Cliffy Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Been in the French Alps for the last 3 weeks whilst clinmbing over Col Columbier the clutch began to feel soft. When we got over the top and back on more level road and things cooled down it went back to normal. This made me think. Should a clutch be changed on a time/mileage basis like a cam belt? If so what would the interval be, considering a MH is almost always traveling fully loaded.I would rather spend £200 or so on an early clutch change at home than be half way up a mountain in Europe without an option.We have a 2004 Ducato 2,0 ltr Autotrail Tracker with 44000 miles on the clock.What are the opinions of our learned friends here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wooie Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Hi Cliff, How long is a piece of string ? How long a clutch last is all down to the driver and the life it`s had. 100,000 miles of motorway driving doesn`t do a clutch any harm at all where as 10,000 miles around town is an absolute killer. As soon as it starts to " slip " then it`s time. But i`m sure lots will come on and contradict me. On a lighter note the " Mother-in Law " couldn`t get more that about 3,000 miles out of a clutch, life got an awful lot easier when i finally convinced her to buy an " Automatic " that was 5 years back now and it`s still going strong.......lol. Regards. Graham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Cliff, I'm not familiar with the 2.0 litre Ducato but my guess will be that you have a hydraulic clutch which is still filled with the original (now 8 years old) fluid. As the fluid is the same as brake fluid it is hygroscopic and absorbs moisture to the point where under extreme temperatures (climbing alpine passes?) the water boils and gives you a 'Soft' pedal, just like when you boil your brakes. So my suggestion is to change your clutch fluid before going to the expense of a full clutch change. This is probably something you can easily DIY if you know what you are doing and will be a lot, lot cheaper than a clutch change. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 I've had this self same conversation with the chap who does my servicing ;-)...............and although I have replaced all the brake cylinders and other stuff as Horace is now 22 years old 8-).........he reckoned there was no need to change the clutch but gave me a tip on what to listen out for.........and considering Horace has only 64k under his belt.........and I've never had a clutch last less than a 100k when I'd driven it from new :D.......... My next post will no doubt be from....................." stuck up a hill with no clutch"............ *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Keithl - 2012-09-18 9:22 PM Cliff, I'm not familiar with the 2.0 litre Ducato but my guess will be that you have a hydraulic clutch which is still filled with the original (now 8 years old) fluid. As the fluid is the same as brake fluid it is hygroscopic and absorbs moisture to the point where under extreme temperatures (climbing alpine passes?) the water boils and gives you a 'Soft' pedal, just like when you boil your brakes. So my suggestion is to change your clutch fluid before going to the expense of a full clutch change. This is probably something you can easily DIY if you know what you are doing and will be a lot, lot cheaper than a clutch change. Keith. Nice idea...but nope. I think not so. Clutch fluid doesn't boil, because regardless of how much you utilise a hydraulic clutch, it's only utilised now and then, for minute amounts of time. Brake fluid can, under the most extreme circumstances do so if VERY long braking down VERY long hills, but with a clutch you just push the pedal down to change gear, and thus use the fluid for a milli-second as a pressure-channel, to open the clutch plates and thus break the connection between engine spinning and gearbox, and having selected another gear you then release your foot from the pedal, and the spring pressure closes the gap again and transmits the drive from the first motion shaft through to the newly selected gearbox cog once more. Such occasional and mega-short periods of usage time won't heat up the hydraulic clutch fluid to any significant degree at all. The time to change your clutch is when it starts slipping under heavy load without the clutch pedal being depressed, and when no amount of adjustment will stop that occasional slipping-under-heavy load. Remember also that even if your clutch does start slipping, it ain't an all-or-nothing scenario....it won't totally fail 20 miles later. It'll just get gradually worse over the next thousand miles or two. Or three. All it means is that you adjust it, and if that don't cure it, you nurse your vehicle and ease-off the lead foot for the "N" hundred or thousand miles until you get a new clutch fitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 This is an earlier Ducato clutch-related thread, though I'm not sure how relevant it will be in this instance. http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=10390&posts=21 It's more than likely with a reasonably modern vehicle that adjustment of the clutch-operating mechanism won't be possible. I don't know what Cliffy's statement "the clutch began to feel soft" actually means. When clutches begin to fail due to wear it's usually evident (as BGD says) because they start to slip under load. If Cliffy's clutch wasn't slipping, then the 'softness' was probably not related to the clutch itself. As has already been advised, clutches have no predefined or predictable life-span. Realistically, for motorhomes at least, preventive clutch replacement based on time/mileage is not really worthwhile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euroserv Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Hello Cliffy, I am going to agree with and contradict most of the other posters! If your clutch became 'soft' when changing gear over some tortuous climbing it may well have recovered and should be ok, but if after much slipping of the clutch during the climb you felt a lack of drive (the revs were going up but you were not accelerating) , I would suspect that the clutch , while it may feel ok again now, may be sufficiently glazed that it will not be able to do such a thing again. The problem is that modern clutch materials do not always just progressively slip as they wear away over a prolonged period of nurturning; the material can break up and jam things in a 'game over' kind of way! What i would suggest is that if you are going to be using the vehicle on more level ground for a while, then just keep an eye on it, but before trying anything like that again I would invest in a new clutch. ALWAYS better safe than sorry and to be doing this in the relatively controlled environment of a local garage that you trust. But that's just me; and i only do this stuff for a living. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecal Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Hi,When you say "SOFT"? ,,,did you find it difficult to engage gears? and was the clutch actually slipping,Yes I have to agree most of the New Ones do go with a bang, with sometimes damage to the bellhousing but nine times out of ten they always give warning signs of slippage and smell.Regards,Brendan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffy Posted September 19, 2012 Author Share Posted September 19, 2012 Thanks for all the replies. By Soft I meant the clutch pedal felt that it was very light and the biting point was not as evident as it was and is now but it definitely was not slipping. May be I was just getting frightened at being so far away from civilisation and a couple of 1000mtrs above sea level.We are still in France now (Digoin, Burgandy) on our way home so if there are no problems getting home I will take the general advice given and leave well alone. If it aint broke dont fix it theory.Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecal Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Hi,Enjoy the Hol', lovely area.Regards,Brendan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 £200 for a replacement Clutch? you'll be lucky,I paid 1100 Euros to have mine replaced in Portugal 2 years ago on a 2.8 Fiat JTD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris p abacon Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 the clutch in my 1.9TD boxer recently died. Having brought us up a very long very winding 1:5 hill (the devils glen in Argyll) without a problem (at least not that I noticed about 500 miles later it became almost impossible to get it into first or reverse. Local garage diagnosed a dead clutch (thrust plate whatever that is) and relieved me of £350 for new clutch assemby and cable. no sign of any problems prior to the failure despite some pretty serious hills in Scotland which needed foot to the floor in first gear to climb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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