Is there any way to check the wear on a clutch without removing it?
 

Planning a cross country trip next month and we're taking our 07' MS3. It's got 160,000 miles now and everything is still original (except the usual plugs/belts/fluids/brakes and the thermostat and throttle body).

Nothing else on the car concerns me except for I'm a little concerned about the clutch suddenly taking a dump 1,000 miles from home. I know 160K is within the range of miles that a clutch can wear out in. Is there a way to get a look at the clutch disc to check the wear without pulling the trans? I've looked but I couldn't see anything obvious.

My other car (Supra) has a cover you pull off and you can see the edge of the disc and judge how much is left. I'm hoping this car has something like that...

Maybe if you pulled the starter you could see through there.

Otherwise, clutches generally don't just go one day...they start slipping first. A long road trip of highway driving (ie not stopping/starting the car) should be negligible wear on the clutch.

I'll probably pull it to see if I can see it, but yeah now that you say it I guess the clutch won't get much use on a highway trip.

I have a borescope though, which helps a lot, so hopefully I'll be able to see something through the starter hole just to have some peace of mind.

unless you have some crazy fucking noise going on right now, i wouldn't worry about it.

I could think of so many other things to be worried about on a long trip at that mileage and the clutch exploding isn't one of them...

Well don't leave me hanging.... like what?

I do take care of the car, it just hasn't broken much of anything in 160K. I keep a close eye on everything.

I've done a few other things now that I think... I've done the rear shocks and the rear trailing arm bushings. I've also done the belt tensioner pulley. Hmm. Oh and I decarbonized the intake valves and EGR at around 130K (with the head on.. I used dental picks and MCCC and adequate profanity). It could use some front struts maybe, but they only just started to seep oil a month or so ago so I think they'll be fine for a few months yet.

Oh and I'll be doing the timing chain kit and VVT actuator before the trip because I'm starting to hear some chain noise and I think the chain is just worn out, so I figure I'll update the VVT actuator too while I'm in there since I saw that's been an issue for some people.

If you've got any suggestions on other things to watch for I'd be glad to hear them. I don't spend much time on the forums here keeping up with what's failing on other people's cars.

VVT, CV axles, RMM...All the gummy bear mounts really...If your clutch just took a random dump on you without any signs, it's probably not your clutch. Check your master and slave cylinder for leaks. Don't forget to check on the INSIDE of the car where the bar goes thru and connects to the master cylinder. Pretty self explanatory procedure.

I've always heard while sitting in idle put the car in a high gear like 4th or 5th. Then let out the clutch. If it stalls, the clutch is good.

This is exactly what I was thinking. Check the cylinders. Shit would have to be fucked for it to not grab, and if it was fucked, there was a time when it was slipping before it got fucked.

Mounts are good, I check those every year or so and they're still fine. CV axles are fine too, boots are all sealed up yet and no excessive play in the joints. No noise in turns either.

The clutch isn't acting up or slipping, but I get people towed into my shop at least once a year that say "the clutch was fine and then it just started slipping a little and then a few stop lights later the car just wouldn't move". Then when I pull the car apart the disc is all in one piece but the thing is just worn to the point the rivets started touching the flywheel and pressure plate and once that happens the clutch usually just goes from holding to not holding pretty quick it seems. To be honest though, I never wore a clutch out in any of my cars so I never experienced it firsthand. Maybe those customers were ignoring or overlooking slight slippage or noise for a while and it really didn't fail as quick as they said. I've never had a person bring a car in for a worn out clutch under it's own power though... always on a tow truck.


Now that you say it though, I'm gonna take a look behind the boots on the clutch and brake master and the clutch slave and make sure none of them are seeping and on the verge of failing. I had to do a clutch master cyl on my DSM once in a Lowes parking lot and it's not an adventure I'd like to repeat.

I would read the diy writeup on this forum and purchase the kit from edgeautosports. It was my first time ever taking apart the motor like that, and I was able to do it successfully although it took forever.

Maybe u got the answer I'm
Not big on reading so here's what u can do to see if the clutch is slipping .


Put it in 5th at low rpm say 2500-3k .... And floor it ... The load will be high and you watch the rpm and tach .... If u see the rpm jump a few hundred rpm fast and mph doesn't then you have a slipping clutch if the rpm just climbs as you floor it and u see the mph climbing immediately you're fine


And yes this puts a load on your rods but u won't blow up if u do it once lol

This sound like bad advice.... Why would you tell someone to load up the motor in a high gear at low RPM? This is the kryptonite for the DISI motor.

That is a standard test for clutch slipping it can be done in 4th if you want. You will know right away.

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It's no different than taking a log.

A lot of people might have this happen to them for a couple reasons. Either they have low horse power cars or drive like grandmas. Sometimes your car needs a little beating every once in a while to learn a little bit about it, or to discover defficiencies. Ok. Say an older guy with a single cam honda civic comes into your shop and says..."hey man it was driving fine and then the clutch just went out and I can't move." You check the clutch and see that metal on metal contact is occuring. That small amount of "pad" he had left on the friction disk before it went completely out could have been ample for his driving style and small amount of load required to move his matchbox car. But once metal on metal happened it went from sufficient to gone. In your head compare the work load of a dump truck clutch vs a mini cooper clutch. Which one is more likely to show signs of failure WAY before it's 100% gone? You shouldn't have a problem with warning signs on our cars. We have pretty weighty cars and sufficient horse power for early signs of clutch failure. Like stated above...I'm not telling you to beat on your car, but sometimes it can give you some early insight on problems that could occur ahead. And it's ok to throw your car in 4th gear a give a little bit to see if she slips at a low RPM, don't suggest doing it on a regular basis tho haha. Hope this helps put this into contrast for you.

Like I said that is the way to check in car .... U read too many zoom
Zoom boom stories from idiots ..... No one blowing up from a single test . You guys should "read" less and do more to educate yourselves

Good point dsmguy. I've only ever had econobox cars like civics/focus/neon/saturn come in like that so you're probably right, they never drove it hard at all to notice it was getting weak.

My wife lugs this motor at high load all the time. Years ago I told her not to, but she never listens, and I guess she sort of proved me wrong. Hasn't blown up yet. We have a really steep hill going up to the house and she lugs it up the hill 20mph in 3rd gear four times a day every day, and she's always doing 50mph up the "mile hill" in 6th. Probably been OK cause it's mostly stock and I keep clean oil in it.

Sounds like your clutch is good man. I'd start focusing on other things like stated previously in this thread. Good luck. You should be fine.

Agreed, the 4th gear slip test is the easiest. If you're not feeling a slip during day-to-day driving, you're likely okay.