XV Clutch

[daboxerman]

Just had to have clutch and flywheel replaced after only 16 months  / 18K miles. Admittedly there are 3 drivers including one newly passed one. However anyone else had clutch wear and tear problems? 

 

[marcothio]

Yes, mine burned after 47K, which embarrassed the dealer quite a lot. I searched the internet but could not find posts that hint to a low quality clutch in the XV. Maybe just bad luck for both of us?

 

 

[Dogconker]

I'm at 54k with my original clutch and it's still very low on the pedal. I've not heard of clutches bring an issue other than done suffer with "clutch judder" especially when cold. This doesn't affect the longevity of the clutch.

[daboxerman]

@marcothio maybe bad luck, may also be more cases that are not reported.

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[Aberdeen Chris]

I think the XV has Hill assist. So if you stop and sit in gear there is still wear on the clutch happening. It's the same with my 2.5GX Lecacy.

The best thing to do is always go to neutral when stopped and not be sitting with the car in gear and clutch pedal depressed while waiting.

The local mechanic Mike told me this, and the cause is the Hill Assist.

[Dogconker]

I think the XV has Hill assist. So if you stop and sit in gear there is still wear on the clutch happening. It's the same with my 2.5GX Lecacy.

The best thing to do is always go to neutral when stopped and not be sitting with the car in gear and clutch pedal depressed while waiting.

The local mechanic Mike told me this, and the cause is the Hill Assist.

I thought the hill assist worked off the rear brakes rather than holding the clutch? Plus the hill start assist will only hold for a few seconds on the XV?

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[Aberdeen Chris]

I believe it still has a very small impact on the clutch. So if you regularly sit at the lights in gear there is a cumulative effect on the clutch causing it to wear out earlier.

Mike has had Subaru's himself and replaced quite a few Subaru clutches. He says they're not good for clutches generally. The dual mass flywheel can have it's issues also, although I've nearly got 100K  from my Legacy's despite its making a little noise at idle occasionally.

But to sum up - don't sit in gear at the lights and your going to get way more miles out of the clutch. I've replaced about thirty clutches myself over time and Mike's advice feels right to me. Although my XV has only about 80 miles on it so far, but i'm going to try and make the clutch last as long as possible lol.

I had a Volvo V40 which I traded in for the XV and I got 130k on the original clutch with no problems.   

[marcothio]

I changed my driving style considerably after my clutch went @47-49K. In neutral indeed at the lights now and taking care when going uphill (especially when behind a slow tractor). My old Vauxhall (yes, the shame... :)) did nearly 150K on the original clutch. 

[Aberdeen Chris]

1 hour ago, marcothio said:

I changed my driving style considerably after my clutch went @47-49K. In neutral indeed at the lights now and taking care when going uphill (especially when behind a slow tractor). My old Vauxhall (yes, the shame... :)) did nearly 150K on the original clutch. 

We get lots of slow tractors between Aberdeen and Macduff, especially this time of the year! 

I wish the XV had a duel range gearbox. So useful when on a Motorway crawl of 2 miles per hour and towing a caravan. First gear in the low range is perfect to crawl without having to go in and out of gear. I have yet to see how the Diesel XV copes, but it needs to have driven 1000 miles before I can use it to tow.

 

[Dogconker]

There's a few things people do with manual gearboxes that they shouldn't do, sitting with your foot on the clutch pedal shouldnt affect the clutch life but will affect the thrust bearing as its this that is holding the clutch off. Also sitting with your hand on the gear lever will reduce the same bearing life. Doing things like rev matching, especially downshifting will reduce clutch wear significantly. I have always rev matched manual clutches and I've never had a car long enough to replace one yet.