Tips to reduce wear and tear and enjoy your clutch life to its maximum capacity
- Only use the clutch when necessary
- Do not treat the clutch like a foot rest
- If you drive a manual transmission vehicle, do not downshift each time you slow down the vehicle
- Disengage the clutch fully between gears
- Shift properly
- Avoid rollback without using the clutch
- Don’t push it
- With a manual transmission, it’s best practice to put the car in neutral and take your foot off the clutch – this will prolong the life of the clutch release bearing. When it’s time to go, just push the clutch and select first gear ready to go.
Releasing the clutch too soon
Ideally, you want your car to ride as smoothly as possible. Releasing the clutch too early will make your vehicle jerk while putting excessive pressure on the engine and transmission. This overheats the clutch, which can do serious damage over time. This is a common problem with learner or novice drivers. With regular driving finding the biting point of the car’s clutch becomes second nature and you’ll be able to control the car without stalling or jerking it.
Some clutch failure symptoms
- Clutch pedal makes noises when engaging and disengaging
- Clutch pedal chatters when accelerating
- Clutch pedal pulsates
- Clutch pedal is hard to engage
- Clutch pedal feels loose or spongey
- Clutch pedal remains stuck to the floor
We recommend should you suspect any issues you take it to an authorised auto dealer or mechanic to make sure all is operating properly.