I just burnt my clutch...really bad?

Question

Hello all,

I recently bought a brand new Subaru Impreza (it's my first car with manual transmission).

Today, I parked on a really steep hill (my first mistake) and I had to back out of it. My friend's car was parked right in front of me so I had to rev my car quite a bit to get out of my spot. I revved it really hard (probably up to 4.5-5k rpm) with my foot on the clutch for around 3 seconds. I ended up stalling the car on accident...and right when I did that, the most potent and overwhelming smell of a burnt clutch filled my car. The car was reluctant to turn back on but it eventually did after a few seconds.

I've brunt the clutch before (when learning how to shift) but never like this. This incident sort of freaked me out.

So my question is, did I ruin my clutch/transmission? I drove the car some more today and it SEEMED fine but I'm still not sure.

Answer 1

its fine-  just don't make a habit of it.

it might be worth playing around in your driveway at home with the balance point of the clutch.  if you slowly raise your left foot you will get to a point where the engine noise changes- thats the balance point, if you release the pedal any further the car will stall.  if you learn where the balance point is you won't have to rev the h**l out of the car so that you don't roll back.  you can move your right foot straight over from the brake to the accelerator pedal and take off.

Answer 2

the clutch should be fine, just remember to use the emergency brake when starting from a steep incline. you might want to check to see if it is slipping by putting a strain on it and check your rpm's

Answer 3

  Your clutch can survive a few of these. I wouldn't worry about it as long as you don't make it a habit. Clutches are alot more durable than you might believe. I have a customer with the original clutch in his 95 toyota and almost 200,000 miles on it. You should be fine though.  

Answer 4

usually a clutch will be able to cope with a few of these. but you are s******g up your clutch in a major major way. you will most likely need a new one by the end of the year. you might want to learn better clutch control (no offense meant), just to help save your wallet. when it needs to be replaced it will hurt big time.

make sure you don't rest your foot on the clutch when you drive, any pressure on the clutch pedal you are activating the clutch wearing it out.

only in first and reverse should you need to ride the clutch for a few seconds to get you moving. all the other gears are a pretty much instant transition.

have a good one mate, i don't intend to be a smart a..e i am thinking of your wallet..

Answer 5

The clutch should be quite capable of standing this miss treatment, so what you have to do now, is learn to start on an uphill gradient but use the hand/park brake to hold the car, not slip the clutch.

Alternatively don't park on gradients

Answer 6

You diddnt burn it up

You just burnt some material off of the friction disc. Its not done for yet, you just reduced the life of it drastically though. Drive it like a civilized human being, and the clutch will still last a while. (try to avoid making that smell again haha)

Answer 7

i dunno homie

but that definitely sox on an impreza.

show it to a mechanic b4 driving it around. u dont wanna deppreciate the trans due to the half burnt clutch.