squealing clutch

[twinport]

i have a 2003 corsa and when i move of or change gear there is a squealing sound and when i depress the clutch it starts juddering.

[emmagleb]

In short, your clutch has had it and needs repairing urgently. This happened to my car not long ago - is there a burning smell as well sometimes? If not seen to, the clutch will eventually 'snap' (either the arm will break or all the teeth on the disk will break through) and changing gear will be a challenge!

My advice..... get it seen to and replaced - it costs around �225 if its a full replacement (arm + disc + labour). Clutches usually last around 70,000 miles but mine went at 55,000. I blame the driving style of the previous owner personally.....

Hope this helps :-)

[funkymoped]

emma, clutches dont usually snap !! they wear away in exactly the same way as brake linings. they are made with friction pads that connect the engine power to the gear box.

ive never known a clutch strip any teeth off the clutch plate just because they have worn out !! i assume you mean the teeth on the splined part of the plate ?!?! if you had that problem, ide be amazed to learn it was from a clutch slipping !!!
:-)

twin. it does sound like your clutch needs replacing. you may (very slight chance) have oil on your plate. try putting your car in gear and pulling away with the hand brake on fully. if the clutch slips and doesnt sound like its gonna stall, then your clutch is in need of replacement !!! if it does pull and trys to stall the engine, it may have been contaminated with oil.
:-)

[woodchopper]

The squealing sounds like the release bearing starting to fail on the clutch and the juddering is caused by a damged/broken clutch pressure plate - get a whole complete clutch put in - vauxhall charge around �80 for the clutch kit (part exhchange) and get a local mech head to put it in.
My last Corsa's clutch lasted 38k - was one of those stinking hi-torq engines fitted to it.

[gsr600]

OI funky moded
just to let you know, i think what they mean about snapping,
is the teeth on the pressure plate where the thrust bearing contacts the pressure plate, not the spigot splines.
it has been a problem on lots of pressure plates since they done away with carbon type thrust bearings- they used to snap being made of cast iron.
but where a clutch cable is adjusted to tight or people ride the clutch it wears away the fingers on the pressure plate until they get so thin they collapse so you lose your clutch pressure.
just to enlighten you all.
i'm done.

[funkymoped]

gsr, thanks for that. dont know why i assumed it was the spline that had broken !
the fingers/teeth on the plate can and do snap.

is the corsa the same as the cavalier when it comes to clutches ? cavalier clutches are a piece of cake to replace. any average diy mechanic can replace a cavalier clutch in an hour or two.
:-)

[emmagleb]

Thanks for the correction "funkymoped"..... I know that clutches aren't a thing to usually just 'go' with no warning, hence the squeeling / burning smell / juddering. When my mechanic took mine out he showed me one bent clutch arm and a plate on thich most of the teeth had snapped off, and the remaining teeth with wearing in a circular pattern where the arm would have been meeting it. I'm assuming that the rest of the teeth would also snap, therefore the arm would go through the plate? Just checking - I thought I had understood this when my clutch went, though could be mistaken.