E46 clutch.

Unless he is reversing his caravan miles down the motorway I wouldn't have thought he'd wear a clutch out simply shunting a caravan about occasionally.

You think wrong. He's extremely experienced at this sort of thing. BTW you only need to slip the clutch when starting off. Not once moving. But with a high reverse gear this means pretty well all the time when reversing while towing.

Sorry but if he is really shagging a clutch like that then either the clutch or his driving must be bad no matter how 'experienced' he is.

it is listed as a 3.75 hour job, so probably about 400 plus parts. The throttle body and exhaust have to come off (according to autodata)

Thanks. Haynes also said the engine had to be lifted and tilted, which is what put him off.

Why do things like this get more and more complicated? I remember doing a RWD Ford Escort in about an hour start to finish. ;-)

Thanks for confirming you have no experience of towing. And have no concept of different gear ratios. Do you even have a driving licence?

I expect the lift and tilt is why the throttle body has to come off.

early FWD cavalier clutch was sub 20 mins start to finish, best design ever, no gearbox undoing at all.

My vote would go to the Triumph 1300/1500 FWD. All done from inside the car, after removing an access plate. So you could do it outside in the rain. ;-)

Why on earth should motorway driving burn out a clutch?? That's about the last place you'd ever burn one out.

Tim

I found the Dolomite the easiest to do. Lift carpet, remove cover over gear box. Drop propshaft. Remove bell housing bolts. Slide gearbox back. Replace clutch.

Ah, that philosophy obviously extended to the Dolomite RWD, as mentioned in the other post.

The FWD Triumphs much much easier. After removing the bodywork access plate, remove a cover from the power unit which revealed the clutch. Change. Replace cover, job done. The gearbox remained in place.

However, on many older cars you could remove parts of the floor to get at the gearbox, rather than having to do it from underneath.

Indeed. Which prompted me to ask John if he actually drives.

Back in the day when Mk2 Jags were old bangers, many of them were scrapped if the clutch failed; replacement involves dropping engine and box under the car, so was uneconomic.

A pal with a garage business used to acetylene-burn the bulkhead around the gearbox and bell-housing area, withdraw the gearbox into the car in the manner of the Triumph Herald to replace the clutch, then crudely weld the removed bulkhead back into place.

I shudder to think of it now, but at the time it seemed a really good idea...

Not suggesting it as a solution for your brother, you understand!

Chris

Yes and a HGV and bike license and I have NEVER burnt a clutch out in my life.

I think you'll find that HGVs are either designed for towing or at least be engineered to haul much bigger loads than cars.

I've never burnt one out either but I have towed a big caravan and know that some cars are better suited than others for towing.

Your comment about burning clutches out on motorways rather brought your credibility & experience into question.

Tim

I understand your comment, but the poster said;

"Unless he is reversing his caravan miles down the motorway..."

with "reversing" being the important part. I think he meant "reversing a longer distance than would be sane" rather than normally travelling along a motorway.

Chris

Reversing or going forward makes no difference to a clutch. It's starting off from rest that is the problem.

I'd have thought if you have an HGV licence you might have some understanding of gear ratios. That you need a lower gear to start from rest when laden than when running light. But I'm obviously crediting you with more knowledge than you have.