If it is getting difficult to drive your car because the clutch is acting up, Benton Road Auto Repair can inspect the clutch and adjust it, rebuild it, or replace it, whichever is necessary. Signs that your clutch is going bad include difficulty getting the vehicle into gear and shifting the gears as well as the transmission slipping out of gear. This can make driving your automobile nearly impossible. Let’s talk about the other signs of a malfunctioning clutch below.
Acceleration Hesitation
It might seem strange that a bad clutch can make your vehicle’s acceleration hesitate, but it can. The reason why is that the clutch takes the engine’s power and moves it to the transmission temporarily while it is engaged. This allows the transmission to turn the drivetrain, which, in turn, turns your wheels. If the transmission does not have power, your wheels won’t turn. This is what causes the acceleration to hesitate.
Burning Clutch Odors
One sign that your clutch is not staying engaged is if you smell hot odors coming from it. Burning clutch odors are an indication that the clutch is slipping. A slipping clutch will not stay engaged even though you have not released it yet. Aside from the acceleration hesitation above, a slipping clutch will also smell hot and grind the gears. Let’s talk more about this next.
Grinding Gears
When you first learn to drive a manual transmission, it’s common to grind the gears when you shift them. If your gears have started grinding at this point, however, this, too, is a sign that the clutch is slipping out of engagement. In other words, the clutch has actually disengaged when you shift the gear. Consequently, the gears will grind because the power is still with the engine.
Higher Catch Point
You may also notice a higher catch point in your clutch pedal if the clutch is going bad. It’s common for the catch point to change when the clutch starts to wear out. In most cases, the catch point will be higher than normal.
Sponginess or Softness
Finally, you may also notice that your worn clutch feels strange underneath your foot. It may think to the floorboard without catching or feel soft or spongy. In some cases, it may also feel harder to depress than it normally is.
Call Benton Road Auto Repair in Bossier City, LA, today if your vehicle is experiencing any of the clutch problems listed above. Again, we will inspect the clutch and repair it.
