At some point your car or van will need a clutch replacement this is normal wear and tear of driving a manual gearbox type vehicle, Clutch life can depend on many conditions such as how you drive your vehicle load, type of roads contamination etc.

Today's vehicle clutches are more work intensive to replace not like older vehicles where a clutch could be replaced in an hour or so, one what comes to mind is the early Vauxhall Cavalier the gearbox did not have to be removed to replace the clutch.

Modern vehicles today we are not so lucky clutch replacement can be up to three or nine hours to replace depending on which make and model of vehicle you own. Some other conditions have made the cost of clutch more expensive to the customer conditions such as car manufacturers have adopted hydraulic clutch pedal meaning there is no clutch cable anymore it's all done by hydraulic master and slave cylinders and fluid this is not for all vehicles but most of them.

Hydraulic clutch pedals have been around for years it's not new technology it did not matter if your vehicle had a cable or hydraulic clutch pedal the clutch parts on either consisted of three parts to complete a clutch kit.

1. Clutch Pressure plate

2. Clutch centre Plate [Friction Plate]

3. Clutch release Bearing

What has changed now on the hydraulic clutch pedal type is car manufacturers have moved clutch slave cylinder this unit was normally bolted on the outside of the gearbox which pushed a metal lever [Also known as clutch fork arm] which engaged the clutch bearing when the clutch pedal was depressed.

So what did the manufacturers do well they had a bright idea to integrate the clutch release bearing and clutch slave into one unit which is now mounted inside the gearbox just in front of the clutch this unit is now called Concentric Slave Cylinders.

So what does this mean to the customer guess what just as you thought more expense don't blame us blame the car manufacturers any mechanic will tell you there bright idea is a stupid idea because now the clutch is open to fluid contamination from the concentric slave cylinders failing and leaking hydraulic fluid all over your clutch.

Clutch kits are available as a complete kit including the concentric slave cylinder as part of the kit but not all are available some concentric slave cylinders have to be purchased separately so if your kit comes without concentric slave cylinder your kit will only contain clutch pressure plate and centre plate no clutch release bearing is included in the kit this is because the release bearing is part of concentric slave cylinder now which means you have no alternative but to buy concentric slave cylinder as a separate part this can be more expensive than your clutch kit.

More reasons for and expensive clutch replacement.

The Dual-Mass Flywheels are manufactured to with stand high torque from gear change to gear change they act as a damper between the gearbox clutch and engine. the dual mass flywheel in basic terms has three parts a inner mass and outer mass in the middle of these are there springs and damping system to cushion excessive movement and vibration away from your vehicles drive shafts. The problem is they are under extreme force and suffer from excessive wear and tear in some cases the vehicle manufacture does state on every second or third clutch replacement a Dual-Mass Flywheel should be replaced as well.

There's a big tolerance on wear of Dual-Mass Flywheel and for this reason these type of flywheels have been replaced when not needed this of course is down to your garage or mechanic to make this decision if there is no manufacturers specification on replacement.

The cost of these dual-mass flywheel can be in the hundreds of pounds taking a clutch replacement up to a £1000 or more. You can purchase conversion kits to replace to dual-mass flywheels back to solid type flywheel this can be an expensive measure but if you plan to keep your vehicle for some time in long the run will save you more money in dual-mass flywheels replacement in the future.

Need your clutch replaced as soon as possible Mobile Auto Services can help call us on 07973 675291 for complete mobile clutch replacement service at your home or work place.