When a clutch is nearing replacement, should it feel really loose or easy to depress to the floor? Also I know in other cars like my old manual SAAB that there was a disk I could check for thickness to assess how much life it still had in it. If i want to check the clutch life on a 97 quattro AWD where should i look?

 

Do you think that it might be slipping? My clutch has 100k on it and it has always been easy to depress to the floor since it's hydraulic. Some cars have a cable mechanism to release the clutch (maybe your Saab had a cable). An easy way to check if the clutch is on the way out is get the car to 30mph and put it in 5th, then floor it. If the RPMs jump then your clutch is slipping (under load) and will need to be replaced soon.

 

Should the RPM's Red line or just be at2 or3 grand? Thats awesome advice. never thought to try that.

 

The revs shouldnt go up very much. The engine will accelerate but very slowly. If the revs jump to readline very quickly the clutch is slipping.

 

okay. here it goes.

the reason it slips wheny ou do that in fifth gear is because in 5th gear, it takes the most torque to move the car. you could put it in 3rd and go up a super steep hiull and it should do the same thing. but the bestis on flat ground, 5th gear, and not at 30. i do it at 50 ish, because there im at about 2.7k which is right when the torque band kicks. if ur RPM's jump, then ur loseing it.

ALSO an earlier indicator that i just learned beause my cluthc went is be like in third gear, mash it till urt at like 4.5k rpm then let off the gas quick. if there is a hard THUNK, then ur clutch is on its way out. thats the feel of the clutch grabbing again and jerking ur engine back down to speed, even if it is only like 20-50 RPM off. that will tell you before it slips in 5th gear, so ya. if its doing that, you lave MABY 10k miles left on the clutch.

 

i dont think that second part is acturate cause when ur at 4.5k ur engine is working hard if you left off the gas the engine immediatly starts slowing down and ur whole car will jurk slightly ... i can feel it in like 2k rpm

 

but its tne intencity of the jerk u look for. if you are at like 3k and u push in the clutch, red it like 2 or 300 rpm, and drop the clutch, u get the same jerk. i just got my clutch replaced and that went away all together. the jerk feels so severy becuase ur going from accellerating hard, to decellerating hard really fast, then to neutral, then to soft decelleration from the way the engine jerks.

 

correct, but if your clutch is good then it will hold it. if not, then it is bad and definately on it's way out..

a4 clutches may not be rated for stock tq but they should hold in every gear on a stock to chipped 1.8t