Did I screw my clutch up?

[shredder4286]

Hi everybody-


I recently bought a 2002 Toyota Corolla, a 5-spd manual. (My first stick shift) Things have been going pretty well until I tried to take off in 3rd gear last night. I immediately noticed a burnt rubber smell. This morning, on my way into town, I noticed the clutch needs to be let out quite a bit more now to engage the gears. Did I screw my clutch up? Thanks folks

[DeltaP]

Check the clutch slave and master cylinders for leaks. Check the clutch slave actuating rod travel. If OK, I'd say your clutch disc is toast. If you had put it in 3rd by mistake it should have stalled the engine. If you were forcing it to move with high RPMs then you probably burned up whatever usable lining was left on the clutch disc. Time consuming but not too expensive a repair as clutch replacements go. You can buy an aftermarket replacement kit for about 80-90 bucks and a new flywheel for about the same from Rock Auto. The flywheel can be resurfaced by a machine shop but it usually isn't worth it on such small flywheels.

[shredder4286]

Check the clutch slave and master cylinders for leaks. Check the clutch slave actuating rod travel.

Ok. Where is the clutch slave cylinder at? I can't find it online.

The burning smell is gone now, but the clutch still engages at a different place than before. Weird.

[DeltaP]

The clutch master cylinder is mounted next to the brake master cylinder. (looks like a smaller version of it with only one fluid line coming out of it). The slave cylinder is mounted on the headlamps side of the engine,(front of car), at the lower rear corner of the engine. It has one fluid line going to a fitting that is attached to the cylinder by a bolt. Theres a black rubber boot with a rod coming out of the cylinder at the business end. The rod presses into the release arm. The release arm pivots on a ball stud inside the clutch/flywheel housing. The other end rides on,( or very close to), the release bearing and presses the clutch fingers in when you step on the pedal thus releasing the clutch from the flywheel. Besides checking the fluid level and for leaks at the cylinders check for excessive play where the cylinder rod contacts the release arm. Check the release arm for play or sideways slop. Also check the bushing at the top of the clutch pedal arm inside the car for excessive wear or play. HTH

[shredder4286]

Everything looks good. No loose rods on any of those parts. All the fluid is full. It seems to be driving normal. Thanks a lot man.

[beir]

In this case sounds like u smoked the clutch ...my wifes 97 clutch went..the clutch completely went..had it replaced @ a tranny shop..& it came back with bad vibrations @ idle ...after checking work done I noticed the front engine mount was in upside down and was touching metal 2 metal..I fixed that..still vibrating..found that right side engine mount was making vibration ..the shop didn't support engine properly ..and damaged mount..just saying this in case anyone has same problem ..hope it helps