What does a clutch do? And what is a clutch kit?
The clutch is a solid metal disc that couples the crankshaft and flywheel to the gearbox’s clutch shaft. The clutch is located between the engine and transmission to temporarily disconnect the engine drive from the gearbox.
A clutch kit usually contains all the elements to replace and rejuvenate your clutch and its performance: usually a clutch disc, pressure plate, flywheel and a throw race or release bearings. A clutch kit will contain the correct parts for a particular make and model of car and is often cheaper than buying the components individually.
How often should a clutch need replacing?
There isn’t a typical time or set mileage suggested to replace a clutch kit, as it can depend on both the car and your driving style. Most clutches are designed to last approximately 60k miles, yet they can have a healthy life covering mileages anywhere between 30k and 100k.
The law, vehicle regulations and your MOT
A damaged or broken clutch will affect your car’s driving ability to the point where it could fail its MOT. Testing doesn’t include an examination of the engine, clutch or gearbox, so if it appears to be working adequately, then it shouldn’t affect the test result.
What causes a clutch to stop working correctly?
A clutch will wear out over time through continual use. The disc thickness reduces, which affects the amount of force the pressure plate can apply to the clutch disc against the flywheel. Incorrect use over extended periods will impact the lifespan and cause unnecessary problems. Slippage can also be caused by reduced tension in the pressure plate’s springs.
Symptoms of a malfunctioning clutch
The clutch slips while driving
If you feel a loss or inappropriate delivery of power when using the accelerator, it could be due to a damaged or worn clutch.
Changing gears is a problem
If you can’t change gears or it feels like there is unusual grinding and friction when trying, your clutch isn’t separating the engine drive from the gearbox sufficiently.
The car doesn’t move
If there is no delivery of power to the engine from the accelerator, then your clutch could be the problem.
Your gearbox makes unusual and unhealthy noises
If the transmission makes unhealthy grinding noises when you try to use the clutch to engage or disengage the engine, there’s a strong chance that your clutch isn’t operating as it should.
Citroën
Citroën is a French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën Group since 1976, established over 100 years ago in March 1919.
Citroën produced the world’s first mass-produced front-wheel drive car and one of the first to feature a unitary type body, with no chassis supporting its mechanical components.
How popular is Citroën in the United Kingdom?
Citroën is probably better known for its quirky design and fun fashion styled brand of cars. Offering something different from more traditional sporty looks, they are a brand that provides value without being cheap.
There were 1.3m Citroën cars on the roads at the close of 2018; a figure that peaked in the early part of 2015 and has maintained a very similar number ever since.
Good value vehicles for family driving
Citroën offers a range of fun-looking smaller city cars and family cars for every ilk. The smallest starts with their C1 city model, growing into the C3 mini-MPV and SUV models, then the C4 subcompact and compact featuring crossover and SUV styles, up to the C5 family saloon, that is also available as an SUV sporting Citroën’s Aircross moniker.
With models featuring up to 7 seats, Citroën doesn’t just create cars for everyday family motoring—they supply cars for the biggest of families.
Citroën’s reliability and reputation
You wouldn’t instantly think of Citroën as one of the technological leaders of the automotive industry, but as well as being the first to introduce front wheel drive and unitary body type vehicles, they were also responsible for producing the first hydropneumatic self-levelling suspensions system in 1954. Just one year later they introduced another milestone in motoring history, producing the first mass-produced car with modern disc brakes.
Citroën ranked 25th place out of 30 car brands in the What Car? Reliability Survey in 2018. Probably not a figure to earn them too much confidence and an increase in sales, but when you consider that they still featured higher than Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and Land Rover then maybe the competition is a little tougher throughout that survey than it first appears.
Recent Citroën recalls and reliability issues
Various recalls have been made on Citroën models throughout their motoring history. The following are a list of the most recent in the UK and Europe.
25/04/2019 – Citroën Berlingo
The handbrake mechanism may not be correct
27/02/2019 – Citroën C4 Aircross (2011–2015)
The battery charge program may not be to specification
12/02/2019 – Citroën C3 Aircross (2016–2018)
The wires of the seat position sensor may not be correct
01/02/2019 – Citroën Spacetourer and Dispatch IV (2015–2108)
The loosening of the front wishbone lower ball joints
01/02/2019 – Citroën Spacetourer and Dispatch IV (2016–2018)
The fixing bolt of the front suspension wishbone
01/02/2019 – Citroën Spacetourer and Dispatch IV (2015–2018)
The air conditioning compressor pulley could break
01/02/2019 – Citroën Spacetourer Dispatch IV (2016–2018)
Rear suspension wishbone mounting bolts
14/01/2019 – Citroën C3 (2018)
The steering column universal joint clamp may be incorrectly fitted
All recall information sourced from gov.co.uk data.
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