2005 Toyota Corolla Clutch Judder

[Liquid_Turbo]

Hi,

My friend's Corolla has developed a slight "shuddering" or juddering upon clutch engagement when low gas is used (as opposed to a higher rpm engagement)

The shuddering wasn't there before.

Any ideas what it could be? Clutch still engages fairly strongly.

 

[cos]

History please -

1) Yr of car?
2) Miles on car?
3) City or hwy use?
4) Driven easy or hard?
5) Original owner? If not is prior history known?
6) Has the clutch's slave cyl ever been bleed?

 

[AdRock]

Also, with his driving habits could he have heated up the clutch 1 too many times.

 

[Liquid_Turbo]

History please -

1) Yr of car? 2005
2) Miles on car? 60,000mile
3) City or hwy use? Mostly highway
4) Driven easy or hard? Easy.. But he does not know much about cars.
5) Original owner? If not is prior history known? Original Owner
6) Has the clutch's slave cyl ever been bleed? No.

 

[tomcat27]

clutch shudder can be caused by: oil on the clutch (pretty unlikely given the mfr and the low miles) - warped pressure plate - warped clutch disc.

some driving behaviors are "clutch killers": especially holding the car steady on a hill by using the clutch instead of the brakes. riding the clutch. slipping the clutch.

back when us punk kids drove dads car, we went thru 2 clusthes in 3 years. after I replaced the 2nd one I figured we better change our sriving habits.

I even stopped downshifting (except on the track) because brakes are alot easier to replace than a clutch!

 

[demarpaint]

Some clutch shudder/chatter is considered normal, although annoying. Please note the word "some". Most of the time it is from the disk being glazed, worn or from a leak. If the clucth is glazed I did this for myself and it worked.

After bringing in a van for service I noticed a chatter I never had. All I could think was the mechanic decided to beat on the van a bit since it had a stick. No way of proving it though. Anyway idle the car, hold the brake, and let off on the clutch as if you were taking off, give it NO gas. Let it stall, do that once or twice, sometimes if it is slightly glazed it will help.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

The clutch on my Yaris 1.5 judders. Only the first couple engagements in the morning. Sounds like you have a glazed disc and polished pressureplate/flywheel. Sometimes a couple hard full throttle engagements with moderate slippage starting in 2nd gear will clean it. It may also "clean out" the tranaxle case as a side effect

 

[cos]

tomcat27,

I totally agree with you - skip the downshifting in a daily driver. I've been driving a stick for many yrs and always slow down in neutral and my clutches last a l-o-n-g time.

 

[eljefino]

Sometimes if the motor mounts are shot the motor will bounce instead of putting the power to the pavement. All a matter of changing the resonant frequency. If the motor bounces at the same rate as the clutch chatters it can exacerbate the situation.

 

[mechtech2]

Engine or trans mounts may be faulty.
There may be oil on the clutch disc face - it may be burned dry or still wet.
The rubber dampers [or springs] in the disc may be worn/puked.

 

[Liquid_Turbo]

Thanks for all who replied! I had a feeling it was motor mount also, since it was only at one particular condition. I will try the 'glazing' trick, where you slip the clutch a little in send to see if it clears anything up.

 

[Liquid_Turbo]

For those who thing it's a clutch issue, it still grabs well? Does a well grabbing clutch still indicate a problem?

 

[Mr Nice]

Some Honda have that same exact problem but once the flywheel/clutch warms up it disappears. I would not worry about it.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Liquid_Turbo
For those who thing it's a clutch issue, it still grabs well? Does a well grabbing clutch still indicate a problem?


I have an old shop manual from Ford, and I remember them saying that due to higher numerical gear ratios slight clutch chatter was considered normal. This is going back to the early 80's so it has been years since I read it. I had a Granada I bought used that had chatter/shudder for over 100,000 miles that I put on it. As long as the engine/tranny mounts are good and the clutch is not slipping I'd drive it till I couldn't stand it anymore. Have you slip tested the clutch?

Check the mounts, if they're good, hold the brake as I said before and release the clutch and stall the car a few times, see if that helps. Slipping the clutch too much by high speed take offs etc could glaze it more if that's the problem.

 

[mechtech2]

Slipping the clutch is an attempt to burn off any deposits.
It's an iffy proposition.

Also, bad shocks/struts can cause this shudder on take off.