Clutch judder

[Silvan]

My car is a basic model Hyundai i20 2013 which has done 96,000 miles. I do mostly town driving.

I have a clutch judder problem that has been coming-and-going over the years I have had the car. Every year or so it has a period of judderyness, then it clears up of its own accord. But now it has become more persistent and isn't going away.

I find that if I take off slowly, letting the clutch engage completely at slow speed then speeding up things are fine. But on a hill start or a speedy start then it judders. It was happening during every second start about a week ago, but yesterday I was out for a longish run and it only happened once, so maybe it is clearing up?

Is it time to replace the clutch? Could it be something else? TBH if it might cost a lot and/or be one of those things that is hard to identify and hence drag on and cost a fortune then I may trade the car in and get a another one year old vehicle.

I'm going to see if I can examine the engine and gearbox mounts somehow, if somebody could let me know roughly how to do that I will give it a go.

 

[Mottie]

I'm going to see if I can examine the engine and gearbox mounts somehow, if somebody could let me know roughly how to do that I will give it a go.

If you can trust someone else in the car, get them to try to pull away sharply in first and reverse with the handbrake firmly on while you stand by the side of the car, bonnet opened and seeing whether the engine tries to jump out of the engine bay.

 

[Avocet]

As Mottie says, worth checking for a broken engine mounting or a worn-out rubber bush in an engine stabiliser bar (which, if that car has one, could be either above or below the engine). However, those things wouldn't usually get better and worse. Once broken, then tend to stay broken!

Another possibility could be an oil leak - either from the rear crankshaft oil seal or the gearbox input shaft oil seal. These can get small amounts of oil on to the clutch friction plate and contaminate it. That can lead to judder. Do you notice whether it tends to get better for a while AFTER you've had a few juddery hill starts? Sometimes, the extra heat generated during a hill start can burn the oil off the clutch plate and the car will be fine for a while, until some more builds up again. Maybe try a few aggressive hill starts where you end up slipping the clutch and using a bit more throttle than usual, and see if the problem then goes away for a while.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I have a clutch judder problem that has been coming-and-going over the years I have had the car. Every year or so it has a period of judderyness, then it clears up of its own accord. But now it has become more persistent and isn't going away.

That could be due to soft, or damaged engine mountings, or the clutch itself.

Mine has a tendency to judder, under some circumstances....

My driving style, is one of making little use of the clutch slipping, which means my clutch plates last forever. That lack of wear, seems to allow the friction material to eventually build-up, to a juddery surface. My fix, when this happens, is to deliberately do a clutch slipping take-off, to expose fresh clutch friction material.

 

[Silvan]

Since I posted a mechanic had a quick look. There is an oil leak in the area, but he can not see where. Which explains why it has phases of judder then corrects itself. But given the mileage (96,000 miles) it must be due for a new clutch anyway

A new clutch is about £500, but I fear that other faults would be found and the price would escalate. How likely is it that this would happen?

I am tending towards getting another car, maybe a 3 year old Picanto.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

A new clutch is about £500, but I fear that other faults would be found and the price would escalate. How likely is it that this would happen?

On modern cars, the clutch has become quite a major job, so much of the cost, is labour. As getting at it is so expensive, they like to replace all the associated clutch parts, in one go. That means pressure plate, friction plate, dual-mass flywheel, and the concentric slave cylinder. Of those parts, the DM flywheel is the most expensive single part.

 

[Avocet]

Since I posted a mechanic had a quick look. There is an oil leak in the area, but he can not see where. Which explains why it has phases of judder then corrects itself. But given the mileage (96,000 miles) it must be due for a new clutch anyway

A new clutch is about £500, but I fear that other faults would be found and the price would escalate. How likely is it that this would happen?

I am tending towards getting another car, maybe a 3 year old Picanto.

I agree that's likely to be the case. The oil leak could end up (at worst) involving a gearbox strip-down, which would probably end up being more than the car was worth. Clutches on modern cars can be surprisingly long-lived though. 150,000 miles isn't uncommon, if the driver has a bit of mechanical empathy and doesn't do a lot of caravanning in hilly areas! Try to find out if your car has a "dual mass flywheel". If it does, those can be expensive to replace and as Harry said, tend to be replaced while the clutch is out, because of the large labour costs involved in doing it otherwise.

 

[Silvan]

Thank you all will consider these points. Interesting that a clutch might last longer than 100,000 miles. I am a gentle driver and usually car is not loaded up.

Another option I have is just to keep driving it until it fails. I have a rescue service that will take me home if a fault can't be fixed the same day (Startrescue). With the clutch being a big job does that mean the chances are that they will probably take me home? Or will they will be working in cahoots with clutch repair people that charge excessively to have it done emergency-style the same day?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Another option I have is just to keep driving it until it fails. I have a rescue service that will take me home if a fault can't be fixed the same day (Startrescue). With the clutch being a big job does that mean the chances are that they will probably take me home? Or will they will be working in cahoots with clutch repair people that charge excessively to have it done emergency-style the same day?

It would likely take them 24 hours, just to get the parts, to begin the job. So the choice would be yours, to stay or go.

 

[Silvan]

Thank you for all the advice. Today I traded the car in, I got £1000 for it which I am pleased with. I now have Kia Picanto 2.5 years old, it still has 4.5 years manufacturer guarantee still on it. Ticket price £10,000. Hopefully being from the Hyundai stable it will be as reliable as my i20 was (I did 85,000 in it and the only faults were two broken springs on the front, one faulty motion sensor, and the clutch problem).

 

[accelerator]

I would have fixed the old one because it probably would have been quite an easy and inexpensive fix, but each to their own and enjoy your new car!