What happened to my clutch?? Imput needed

[kevjandon]

So yesterday I'm driving home. I'm at a red light. The light turns green, I hit the clutch, feather the gas and clutch to engage, increase rpms, release clutch. RPMs slowly go up, car hardly moves, starts to smell like burning paper from the rear.

I disengage the clutch, reengage in 1st again and it's like nothing happened. The car just took off. Had a few more stop lights on the way home and the problem did not repeat and I haven't had it before.

Any guesses what happened.

[buster73]

Might be a problem with the throughout bearing or the pressure plate or - if you are lucky - just a clutch cable that begins to fail (and the fractured strands cause the cable to stick momentarily). Check both ends of the clutch cable for any fractured wires.

[nhromyak]

Is it a rubber-centered clutch?

[kevjandon]

It's the original clutch in the car. It has 43K miles on it.

[nhromyak]

I suspect, you have the original rubber-centered clutch. This was used to dampen transmission noises coming from the engine through the drivetrain and into the cabin. As these detriorate, or are abused, pieces of the rubber-center break off. This can cause the clutch not to engage with the flywheel, or pressure plate.

You're lucky the piece didn't get stuck. It sounds like a small rubber-piece was able to fall-out from the clutch and flywheel, and you were able to go.

Time to save for a clutch and all the "while you're in there's".

Good luck.

[kevjandon]

tell me the bad news. How much is a clutch going to cost?

[HY M8NC]

"By the book labor" is roughly 8 hours. I think a clutch kit can be had for $500-$750, and then resurface the flywheel for around $50. All those numbers are "ish"...

[kevjandon]

Sounds like $1300ish....

Should I just wait until it gets real bad?? Stops working all together? What is the thought on this?

[nhromyak]

Depends on you. How do you drive? Aggressive?

Can you afford to have the car stop being able to be driven? that's the key - for me anyway.

You never know, you may never see the problem again until the clutch gets worn down. *shrug*

[Steve87-911]

Originally posted by kevjandon
Sounds like $1300ish....

Should I just wait until it gets real bad?? Stops working all together? What is the thought on this?

I'd just replace it. A new clutch feels so good. Does it slip when it's real hot?
The longer you wait the more chance you have of ruining your flywheel, which will add $300+ more to the $1300 wrench price.

At only 43k miles though it must've been abused or raced alot. My original clutch went 98k miles before it coughed up the hairball.

[Por_sha911]

Are you sure that its a rubber centered clutch?

[kevjandon]

it's what ever came in an 83 SC. It's still the factory clutch and it was never raced or abused. The guy I bought from was about 80 years old.

[Grady Clay]

You may get an idea if a disintegrating rubber-center clutch disc is the problem by feeling around on the top of the transmission. It is common for there to be rubber shards thrown out of the vent hole in the top of the bell housing area.

Yes, fix it asap. The issue is the rubber pieces can prevent the clutch from totally disengaging - just the opposite from your one-time experience. When the clutch “drags” due to the rubber pieces, it stresses or overwhelms the syncros in the transmission. This allows the sliding sleeve and gear dogs to clash, even imperceptibly, and expensive damage results.

Best,
Grady

[Amac]

Something you might check before you replace the clutch,
look under the pedal cluster for anything that might jam
the pedal. I had a piece of the wooden floor board get under
my clutch pedal linkage, did the same thing.