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.
Jaguar
Jaguar is the luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover.
Jaguar first appeared as a brand in 1945, when SS Cars Ltd. changed its name at a shareholder meeting; the company went on to have a variety of ownerships and mergers, including those with British Leyland, Ford and Tata Motors. After buying both Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford, Tata Motors combined both to create Jaguar Land Rover in 2013.
How popular is Jaguar in the United Kingdom?
This executive British luxury brand currently has 360k vehicles on the road in the UK. Given their matching luxury price tag, it would be acceptable to think that the numbers would remain a steady constant, yet the marque has shown consistently growing numbers since the mid-1990s.
This could be partly due to recent fresh marketing strategies, targeting younger professionals to boost the sale of units, rather than relying on the older, executive drivers the brand previously associated with.
High-end, luxury executive motoring
The RRP of their cheapest model, the Jaguar E-Pace, hits the market at over £29k, and as each model brings something different to the range, their prices peak with the standard level Jaguar XJ starting at £65k. That’s before you begin to choose from the mass of customisations options, available at an added cost when building the finished specification of your car.
There’s a lot more to a Jaguar than luxury upholstery and the famous badge on the grill.
Throughout history, Jaguar has been instrumental in providing high-spec indulgent sports cars; they are a combination of opulent luxury, cutting-edge technology, sporting dynamics and performance. Jaguar makes cars that can take you from 0–60mph in under 4 seconds with top speeds of over 200mph, but without any compromise to comfort and functionality.
Keeping up with today’s trends
An important addition to the Jaguar line-up was made in March 2018; the Jaguar I-Pace was their first electric car, and an SUV to boot. A bold decision to introduce new fuel technologies into a relatively new and growing model type, this was their car to compete against the Porsche Cayenne and long-established Range Rover.
Jaguar’s reliability and reputation
Jaguar ranked a long way down the list at 28th out of the 30 car brands in the What Car? Reliability Survey in 2018. Despite being a high-end luxury brand, Jaguar car owners reported more repairs at higher costs than many of their competitors.
Recent Jaguar recalls and reliability issues
Various recalls have been made on Jaguar models throughout their motoring history. The following are a list of the most recent in the UK and Europe.
10/03/2019 – Jaguar F-Type, Jaguar E-Pace and Jaguar F-Pace, (2015–2018)
Jaguar XF and Jaguar XE (2014–2018) Certain 2.0L diesel engines may emit excessive levels of CO2
02/02/2019 – Jaguar XJ, Jaguar F-Pace and Jaguar F-Type (2018)
The crankshaft pulley retaining bolt may fracture
13/04/2019 – Jaguar E-Pace (2017–2018)
The reversing lamps may fail
30/03/2018 – Jaguar E-Pace (2017)
The front brake flexi-hoses may come into contact with the front tyres
16/03/2018 – Jaguar XF Sportbreak (2017–2018)
There is a defect with the restraints control module
04/03/2018 – Jaguar F-Type, Jaguar F-Pace, Jaguar E-Pace, Jaguar XE and Jaguar XF (2016–2017)
The brazing of the fuel rail end caps may not properly seal the fuel rail ends
30/11/2017 – Jaguar F-Pace, Jaguar XE, Jaguar XJ and Jaguar XF (2016–2017)
The TFT instrument cluster screen can go blank and reset intermittently
17/07/2017 – Jaguar XJ (2009–2010)
Airbags may deploy incorrectly on severe frontal impact
All recall information sourced from gov.co.uk data.
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