I was driving down the road and all of a sudden my car would not move!!

The AA guy come down and he said that the clutch as gone on my car!

He towed it down to my local stealer and they said that its going to cost me around 1k to repair the car!

The problem i have with that is:

1. My car is only an 05 with 26k miles

2. The car is going to be going in as my PX for my 225 thats on order!

3. The car that was only serviced in november gone and wouldnt they have picked up on that when it was in??

If anyone knows what i could do?

Your help would be greatly appreciated!

Jamiemac is going to be the best person to advise on this as his went a few eeks before picking his up as well. In the end, i think he had to pay out for a new clutch.

Id start shopping around.

As for the recent service, im afraid it wouldn't pick up if you needed a new clutch or not, its one of those parts that just goes when it goes im afraid.

should be covered under warranty mate.
renault may need to investigate why it failed and then give u the good/bad news!
just tell they better help u out otherwise u'll pull out the deal because your circumstances have changed :)

if it is down to u mate u gonna eat through a 225 clutch?

Jamiemac is going to be the best person to advise on this as his went a few eeks before picking his up as well. In the end, i think he had to pay out for a new clutch.

Id start shopping around.

As for the recent service, im afraid it wouldn't pick up if you needed a new clutch or not, its one of those parts that just goes when it goes im afraid.

jamie had to pay as it was out of warranty but i think they did contribute 20% towards it as he was buying another one and had loads of probs with it.

should be covered under warranty mate.
renault may need to investigate why it failed and then give u the good/bad news!
just tell they better help u out otherwise u'll pull out the deal because your circumstances have changed :)

if it is down to u mate u gonna eat through a 225 clutch?

They said that its only covered under Warenty if the cars under 8k miles.

They said it would be only covered warenty if they can find that somthing else caused the cluth to go. But they open the car and find that the clutch went due to ware and tare they going to charge me £400 to just take the car appart!

A garage quoted me £550 to fit a new clutch!

Whats happening is that even if the cars in gear and the car is not moving and all it does is rev would it be the clutch? Im getting no bite or nothing!

WTF? 3 year 60k warranty? I'd rip into them on this mate, no way I'd be paying.

if its in gear and your foot is off the clutch and it doesnt bite or pullaway it could be the clutch or a gearbox/diff failure.
when you rev it in gear and it didnt go anywhere did the speedo go up?

The clutch is like the brakes though. Its a wear and tear item.

I hate to put a damper on things. Think you may get no where with it. Although if Jamie got a % off, then its worth ago, particularly as your buying another Renault.

Renault london east are shafters mate

taj get a tech called minty, karl or frank took look at it. they are the only good tech's there cos i used work there with them

Jamie got a % off as it was out of warranty?

I'm sure the sale of goods act would cover this too. Surely no clutch on a mass produced car is designed for just 26k. Windscreen wipers and tyres, discs and pads fair enough. But a clutch? They should be designed to go 70k+!

Per Danny - I'd make sure it is at a decent dealer. Get someone to give you a tow if needed.

Jamie got a % off as it was out of warranty?

I'm sure the sale of goods act would cover this too. Surely no clutch on a mass produced car is designed for just 26k. Windscreen wipers and tyres, discs and pads fair enough. But a clutch? They should be designed to go 70k+!


agreed mate esp on a diesel!!!

if its in gear and your foot is off the clutch and it doesnt bite or pullaway it could be the clutch or a gearbox/diff failure.
when you rev it in gear and it didnt go anywhere did the speedo go up?

When it is in gear i can come completly of the clutch and it does not pull away or bite or nothing.

When its in gear it does not move atall.

When i rev it revs like normal and nothing happens meaning it does not move!

Mr T i totally agree. It depends on the person driving it. We've all seen old people revving the f00k out of their cars and slowly releasing the clutch. Wonder how many clutches they get through !!

but does the needle for the speedo move taj?

if so it may need a gearbox and not a clutch.

for all of the 7 months i was there, there was more g/boxes being replaced than clucthes mate

Needle for the speedo does not move one bit. the only thing that moves is the rev needle

without looking at it mate personally it sounds like a gearbox failure

U serious?

The AA guy said that its cluch he was looking at it and goes yep its da Clutch!

I dont know if this helps. Around a min before i heared this clunk and then it just started revving and it would not move!

Oh and when i push the clutch down and slightly rev it a bit it sounds like somthing fluttering.

i work for the RAC so at roadside its hard to diagnose.
but the clunk could possibly be a mechanical falure in the gearbox if it was a clutch spring failing i think it wouldnt go in gear at all mate

How would i work out if its the clutch or the gearbox then?

Sorry about these questions i dont know nuffing mecanical about cars

you wont really mate they'll need to inspect it. but if you heard a clunk thats probaly the gearbox internals failing.

Taj,

Answer me these and I'll give you a better idea:

1. Does the pedal feel any different now to how it was?

2. Has the brake fluid res dropped at all?

3. When in gear with the engine running can you change gears with/without the clutch?

4. At the point when drive is taken up is there any noise at all from the car?

Bit of a strange one, usualy a clutch will fail engaged due to release bearing, slave/master failure. Big clutch fails usualy involve lots of noise as the flywheel still rotates and lobs bits of friction material about in the bell housing. if it's absolutely silent still, no big bangs and the pedal feels a bit off then I'd be thinking there is something stopping the clutch engaging properly, bur or damage on the input shaft is usual as it holds the clutch "open".

If it was a gearbox fail it would have more than likely gone with a "big" bang.

Cheers
M

2. Has the brake fluid res dropped at all?

if the brake fluid drops and if the slave cylinder has gone u wouldnt be able to engage gear without it grinding it nuts off?

4. At the point when drive is taken up is there any noise at all from the car?
tghink he said there is a slight tapping when out of gear and u rev it slightly?

would like to find out what is wrong with this

1. Does the pedal feel any different now to how it was?

2. Has the brake fluid res dropped at all?

3. When in gear with the engine running can you change gears with/without the clutch?

4. At the point when drive is taken up is there any noise at all from the car?

M

1. clutch pedel feels slightly softer than it was before

2. break fluid level seems like its ok but looks a lil less than before

3. yep can change gears when engine running with / with out the cluch

4. The car does not move. But when clutch it pressed and then press the throttle it makes some ratteling type noise but then is when the clutch is engaged.

If it was a gearbox fail it would have more than likely gone with a "big" bang.

i've had the same thing on nissans when they do exactly the same thing but the speedo on the nissan moves?

nah there wernt no "big" bang.

keep us posted mate if not i'll pop down there myself as i only live up the road

Yea defo i keep you guys updated.

Yea u just down the road im in Ilford.

im in walthamstow mate near the waterworks

Yea thats down the road.

Has walhamstow moters come pick me up from london east

dunno who they are? do u mean leytonstone motors?

Yea thats the one! hehehe

Minds everywhere now that i got no car to drive and i got to foot a big bill like that knowing the cars going in like just over a month!

hope all goes well mate

Sounds at first glance like the clutch is stuck disengaged, although interesting that the brake res is lower as this would point to all cyls in the hyd circuit being at 'open'.

The pedal being softer does suggest it may be hyd related, although if the clutch was bound up on the input shaft it would be softer as the cyls aren't actualy moving anything.

Being able to change gears regardless points to absolutely no drive from flywheel to gearbox input shaft.

Rattle when clutch engaged isn't a great thing to hear! Could be lots of things but points to a mechanical failure,

Does sound a lot like catastrophic clutch fail. Although strange how it came about. Regardless assuming a quick bleed doesn't yield an improvement then it's box off to investigate. Sorry chap.

Cheers
M

Thanks for your help guys.

Im going to be phoning around some garages tomorow see if they can do better than the £550 for a new clutch ive been quoted from a local garage.

I know it sounds bad but i couldnt care less what goes into it beucase i am going to be geting rid of it for my 225.

So as long as its cheap and chearfull and will get me through untill the end of september i am laughing.

So the best bet is take it to the garage and get the clutch changed?

Cars in the garage.

Found some one to do it for me for £500.

Hopfully have it tomorow evening or erly friday.

Nt hapy that i aint got no car :mad:

keep us informed of what it was

Got a phone call from the garage and apparently there was a bearing that had been leaking in the clutch or somthing.

Im trusting this guy coz he worked for renault for around 20 years so hopfully it comes out working good!

Would have had the car today but he needed to order some part or summit so it should be ready to collect tomorow and get more info on what append.

Have you decided not to push the warranty claim?

Cant be asked pushing for the warenty.

Its because i want to just get it done because i aint got no car while its in the garage or sitting in my drive way.

Might hopfully have it back today :shiny[1]: :shiny[1]:

how much u paying mate ???

£500.

He changed the clutch and apparently he said theres summit leaking. Do you know what would be leaking because he said he had got to wait for the part to come in.

could be the slave cylinder or a rear main oil seal.
they should pay under warranty mate!

thats a price of a remap from paul u could of had!

So if i contact RUK and i put my claim through you think that they would sort somthing out?

I know thats a price of a remap from paul but i dont have my 225 yet to get it remaped.

Oh also you think that i might see a differance in the drive when i get it back?

so was it the clutch that failed or another part?

if it wasnt the clutch renault should cover it i would of thought so.

It was somthing that leaked into the clutch that caused the clutch to fail according to the mechanic.

I spoke to RUK and they said that i need collect the old parts that come out of the car and i need to get a report from the mechanic of what has happend and what may have caused the clutch to fail.

They asked me why i did not ask renault to diagnose the car? I told them that i was not prepared to pay the cost of £400 if renault did decide that this was not a warenty issue and then another £300 to put the car back together. Then pay to get the car fix from them which would have landed me with a great big bill of £1700.

I told them that i have previously been through 3 renaults including this one and the one that is coming in september which would make it 4 which i said i may "consider" canceling becuase of this problem.

They said that they would take into consideration that i am a "loyal" renault customer and i am to provide them all of the documentation that that require and they would investigate this matter further.

So fingers crossed!

good luck mate but the dealer should have dealt with this from the start!!
very poor mate

good luck mate but the dealer should have dealt with this from the start!!
very poor mate

I think that they would have but i didnt want to have to foot the bill of £700 for them to look at it and then tell me that its not a warenty issue if that was the case

but thanks for your help and i keep you guys updated on what happens.

I try get some pics up of what state the clutch is in when i get it back

cool :)

Finaly got my car back and i couldnt be happier lol.

It actuly feels alot smoother to drive.

Ive taken some pictures and i will get them up as soon as they have uploaded to my photobucket.

Well here are the pic's. (sorry abt the size if they too big)

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa245/tajinder225/DSCF4412.jpg


http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa245/tajinder225/DSCF4411.jpg


http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa245/tajinder225/DSCF4410.jpg


http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa245/tajinder225/DSCF4409.jpg


http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa245/tajinder225/DSCF4408.jpg


http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa245/tajinder225/DSCF4407.jpg


http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa245/tajinder225/DSCF4406.jpg

wtf! how on earth has the centre part of the clutch come away from the clutch plate itself! never seen that before not even when i was at lambo.

I dont have a clue.

Thats what the guys at the garage said!

Any one on here know how this could have happend??

icarus might be able to explain mate

Unless you've been holding the car on the governer and dropping the clutch several hundred times in a row than can only be a manufacturing failure.

The friction material looks in okay shape so it's pretty obvious it's not had too hard a life and the pressure plate is free from missing fingers which could (on a long shot) jammed it up. If another clutch and slave has gone in, the bellhousing etc. was undamaged and the car is fine now it's pretty clear that there was no issue with FOD or similar.

I'd be showing those pics to Renault along with the bill to fix it whilst stating that a cheque will be fine!

Cheers
M

Unless you've been holding the car on the governer and dropping the clutch several hundred times in a row than can only be a manufacturing failure.

The friction material looks in okay shape so it's pretty obvious it's not had too hard a life and the pressure plate is free from missing fingers which could (on a long shot) jammed it up. If another clutch and slave has gone in, the bellhousing etc. was undamaged and the car is fine now it's pretty clear that there was no issue with FOD or similar.

I'd be showing those pics to Renault along with the bill to fix it whilst stating that a cheque will be fine!

Cheers
M

Thanks mate.

I will be forwarding the pictures and the paperwork from the garage to RUK.

I contacted them and they said that they should be able to sort somthing out.

i have NEVER seen a clutch fail like that before in 20 odd years in the trade,good luck with your claim.

First thing i thought was why has he cut the pressure plate off lol

Looking at that drive plate centre hub it looks like there is only 4 mounting points for securing the friction material plate to the hub, i would have thought there should have been more mounting points.

I found this troubleshooting guide from Valeo themselves, it seems to be aimed at the North American Aftermarket, but the information about clutch faults could be applied to other markets.

http://www.valeoclutches.com/Troubleshooting.asp

Valeo have admitted that incorrect installation of the clutch/gearbox can "cause cracking in the segments, leading to separation of the damper and facing segments."

http://www.valeoclutches.com/index.asp?pgid=26