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OT: Clutch lifespan

I have a T&C and before that a '92 G.C. with the infamous 4spd tranny (no problems when sold at 160K miles)..anyway, I respect the opinions of this group and wanted to ask a question on a non-Chrysler product- I have as my commute car a 1990 Protege with the 5 spd SOHC setup and it still has the original drivetrain including clutch at 220,000 miles. I'm now putting on about 22,000 miles a year, 10,000 of that pure highway 75-80mph and I'm wondering- DO clutches really wear out? If you don't ride it, don't slip it shifting and don't rest your arm on the stick...how long will it last? Tomorrow she goes in to have the "lifetime" rear bearings replaced- I'll do alt, rad, plugs and the like but this one was bit more than I wanted to tackle...anyway...what's the highest mileage ya'll have heard on a manual drivetrain?

Thanks,

Richard

Reply to
Richard Smith
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The shortest clutch lifetime was on a friend's Ford escort in the 80's. It exploded (big bang with a bunch of other parts) while still under warranty and Ford tried to call it a wear out item and didn't want to cover it although they were going to cover the rest of the repairs.

Reply to
Art

Sure, they wear out eventually, but they wear from sliding against the pressure plate and flywheel just as brakes wear out from sliding against the rotors or drums. Less sliding equals less wear. Since you are driving most on the highway, you are getting very little wear per mile and proper clutch usage minimizes wear even when starting out and shifting fairly frequently.

I've never yet worn out a clutch in a passenger vehicle, but then I've never taken one past about 150,000 miles. I did drive tractor trailers years ago and I've seen them go beyond 300,000 miles on a clutch if shifted properly.

Matt

Reply to
Matt Whiting

Art, what part of "highest mileage" didn't you understand? :-)

Matt

Reply to
Matt Whiting

Thanks guys. I'd wondered about it since I intend to keep this car until the wheels (literally) come off...but now I'm wondering if an engine rebuild will occur before a clutch replacement. But running Mobil 1 perhaps they'll both happen after 300K.

Richard

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Reply to
Richard Smith

My GLH-T had about 150K miles before the original clutch started to slip. I mostly took it easy on the car, but I did do hard launches on ocassion. A car that is babied I can see lasting 200k.

------------ Alex

Reply to
Alex Rodriguez

Often the throw-out bearing will fail before the clutch disk fails, unless the rear main seal fails enough to get oil on the clutch.

Matt

Reply to
Matt Whiting

Who crowned you group monitor? Answer: No one.

Reply to
Art

Who stole your sense of humor and ability to understand what a smiley means? And do you talk to yourself often?

Matt

Reply to
Matt Whiting

Sorry I forgot my :-)

Reply to
Art

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