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Login to post Forums » Grassroots Motorsports » Great! Now I get to do a clutch in single digit weather.

Jan. 7, 2010 9:17 a.m. ClemSparks SuperDork

I got up this morning and fired up the Corolla and the clutch was slipping like crazy. It took me too long to figure it out (to figure out it wasn't the tires spinning on our fresh 4" of snow), so I'm upset at myself for that.

But anyway, now I've got a car that needs a clutch, no shop, and single degree temps.

Driving a '77 shortbed chevy to work (late) in new snow with a questionable heater and having to fix the corolla in the cold has me seriously thinking harder about getting an actual nice car.

When it's cold out...that's usually the time I regret my winter beaters (that I drive all year).

Clem
Jan. 7, 2010 9:21 a.m. DrBoost Dork

That sucks. It seems when something major breaks on my cars the weather turns terribly foul as soon as I open my tool box.
Jan. 7, 2010 9:59 a.m. gigolojoe New Reader

I had to change the starter on my vette in pouring rain a couple weeks back. That was misreable. I can't imagine doing a clutch job in the snow .
Jan. 7, 2010 10:00 a.m. John Brown SuperDork

You could have ridden the Puch.
Jan. 7, 2010 10:01 a.m. cghstang Reader

The clutch on my winter car gave up the ghost the other night too!

Now I get to drive my never-seen-snow miata until it's fixed ($$$)
Jan. 7, 2010 10:06 a.m. Ross of Nine Dork

One of those tents for storing cars, some ply wood or cardboard on cement and some space heaters can make fixing cars outside easier than straight outside in the snow. Warning to the heater near combustable materials and oxygen for the mech.
Jan. 7, 2010 10:12 a.m. ClemSparks SuperDork

I'd buy another junker, slap the wrong tags on it, insure it, and drive it until spring before I'd change this clutch outside

The clutch kit isn't going to be in town until Tuesday anyway, it seems. Hopefully I can round up a garage to change it in by then...

Clem
Jan. 7, 2010 10:40 a.m. nasaregistrar Dork

ugh did a radiator yesterday because it was the warmest it has been/will be in a while. Second the idea of a porta-garage, plywwod and a jet heater. Beer and friends to bribe with beer would be helpful.
Jan. 7, 2010 10:51 a.m. ClemSparks SuperDork

Yeah...ok, so does anybody have any fun theories why my clutch (probably pressure plate) decided TODAY, on the coldest day of the year, to slip?

There have been absolutely ZERO symptoms of any sort of clutch failure until this morning.

I'm wondering if something in the pressure place contracted on something else and isn't letting it engage all the way. I don't know...but it never slipped before. I'm sure the disc is likely toast now after this morning's shennanigans, but I'm just curious.

Clem
Jan. 7, 2010 10:53 a.m. dj06482 Reader

Porta-garage is the only way anything gets done on my fleet during the winter. Bought a cheap one from Sam's club a few years back, and built a platform out of pressure-treated 4X4s, 2X10s, and plywood. The garage blocks the wind and gets you out of working in the snow/rain, which is a huge help...
Jan. 7, 2010 11:09 a.m. gjz30075 New Reader

Is it hydraulic? Maybe the cold weather is causing either the master or slave to act sluggish. If so, the disk is probably toast as a result anyway
Jan. 7, 2010 11:15 a.m. ClemSparks SuperDork

It's hydraulic...and yes, it's noticibly "different" acting in the sub zero temps...but the pedal returns fine.

The problem is failure to clamp down on the disk.

Hard to say...

Clem
Jan. 7, 2010 11:17 a.m. The_Jed Reader

GJZ beat me to it.

I was going to suggest a cold weather slave cylinder malfunction.

Was the pedal unusually difficult to press?

I can't believe your cars haven't sold yet! I would say how much I want them but I hate being that "I'll have the money soon!" D-bag.

Besides, my Subaru addiction takes precedence. At least that's what the wife tells me when I start lusting after something RWD.
Jan. 7, 2010 11:19 a.m. The_Jed Reader

I must have been typing while you posted, Clem.
Jan. 10, 2010 9:17 p.m. ClemSparks SuperDork

Well...today the temperature soared to 20 degrees (F) so I thought, "What the heck, I'll give the clutch a try today."

Who else here believes that it worked fine today with no slipping.

I'm telling you...that's what happened. I did a few "launches" on what little dry pavement I could find to test it out, and the clutch worked fine.

I'm baffled, but at least I should be able to drive it to work tomorrow ;)

Clem
Jan. 10, 2010 9:21 p.m. pres589 Reader

Buy a magnetic block heater and hang it as close to the clutch as you can? Run during the coldest mornings.
Jan. 10, 2010 9:39 p.m. Stuc HalfDork

I love when cars fix themselves

If not though, constant trips inside for coffee and beer keep feeling in the fingers
Jan. 10, 2010 9:52 p.m. fornetti14 Reader

You'd better sell the car when the weather warms up.
Jan. 10, 2010 10:10 p.m. oldopelguy Dork

You probably should flush the clutch fluid. Wee all know brake fluid absorbs water, and that it settles to the lowest point on brake systems (usually the wheel cylinders) so why would a hydraulic clutch system be any different? A little moisture in the slave cylinder freezing up would easily keep it from retracting back after you released the pedal.
Jan. 10, 2010 10:25 p.m. ClemSparks SuperDork

Damn, that's good!
Jan. 10, 2010 10:27 p.m. Tighe New Reader

oldopelguy wrote: Wee all know brake fluid absorbs water, and that it settles to the lowest point on brake systems (usually the wheel cylinders) so why would a hydraulic clutch system be any different?

I've always read that the reason why a hygroscopic fluid is used in brake systems is so that moisture in the system wouldn't settle at a low point; That is it would be distributed throughout the fluid.
Jan. 10, 2010 10:33 p.m. irish44j Reader

sounds like fun. I did an oil change and car wash in 25 degrees today. My hose was frozen solid, so I had to resort to the "warm bucket o suds" to wash and the "cold bucket o water" to rinse. I ended up very wet and cold. I would rather have done a clutch job.
Jan. 10, 2010 11:30 p.m. friedgreencorrado Dork

oldopelguy wrote:

You probably should flush the clutch fluid. Wee all know brake fluid absorbs water, and that it settles to the lowest point on brake systems (usually the wheel cylinders) so why would a hydraulic clutch system be any different? A little moisture in the slave cylinder freezing up would easily keep it from retracting back after you released the pedal.

oldopelguy FTW. My Corrados have hydraulic clutches. The black one, I've just finished an autox season with, and have fresh fluid. The green one, I've neglected a little. I fired them both up and moved them around last Wed, and the green one was a little wonky about it. The brakes & clutch share a resevoir on these cars, and I know the fluid is shot in the green one.
Jan. 11, 2010 6:41 a.m. Feedyurhed HalfDork

Single digit temps takes it's toll on cars. Nothing seems to work as well in the cold. Things come out in the cold that haven't been there all year. New creaks and thunks in the suspension and so forth. I also am amazed at how much the mpg dips down .in the cold and snow.

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