technical question (clutch replacement)

Another technical question....... What kind of a car is it?

it's a VW POLO

"shazzbat" ha scritto nel messaggio news:c08q4j$o94$ snipped-for-privacy@news8.svr.pol.co.uk...

Yet another technical question - what age (year, registration letter) is it, and what engine size?

Peter

I bought it in 1999 and... 1.4 "AstraVanMan" ha scritto nel messaggio news:X0SVb.2505$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfep4-glfd.server.ntli.net...

Well it would help if you told us what blinking car you own !

Yet another tech question, was it a new car in '99 or did you buy it as a second-hand car - if so when was it first registered (that will be on the registration doc' if you're not sure) ?

This is worse than pulling teeth....

it was a new one...

"Jerry." ha scritto nel messaggio news:FcSVb.1640$ snipped-for-privacy@stones.force.net...

Just a quick point - it makes it easier to follow the thread if you snip all the unneccessary bits (and that includes only the last few comments to give it enough context) and put your post at the bottom (called bottom-posting), so things are in a logical order - the reply follows the question. It also makes it a lot easier for people trying to follow the thread on google as well. Some people may be a bit rude about this, so that's explaining it politely :-)

And as for an answer to your question, 6 hours sounds a bit excessive - I'd have thought it would only be around 2-3 hours max. I'm not familiar with Polos of that age, but I'd have thought even if it involves dropping the subframe it would be 4 hours absolute max. Also, don't take it to a main dealer to get it done - there are plenty of reputable VW specialist garages about who'll probably charge around half the hourly rate of a main dealer (and the car would be out of warranty now so not worth it from that point of view).

Out of interest, how many miles has the car done? It might be worth improving on your clutch technique to avoid wearing it out again. The main thing is to make the clutch bite at lower revs rather than higher. Though if it's done 150-200k, all in stop-start town traffic then I'll take that back.

Peter

A long job. I have to do one on a renault 5 and haven't done one before I expect it to take me this long. A trained mechanic with ramp etc could probably do it quicker. How about getting a haynes manual and doing it yourself? The clutch should cost about £40.

Have a go I find that in the time you mess about with car dealers and the like you can do most jobs yourself and save yourself a packet in the process.

Yes that's exactly right. All cars are designed to have a clutch replacement time of about 6 hours. It came about following a world wide agreement between manufacturers some years ago to decide the Clutch Replacement Time Norm or CReTiN as it's now known.

When setting the CReTiN for cars worldwide there was much consultation on the expectations of car owners, the cost of longer lasting clutches versus making them cheaper but easier to change and finally it was decided to make clutches last exactly 98,500 miles and take 6 hours to change.

If you are unhappy with the CReTiN relating to your car you can ask the manufacturer for a Driver/Owner Repairtime Consultation (DORC). They might then substitute the CReTiN for your car with a new DORC and everyone will be happy.

Dave Baker - Puma Race Engines

I'm not at all sure why women like men. We're argumentative, childish, unsociable and extremely unappealing naked. I'm quite grateful they do though.

thanx for your kind answer! Dave Baker (see answer below) thinks that 6 hours is an international standard of sort for this kind of job... he has got some strong evidence on his side...(this Cretin agreement I had never heard of...)

out of curiosity: same question referred to a Subaru Legacy (2.0, I don't know the year...) according to this cretin agreement it should take more or less the same time...

I've done about 80'000 Km

thank you very much!

eh eh, I wish I knew something about cars... I couldn't tell a clutch from a brake...

LOL, Don't be so crule.....

[ re clutch life ]

Bloody hell ! Is the clutch faulty or worn out, that seems a very short life for a clutch.

But saying that, and having looked at your message headers, do you do a lot of hill starts ?

IIRC, the Renault 5 was just about the worst example of a small car you could pick for changing a clutch.

Price you pay for buying a cheap badly designed FWD car, with an overcrowded engine bay that needs 1 hour just to move all the junk out of the way and then put it back after. Try some other workshops, look for a local clutch specialist. I found one that only did clutches, not brakes, exhausts and take you to the cleaners to pay for an image and national advertising. I was quoted £290 for a Peugeot 205 1.1 at a main road multiple got it done for £210 at a trading estate speciallist, £50 plate kit and 4 hours @£40/hr. My RWD 200SX was quoted at £250 got it done for £95 plate kit, £15 trans and diff oil and fixed rate £70 labour.

FWD can be designed so the plate can be changed in 1 1/2 hours, just like it can on RWD. It's just they like to design them like they always have done and not how it should be done. Almost all require the final drive to be taken off with the gear box to get to the clutch, so the drive shafts have to be removed which means the lower arms have to be removed from the suspension. Needs tracking afterwards. Peugeot/Citroen used to have an engine where just the clutch and transfer gear case was removed - far quicker than the messing about with drive shafts and suspension arms they used on later models.

The old Nissan Cherry 100A and 120A F11 had a really nice setup. Take top cover off clutch case, put in gear and slacken 2 bolts holding pressure plate, put in neutral, rotate 1/3 turn, put in gear slacken next 2 bolts, repeat for final 2 bolts. Jack car on drivers side, put axle stand under it, take wheel off. Remove cover plate in inner wing, remove clutch operating lever, remove transfer gear cover, use slide hammer to extract gear and shaft though hole in inner wing. Remove bolts previously slackened off and lift out clutch plate, fit new plate and reassemble. Less than 2 hours, for first and only time with a Haynes manual. With practice a professional mechanic should have been able to do it in 1 hour (took me over 20 min to drill the hole in the 75mm long offcut from a 50mm bar of metal I used for the slide hammer, then I had to cut a thread on each end of the 10mm bar it slid on).

-- Peter Hill Spamtrap reply domain as per NNTP-Posting-Host in header Can of worms - what every fisherman wants. Can of worms - what every PC owner gets!

It's about normal for town and shopping cars.

-- Peter Hill Spamtrap reply domain as per NNTP-Posting-Host in header Can of worms - what every fisherman wants. Can of worms - what every PC owner gets!

Is it, remember we are talking about _Km_ and not miles ?

If you are correct then there are an awful lot of drivers who basically can't drive...