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2001 Focus has 188,000 on the stock clutch and should go to 200,000. It isn't slipping yet but I am getting some clutch chatter, throwout bearing might give up the ghost before the clutch.
It's all in the way you drive. Which is ironic, since it is a turbowagon ...
That's one of the keys to clutch longevity right there. If you're downshifting to slow down your car as opposed to using your brakes, you'll put more wear on the clutch. Riding the clutch will also wear out your clutch prematurely.
Typically a clutch will give you plenty of warning before complete failure. It's unlikely to leave you stranded unexpectedly.
This is important to remember. The clutch disk will start slipping when accellerating in 4th gear, but it will usually still get you home from wherever. and usually you'll know for a while that it's bad. And if it does start to slip, you can generally wait to change it until you get back from wherever. The throwout bearing will start to make noise when you push in the clutch if that's the part that's getting ready to go, but it can make noise for years if you drive the vehicle rarely. The only things that tend to be rapid failures are clutch cables that can stretch/snap, or if it's a hydraulic clutch (yours is, as are most late model vehicles), the hydraulics can fail, though it's not that common.
Basically, you really don't need to change them as a preventative measure, especailly when you may have 1/2 to 2/3ds it's useful life left at this point.
Depends on the vehicle. I had two IHC Scout II's with manual transmissions. The first one was many years ago when I was in high school. I treated that thing ROUGH. Burn outs, dumping the clutch, starting in 4'th, etc. In fact, that was the vehicle I learned to drive a standard on. Had 100,000 on the origional clutch when I got it. I put another 60K on it my self. Never did slip or give me any trouble.
My second Scout which got a frame off restoration and engine rebuild at somewhere around 240K. I replaced the clutch since I was in there anyway. Even that clutch looked OK when I had it apart.
On the other hand, I had an 02' Ranger that crapped it's clutch at 77K. I bought the truck used with 40K on it. That one was irritating because the clutch was a real pain to change.
The clutch on my 02 Civic Si was replaced when I installed the supercharger and the LSD, I decided to upgrade to a stage 4 clutch and aluminum flywheel. It was in almost new condition and it had over 65K of hard driving.
Depends on where and how you drive, and your skill in getting the clutch out as quickly as possible without stalling the car.
I put 120K on the 'roc's clutch and never even had to adjust the cable - but this is me in a mostly rural and highway driving environment, and I do "drive like a mechanic" - a lot of little tricks that reduce stress on parts.
If I drove 120K in Seattle, there would be significant wear on the clutch, and your average knob who holds the car at an uphill light or stop sign by slipping the clutch would have fried it long ago.
Thanks for all the responses. I've been the only driver and the truck is well maintained. It would be nice to be one of the people who gets 200,000+ miles out of a clutch.
Nearly all my cars have had manual transmissions and I have never had to replace a clutch on any of them. Even Detroit 3 clutches lasted!!!! My 1993 Nissan truck is about to hit 200,000 miles, and i expect the clutch to go another 200,000 miles.
I own a 1996 Geo Prizm i bought new in 1996, and its got a 4cyl engine, manual transmission, and its got 284,589 miles on it, and it still has its origional clutch in it, and it engages as soon as you let the clutch pedal out!! Never ever had no problems out of my car nor the clutch!! You have to be a great driver, and know how to drive a manual car, not a little bit or act like it!!
A clutch usually lasts the life of a car. When I was running car dealerships we would see the odd one go under warranty.It was never a seal leak that caused it. It's almost always driver error. If you think you have a problem coming with yours shift from second to third a little early, rev the engine while your foot is still on the clutch, "pop" the clutch. If the engine keeps revving higher but you aren't going faster, it's on the way out.
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