Clutch bad?

[acbrooks2]

How can I tell when the clutch is on the way out? Last night I had 5 people in the car and had to perform a pretty major hill start on our San Francisco hills! The car was bouncing off the rev limiter and a terrible burning smell engulfed the car! I assumed it was the clutch. Despite the weight in the car, it was as if I didn't have the power to get up the hill! Will this one occurence screw the clutch? Is it a sign the clutch is already on the way out? I have 36k on the clock.

[Sal_B7]

nah i think you should be ok, im sure it killed some time off the clutch but you will noticed your clutch going bad when you drive and you put it in gear and you notice the rpm's really high before the clutch grabs. It will be one of those things that you will notice. Just pay attention next time you drive on the street.

[juggernaut201]

yea u might have just revved to high and wen the clutch tried to grab it wuz just to high and it couldnt grab you should b ok

[Subaru71]

How can I tell when the clutch is on the way out? Last night I had 5 people in the car and had to perform a pretty major hill start on our San Francisco hills! The car was bouncing off the rev limiter and a terrible burning smell engulfed the car! I assumed it was the clutch. Despite the weight in the car, it was as if I didn't have the power to get up the hill! Will this one occurence screw the clutch? Is it a sign the clutch is already on the way out? I have 36k on the clock.

was the clutch fully released when this happened? or were you like halfway just engaging it?

usually if its that bad fully released.. the clutch is like gone, what you can do is put it in like 3rd or 4th, and on a straight floor it at 2k rpm, if the revs go smoothly with the speed then you probably just didn't release the pedal right on that hill.. if the revs all of a sudden go up to the limiter and your not going any faster.. then its definitely slipping.. hope it helps?

[AudiWxGuy]

I don't care how steep of a hill your on, there is no reason to engage the clutch with RPM's that high. You keep doing things like that and you will burn up your clutch very quickly.

[supersuk]

That same thing happened to me last night. I had to start on a pretty steep hill and the clutch wouldn't grab even when fully released. My car only has 12k miles now and the clutch is not going yet. Its like the clutch in the A4 isn't strong enough. I've had no problems with my 2005 Volvo S40 T5 AWD on the same hill which is my driveway (elevation change of about 50ft and an incline of about 20-25 degrees). Now that car could start on any hill without any problems. A lot more torque where you need it (236tq at 1500rpm) and the clutch was strong enough to take it.

[Alkemix]

Were you driving for over an hour? I once realized my clutch had been feeling very slippish on a hill after 2 hours of stop and go driving with 5 people in the car (with 10k miles on odo) and there was really bad traffic going up a long hill. I was going to take my car in for an inspection after that, believing i'd burned up my clutch pretty bad that day, but since then my clutch has never had that slip feel again and feels just as good as ever.

I'm interested to see how this develops for you.

[Audi007]

That same thing happened to me last night. I had to start on a pretty steep hill and the clutch wouldn't grab even when fully released. My car only has 12k miles now and the clutch is not going yet. Its like the clutch in the A4 isn't strong enough. I've had no problems with my 2005 Volvo S40 T5 AWD on the same hill which is my driveway (elevation change of about 50ft and an incline of about 20-25 degrees). Now that car could start on any hill without any problems. A lot more torque where you need it (236tq at 1500rpm) and the clutch was strong enough to take it.

Despite the weight in the car, it was as if I didn't have the power to get up the hill! .

No problems with hills in the 3.2

[acbrooks2]

That same thing happened to me last night. I had to start on a pretty steep hill and the clutch wouldn't grab even when fully released. My car only has 12k miles now and the clutch is not going yet. Its like the clutch in the A4 isn't strong enough. I've had no problems with my 2005 Volvo S40 T5 AWD on the same hill which is my driveway (elevation change of about 50ft and an incline of about 20-25 degrees). Now that car could start on any hill without any problems. A lot more torque where you need it (236tq at 1500rpm) and the clutch was strong enough to take it.

Yes! It was like the car did not have enough power and I had to rev it to save me rolling backwards or just stopping. I am pretty sure the clutch was fully engaged I wasn't feathering it, but boy it smoked! Great comments from all

[QTC]

Don't take this the wrong way, but you were doing something wrong if the engine was bouncing off the rev limiter. Regardless of the weight in the car, you shouldn't need to be at 6500 RPM's to engage the clutch on a hill. Did you destroy your clutch? No. Did you shorten the life of it considerably? Yes.

[Zebman]

It's a two liter that doesn't make a lot of power down low, and enough power up top to keep the clutch from snagging it. I've had 3 other fat asses in my car and found the sweet spot and although you've got to slip it pretty good, you can get it up some steep hills.

I take it you've never heard of the Evo with a turbo upgrade that couldn't make it up an exit ramp in a parking garage. His company had to get out of the car and help push.

[acbrooks2]

Don't take this the wrong way, but you were doing something wrong if the engine was bouncing off the rev limiter. Regardless of the weight in the car, you shouldn't need to be at 6500 RPM's to engage the clutch on a hill. Did you destroy your clutch? No. Did you shorten the life of it considerably? Yes.

Well I hope I won't have to be buying a clutch any time soon!

[ABanT]

I've got a similar problem so I'll just post here instead of starting a new thread... Unless no one replies.

I think my clutch is slipping, it started a month ago for a day or two it slipped then it was fine. Today it was back again. I don't know if my clutch is f'd up or if it's my SS.

What's happening is that the RPMs are going up but the car isn't going as it should. It's not flying up to the rev limiter but it's moving steadily upwards but the car isn't pulling as hard as it normally does. I hear this weird sound.

Now, it was really cold today and I park outside for work. When I left work, my shifter was frozen in 2nd and I had to knock it out of gear. This also happened a month back. Could it be that my SS is slightly misaligned and the gear isn't properly in? I've tried rowing through all the gears and they all seem to go as they should.

This is why I'm confused, the clutch is definitely slipping but it isn't slipping really bad. The car is definitely still pulling, that's why I think it might be my shifter. Would that be a possible cause?
I'm not going to drive it until I get a chance to look at the shifter. Unless it can't be the problem.

The car has less than 40k miles on it.

[Bart-Man]

use your handbrake on steep hills...

[AudiWxGuy]

I've got a similar problem so I'll just post here instead of starting a new thread... Unless no one replies.

I think my clutch is slipping, it started a month ago for a day or two it slipped then it was fine. Today it was back again. I don't know if my clutch is f'd up or if it's my SS.

What's happening is that the RPMs are going up but the car isn't going as it should. It's not flying up to the rev limiter but it's moving steadily upwards but the car isn't pulling as hard as it normally does. I hear this weird sound.

Now, it was really cold today and I park outside for work. When I left work, my shifter was frozen in 2nd and I had to knock it out of gear. This also happened a month back. Could it be that my SS is slightly misaligned and the gear isn't properly in? I've tried rowing through all the gears and they all seem to go as they should.

This is why I'm confused, the clutch is definitely slipping but it isn't slipping really bad. The car is definitely still pulling, that's why I think it might be my shifter. Would that be a possible cause?
I'm not going to drive it until I get a chance to look at the shifter. Unless it can't be the problem.

The car has less than 40k miles on it.

Sounds like your clutch is going. You should probably go get it inspected now. So if it's a minor component in your clutch it can be replaced. Whereas if you keep going as is, that part failure may cause the whole clutch to go.

[Subaru71]

Sounds like your clutch is going. You should probably go get it inspected now. So if it's a minor component in your clutch it can be replaced. Whereas if you keep going as is, that part failure may cause the whole clutch to go.

lol a component in the clutch?

[AudiWxGuy]

Fly Wheel, pressure plate. Something in there may just need to be replaced. Whereas if one of those components goes, it will really mess things up. And could cost more money. Just a hypothesis.

[bob12312357]

I got 132K miles on my car, 2 road course days downshifting into 2nd under braking at 6500+RPM, a few 3-3.5K launches. Clutch is on its way out as it doesn't grabhard with me220lbs,300lb friend,350lb+ friends, his 150+ lb wife, infan kid and a trunk of groceries packed so tight theres some in the back seat had no problem starting up steep ass appalacian mountain roads with the revs not over 2K b4 the clutch is released. I can't imagine revving the engine out 2 the rev limiter 2 get moving. Thats just insane. You took a decent chunk of life out of it slipping it for a period of time at 6500RPM. Next time, handbrake, let up on clutch till engine lugs then start giving it a lil gas while easing up on the hand brake. Works everytime.