by the disproportional amount of revs the engine is producing compared to the speed you are gaining. Is this the case, then the clutch plate has to be replaced or the pressure group needs to be adjusted.
