clutch on last legs?

[goosiegander]

concerning occurance earlier at traffic lights,

Sat on clutch for a couple of minutes,

Went to pull away and the biting point was much much lower than normal,

Very nearly stalled it, changed gear and still damn low drove for 40 seconds to next gear change and the biting point had risen back to normal.

What am i going to need to replace this time?

b regards, goosie

[E30BeemerLad]

could be the slave cylinder. Check the fluid level and top up to see if that restores normal operation, but if you were holding it on the clutch for a couple of minutes it will have been extremely hot and therefore a bit strange when taking up

[BreadBin]

Don't hold your car on the clutch, it's what the handbrake is for.

[goosiegander]

sorry bit of confusion there i was held on the handbrake with the clutch depressed

not holding the weight of the car on the clutch, say on a hill for example...

[JR318i]

hi mate thought mine had gone all so turned out to be master cylinder or weak pressure plate had both replaced {all so slave} sorted it hope this helps

[maxfield]

Don't hold your car on the clutch, it's what the handbrake is for.

I always do this

[Aleksandar]

I messed around repairing the cylinders and it's ok but not perfect so I'm going to change both with new ones. It's only going to get worse until you have no clutch at all and by Murphy's law, it's going to happen at the worst possible moment so change it as soon as possible, good ol' e30 gave the sign early.

[BreadBin]

Don't hold your car on the clutch, it's what the handbrake is for.

I always do this

Think about it - how long is your clutch slipping when you pull away? About a second usually. So by holding it on the biting point for say 30 secs you are using up 30 standing starts by not using the handbrake. Not to mention overheating the fly wheel.

sorry bit of confusion there i was held on the handbrake with the clutch depressed

You shouldn't do this either, just leave it in neutral. Holding the pedal down will knacker the cylinder.

[maxfield]

Don't hold your car on the clutch, it's what the handbrake is for.

I always do this

Think about it - how long is your clutch slipping when you pull away? About a second usually. So by holding it on the biting point for say 30 secs you are using up 30 standing starts by not using the handbrake. Not to mention overheating the fly wheel.

Very fair point. Never thought of it like that.

Looks like I'll be changing my driving style from now on.

[BreadBin]

Good move Unless you like changing clutches!

[Gibson]

sounds like master/ slave cylinder. look for leaks. if you find a leak u found your problem, if you cant find a leak it could be the piston seals on the master cylinder letting fluid back around them into the resevoir and hence letting the clutch release. i had this happen in a toyota starlet once i was sat at a junction waiting to pull out, foot on clutch in first and it started pulling away on its own!
scary as feck i tell ya

[dizz]

I had the same thing with my clutch, there was no fluid loss at all but the longer I kept my foot on the clutch the worse it got, so I changed the master/slave cylinders and all was well again.

[goosiegander]

changing the master cylinder tomorrow hopefully that will be the problem cured

[fingerman]

Had a similar issue on mine and I feared the worse - tried replacing the clutch fluid first and this fixed it

Car had been stood for a while so fluid was due a change anyway