TR Clutch Lifespan - How many miles?

Currently at 18.7k miles and the clutch pedal is releasing at the top of travel. Have not felt any slippage, but I suspect the time is near.

Any ideas what the ‘typical’ clutch mileage is on these cars? Never had a clutch expire so soon before.

 

I'm at 85K miles. I think "how used" is going to be a huge factor in causing a wide spread of results.

 

Mine has over 20k on it and still feels strong.

Related question— can the clutch be replaced with the engine in?

 

I have seen several go over 100,000. Up to you. I wear cars out around clutches. When I rebuilt my 328 motor I put the old clutch back in.

As you probably know it is a dual disc clutch. The clutch pack has shims to establish the correct clamping pressure.It can be reshimmed to compensate for wear and get much more life out of it. The pedal goes way up and it loses clamping pressure and slips even though there is a good deal of disc material left. If you get there before it starts slipping and destroys the discs it can be reshimmed. There is even a formula in the shop manual. When I do them I tend to just adjust the shims so the fingers of the diaphragm spring are slightly convex for good geometry. If it is adjusted too flat the spring goes over center and at high RPM shift with the centrifugal force on the clutch spring it will not re engage. The shims are 8mm ID so various thickness washers can serve as shims or sometimes it needs no shims depending on wear of the discs.

If you have Ben do it he and I have known each other a long time. I'll be happy to to talk to him about it.

 

Very easily should you need to.

 

yes, without any problem. one of the easier jobs on a TR

 

Thanks Brian... I already have a clutch kit that I have literally had for years. When I pull it apart and inspect, I may very well ask for help on shimming. Thanks!

All those high mile clutches! Any other issues that cause engagement at the top of the pedal? Like I say, it does not slip... but it engages so high it is surprising to me that it doesn’t slip.

Vinny - I found this on an F-Chat search... nice pdf... not mine:
https://www.docdroid.net/file/download/o6XkKqv/ferrari-testarossa-1987.pdf

 

No. TR clutches were a problem. They lack any feel. It isn't uncommon to hear one moving off and hear the RPM go up rather quickly then the driver lets the clutch out to accelerate the car to the engine speed. It is hard not to do. Me, I hate buying clutches and am not afraid to maybe be a little too abrupt in letting it out. I tell people new to TR's to not use it subconsciously even if you have driven a stick your whole life. Make it a conscious operation, pay attention to it. Unless on a hill I don't even use throttle until the clutch is all or mostly out.

In my opinion one of the biggest improvements in the 512TR was the clutch. It had a big single plate clutch and had terrific feel. It is also a lot cheaper. I am pretty sure Hill Engineering is making a conversion kit to put them in TR's.

 

Thanks guys for confirming. I had an issue a while back that I thought was clutch related, but turned out not to be. The point is, I read somewhere during troubleshooting research that the engine came out for clutch replacement. I’m glad to know from good authority that it is not the case!

 

FYI...


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That Hill Engineering single plate clutch kit looks AWESOME! Makes me not even care when my clutch will eventually go out, it will become a major upgrade.

 

I had to change mine at <10,000 miles. One plate was perfect, the other worn down to the rivers. It sat around for years which I’m sure contributed to the problem. Theory is that will little use, the spline gets rusty/sticky and does not enable both plates to wear evenly. IDK.

 

Hill seems reasonably priced given the OEM price for a new twin plate clutch.

If anybody has any experience... sure would like to hear your feedback:

Pedal pressure? Different cylinder diameters?

Any issues of over centering the pressure plate? Stroke length?

Different flywheel/ assembly weights? Faster revs?




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I have this conversion kit sitting in my office at the moment. I am doing a 30K/clutch conversion on my 1989 TR in a couple weeks. I will report back on what feels different etc.

 

I replaced mine at 17,500 km (10,900 miles) - very badly mistreated by someone in the past. Why it was not looked at during the major engine-out, I don't know as I didn't own the car at the time. Perhaps cost was an issue. Maybe why I got such a good deal.

I agree, these cars do not like to sit. And again, there is no warning about slippage.

However, since I did the clutch, I have put on almost 2000 km with no issues and the more I drive the car, the better it gets.

 

I put well over 100K on my 512 TR clutch with no issues
when I did the major I had to replace the flywheel and throw out bearing
I replaced the clutch then ( still have it, although the fingers are iffy)
if you know how to use a clutch it will last a very long time
I had a 308 QV with over 140 k on it
never replaced the clutch

 

i would definitely do this