tieu

I own a 2008 IS250 MT, its around 30 000 kms now but the clutch is just abuot done.

I have read one or two posts on this forum saying the clutch has died at around 20 000 miles, then I googled and found a few more people having their clutch die aroudn 20-24000 miles.

Just wondering if anyone's clutch is slipping yet? Mine isnt slipping but I can tell its gonna go soon. Supposely theres a bit of complaint already to lexus of america regarding this premature clutch failure. I know its a wear and tear item, and many of you can blame it on the drivers but believe me or of the many owners with a dead clutch that AT LEAST one of us must drive manual properly to not have the clutch fail so early? I work at a performance shop before and used to drive a stage 2 clutch so when I picked up the 250 yea its a bit of a difference. At first I did ride it slightly, and when switching gears I let the clutch out too fast etc etc but I quickly adapted to the way to drive the is250 so I dont think it was my driving that killed the clutch so fast?

sailing217

I have 77,xxx miles on my clutch. It's going to go soon, but I hope to make it to 90ish.

SwooshICE

how do i tell if a clutch is going bad when its not slipping??

tieu

the first few gears will rev up fast but the car isnt going

ie. first gear revs to around 3000rpm n the car only goes 20kmhs

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

There is no way short of measuring the friction disc. Saying you "feel" it's going bad is BS. Either it slips under load or it doesn't. If it doesn't, there's nothing wrong.

AFA service life - it is ENTIRELY driver dependent. For example, I put 106,000 miles on the original clutch in my TT Supra. Lots of guys never made it anywhere near that. I know how to abuse a clutch and I know how to make one last. Slipping the clutch is what kills it. Quick releases do not kill clutches, they actually extend life because there is less slipping and less wear. The more you rev the engine before releasing the clutch, the more you wear the clutch every time you launch. FWIW, the OEMs all set up their manuals with enough flywheel to let you engage the clutch from idle in first gear without stalling. It's one of the great practice trials for a new manual driver - start off without the gas, just release the clutch smoothly and get rolling. This also minimizes clutch wear. It does not however minimize rod bearing wear and I would never advocate launching at idle because your oil pressure is too low for that kind of load on a regular basis. As a brief exercise, nothing to fear. As a long term strategy - very bad idea for engine life.

So, if you start out at the lowest practical rpm for the situation you're in (typically ~1100 rpm) and release the clutch quickly (but without jerking) you'll see a long service life from your clutch. If you rev the engine up (2k+ rpm) every time you launch, you can expect your service life will be less. If you launch above 3k rpm everytime, you'll be spending a lot of money on clutches and flywheels. Of course, riding the clutch will also likely kill it early for the same reasons launching at high rpm will - the clutch disc is slipping because you don't have full clamping force from the pressure plate.

Remember, your clutch does not care about HP, only torque. More torque means heavier clutch. Slipping the clutch to modulate torque (common in racing) means you will wear out your clutch sooner than someone who doesn't.

tieu

I dont ride the clutch, and shift around 3. I maybe redline 2-3 times but thats about it, I mean I used to track my other cars so I never had issues with shifting. But even say I was a bad manual driver, 30k cuts it short?

I dont think its a worn out clutch, maybe burned out or something its not slipping yet

SwooshICE

but isn't that clutch slipping??
I m just confused on how would you know yours is about done when yours isn't slipping??

tieu

You ever driven on a burned clutch? It feels like that now, the clutch will start to slip in a bit when its more worn.

SwooshICE

No i've never driven my car hard so far. But that would suck if the clutch needs replacing at 30000km

EyeEss

I am at almost 9000 miles on my 08 IS250 6MT, I launch around 2k, I try to go at lower rpm's whenever possible. I redline maybe once or twice a day, I usually shift at 3k rpm. I do alot of highway miles so I expect to get a long life out of my clutch. I suggest you pick up the quickshifter kit, it is a night and day difference in this car!

tieu

I was planning to.. but never got the chance.

Im talking with 3 people, whos clutch died around the lifetime of mine as well. damn

SwooshICE

Wanna be more descriptive?

kickin8

iTrader: (1)

F-Sport quick shifter.....

SwooshICE

no... as in why it feel like a night and day difference..