[coolmob]

MODS PLEASE MERGE THIS WITH THE FIRST POST

UPDATE - 29/03/2009

my friend recieved a call this morning from the showroom that the car is ready. we went for the pickup and i met one the guys who had sold him the car sometime back. we talked to him and he said that its possible but still seemed strange. so he asked us to talk to the senior manager at the showroom. well we kinda met her and as expected she was of no use and insisted that it can be done if the car is driven with the handbrake but said that she would get the labour charge reduced as she cannot give discount on parts. then she went inside her room and came back and guess what, reduced the labour charge by a measely Rs200!!! somehing exploded inside us and we told her to even keep the 200 with herself.

well we got the damaged parts from the showroom. here are the pics of the bill and the damaged parts.

[viper]

Originally Posted by viper

Hi Guys,

Its very easy to fry a clutch if the valet drove with the handbrake engaged. All he needs to do is drive for maybe 50-100 mtrs(maybe lesser) and its bye bye clutch.

Viper

Originally Posted by coolmob

MODS PLEASE MERGE THIS WITH THE FIRST POST

UPDATE - 29/03/2009

well we kinda met her and as expected she was of no use and insisted that it can be done if the car is driven with the handbrake

Hi,

Like I said earlier I was right after all. The reason I was so sure of that was I have been in a similar situation approx 20 years ago. We had just bought a new Volkswagon Golf TD and my Mom was taking us for a drive in it as it was her birthday present. That car had a very tight hand brake release and since she could not disengage it she assumed it was disengaged.

Well we drove for barely 100 mtrs when we got a strong burning smell and the car stalled. Called a mechanic who said bye bye clutch after he realized what we did. Imagine this in a car with barely 300 kms on the odo.

Viper

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by viper

Called a mechanic who said bye bye clutch after he realized what we did. Imagine this in a car with barely 300 kms on the odo.

True enough, Viper. The point is that the smell of that burnt clutch probably stayed with the car for many hours after this incident.

[pawan_pullarwar]

They must have drove the car with handbreak engaged.
In Ooty I stayed in one of the hotel which was built on high hill slope. When I drove my Palio, it refuse to climb even on 1st gear, then I pressed clutch and did hard rev to climb. But nothing happened to clutch. I drvoe around 2000 KM after that, still clutch is intact. In your he case, he must have pushed the car with handbreak engaged.

[rkavthekar]

Originally Posted by viper

Hi Guys,

Its very easy to fry a clutch if the valet drove with the handbrake engaged. All he needs to do is drive for maybe 50-100 mtrs(maybe lesser) and its bye bye clutch.

Viper

Frankly, its hard for me to digest that a car driven for 50-100 mtrs on an incline, revved very hard with a hand brake on, destroys clutch. Frankly, from my personal experience, my indica has gone through this kind of an abuse, a couple of time by self (unknowingly in initial ownership periods) and multiple times by my father. She has been driven for atleast 10-16 kms with handbrake on twice or thrice. This includes inclines and down slopes and flat road. My father revs her hard every time he shifts gears and is more comfortable in a rev hard motion on inclines.

After going through all this abuse, I still haven't changed my clutch after 6 years and almost completing 98K.

take care and drive safely

[SS-Traveller]

The clutch plate in the pictures seems to have a peculiar wavy pattern on it, like it was running eccentric and juddered. The plate does not seem to have burnt down / worn down to the rivets. Pressure plate seems to be fine - why was it changed? What caused this - misaligned engine/gearbox mountings? Loose transmission housing bolts?

@ anupmathur - your opinion please.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I regularly forget the handbrake when I've been sitting for a while at a signal. Simply, the car will not start! If it does, get handbrake adjusted!

I can admit to one incident in an AT, where the handbrake was not so fierce/well-adjusted, and I was cursing the probability of a huge repair bill as the AT was not up-shifting --- when I realised the handbrake was on <Blush>

[FATAL3RROR]

Originally Posted by rkavthekar

Frankly, its hard for me to digest that a car driven for 50-100 mtrs on an incline, revved very hard with a hand brake on, destroys clutch. Frankly, from my personal experience, my indica has gone through this kind of an abuse, a couple of time by self (unknowingly in initial ownership periods) and multiple times by my father. She has been driven for atleast 10-16 kms with handbrake on twice or thrice. This includes inclines and down slopes and flat road. My father revs her hard every time he shifts gears and is more comfortable in a rev hard motion on inclines.

After going through all this abuse, I still haven't changed my clutch after 6 years and almost completing 98K.

take care and drive safely

MY Esteem wouldn't move an inch if the hand brake was engaged. I never tried it (thankfully) but I am sure I would have to rev really hard to get the car moving.

It's probably not your clutch which is good but your hand brake which isn't very efficient!

[simply_sunny001]

i dunno why some of you guys are after Valet people.They are also human being trying to earn by doing their jobs.

Isn't so easy to put blame on the poor valet guys ?

And if they keep on frying clutches everyday then i'm sure very soon Valet will be banned in hotels.

So i would request the mods to please close this thread as its not leading to anywhere and its a sheer waste of webspace.

[anupamsinha]

When we got our new MAruti 800 we drove around 15 kms with the handbrake. The clutch. The clutch had to be replaced, but that was after 2500 kms on the odo. Moreover the distance involved was wayyyyy more than in your case.

[rkavthekar]

Originally Posted by FATAL3RROR

MY Esteem wouldn't move an inch if the hand brake was engaged. I never tried it (thankfully) but I am sure I would have to rev really hard to get the car moving.

It's probably not your clutch which is good but your hand brake which isn't very efficient!

That can be the case I cannot deny. I really need to pull my handbrake hard at times to ensure that my car does not move.

I guess, I need to add this item to look into when I send my car for 1 Lakh service.

Thanks Mate

take care and drive safely

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

The clutch plate in the pictures seems to have a peculiar wavy pattern on it, like it was running eccentric and juddered. The plate does not seem to have burnt down / worn down to the rivets. Pressure plate seems to be fine - why was it changed? What caused this - misaligned engine/gearbox mountings? Loose transmission housing bolts?

@ anupmathur - your opinion please.

LOL, SS-Traveller, I'm no expert on worn clutchplates and the forensics thereof! We do not have clutches on ships! Beautiful, direct coupled engines! No clutch, no gear box!

Anyhow, to me those pics seem to be a motley mix of old parts and new parts!

[rkbharat]

May be I am dumb, but that clutch plates does not look genuine to me and looks like used for more than 40K km.

[Bass&Trouble]

Originally Posted by FATAL3RROR

MY Esteem wouldn't move an inch if the hand brake was engaged.

A classic case of handbrake having more bhp than the engine.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by Bass&Trouble

A classic case of handbrake having more bhp than the engine.

Er...does that mean I should ask the A.S.S. to increase the engine bhp at the next service? Or is it the clutch that needs to be adjusted for more power?