[DeTomaso] Can you measure clutch wear?

[Doug Braun]

Most of the clutches I've had wear out in my lifetime gave me plenty of
warning.  A good test for a clutch condition requires a 60MPH or greater
capable road.  Just put it in top 5th gear (6th for you lucky devils with a
ZF 6 speed) at about 50 MPH and floor it.  If you see the tach climbing but
don't feel the normal push of acceleration at your back, either your clutch
linkage doesn't have enough free play or it's time to change your clutch.
Once you know your clutch is wearing out, you can drive it quite a bit
further by being good to it.  That means keeping the acceleration to
moderate and lower levels and staying out of the highest gears, if possible.
The idea is to avoid a maximum torque condition in high gears.  I've gone
another 2000 miles on a clutch that slipped in 5th gear only because it was
too cold outside to change it.  By the time I had to change it, it was
slipping in 3rd gear.  The trick is to regularly check for clutch slippage
in top gear so it doesn't catch you by surprise.  Throwout bearings let you
know their condition by the noise they make and (like a clutch disc) will
usually give you a few thousand more miles after they start making noise.
All this being said, you should only push a limping clutch system further if
you have no other choice.

Doug Braun
blue 73L #5505

-----Original Message-----
From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com
[mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com]On Behalf Of Charles McCall
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 1:15 AM
To: detomaso at realbig.com
Subject: [DeTomaso] Can you measure clutch wear?

Hi all,

A question that's been bouncing around in my head for a while and I never
got around to asking.

You can tell how much life is left in your tires by looking at the remaining
tread.
You can tell how much life is left in your brake pads by looking at
remaining material.

Is there a simple and quick way to tell how much of your clutch and/or
throwout bearing is left? I ask because this is one thing that you most
likely cannot find on the road far from home, and I'd like to change these
things out of they will most likely not last a full driving season. In my
old ´72 I had my throwout bearing and/or clutch, I don't remember which, fry
on me while I was in town. It would really suck if that happened 1000 km
from home.

Any suggestions? Thanks!
Charles McCall
1985 DeTomaso Pantera GT5-S #9375
"Raising Pantera Awareness across Europe"
http://members.aol.com/PanteraGT5S1985/