New Corsa clutch. 1.3CDTI

[allan edwards]

A friend is having real problems with the clutch on his Corsa 1.3 CDTI. The car is only a few months old and had done 23,000. The invoice was as follows:-

Labour, remove and refit clutch assembly £315
Clutch Disc £64.50
Clutch Plate £73.50
Cylinder-Clutch £104

+ vat

Although Vauxhall have agreed to pay 50% of this I still think that it is way over the top.

I have not had any dealing with this new clutch setup in the new Corsas but I gather it is similar to the new Astras

Has anyone got any ideas about this.

Allan

 

[Peter (3)]

A clutch should last longer than that! What sort of driving has the car done? Stop-start driving puts a higher level of stress on the clutch than just cruising along.

Does he know how do drive the car? I know several people who let the clutch slip a lot when setting off. I know diesels need a few more revs to set off but usually the clutch is bigger to cope with the extra torque.

When if failed, what happened? Did it drag or slip?

Are you sure 23,000 miles is right on a car that is a few months old?

assuming it's 4 months old, thats about 200 miles / day!

Peter

 

[allan edwards]

Yes you are right Peter, its a driving school car doing about 35k a year. We would normally expect to get about 40 - 50k in these circumstances.

 

[Peter (3)]

This sounds about right for the type of driving, obviously, some learner drivers need to get used to the clutch / revs balance so this will wear it out quickly. I have read in magazines that BSM corsas wear their fron brake pads out in about 7 to 8k miles !!!!!! Discs need replacing every year as well at mega expense.

No doubt about it, running your car rond town is much more expensive than longer runs.

My corsa (1994 1.2 GLS) has done 56,000 miles and it still on the original clutch however, the peopson that I bought it off had it from new and did longer journys.

My old C reg Fiesta 950cc had done 180,000 miles on the original clutch! and still going... Amazing really

The cost of replacement is a little OTT even with the 50% towards it.

If you can find out, did it slip or did it drag? There is a big difference between the two.

Peter

 

[allan edwards]

The clutch was slipping, worn down to the rivets (probably bonded) on one side. Clutch wear on driving school cars is always going to be an issue. I used to run the old Micras 1988 - 93 and although they were great cars to learn in I only used to get about 12 - 15k out of a clutch - just a Sunday morning job to plonk another one in though. The next version of the Micra was a non-starter for driving schools with only 8 - 10K per clutch. My Toyota Starlets always started to judder after about 20k but there was always plenty of wear left when they were replaced. I have Honda Logos at the moment and seem to be getting about 50k which I am more than happy with.

The brakes are not a problem. My last Starlet did 102k on the front pads and 138k on the rear shoes and never needed new discs. I think using the brakes all day every day keeps them free and the discs rust free.

 

[AstraVanMan]

A clutch should last longer than that! What sort of driving has the car

done? Stop-start driving puts a higher level of stress on the clutch than just cruising along.

Does he know how do drive the car? I know several people who let the clutch slip a lot when setting off. I know diesels need a few more revs to set

off

No they shouldn't - much less usually.

but usually the clutch is bigger to cope with the extra torque.

When if failed, what happened? Did it drag or slip?

Are you sure 23,000 miles is right on a car that is a few months old?

assuming it's 4 months old, thats about 200 miles / day!

Well people do buy diesels to do high mileages - 50k/year is not at all unrealistic.

Peter

 

[AstraVanMan]

The clutch was slipping, worn down to the rivets (probably bonded) on one

side. Clutch wear on driving school cars is always going to be an issue. I used to run the old Micras 1988 - 93 and although they were great cars to learn in I only used to get about 12 - 15k out of a clutch - just a Sunday morning job to plonk another one in though. The next version of the Micra was a non-starter for driving schools with only 8 - 10K per clutch.

8-10k per clutch? That's bloody ridiculous. Fair enough, most learners will be crap at clutch control, but surely past the initial few times any decent instructor will teach their students proper clutch control. Mine did.

Peter