excessive clutch wearing
 

So after only 15,000 miles I've burned through the original clutch. I'm trying to figure out how this could have happened so quickly. My previous car, a 95 Civic, went 150,000 miles on the original clutch (which survived my brother and myself learning on it). I'm pretty confident that my driving style ranges somewhere between normal and conservative and the vast majority of the 15000 miles were cruising at nearly constant speed on highways (I drove it from CA to IL and back). Fortunately the dealer was able to get Honda to cover it on warranty, but he told me his techs said that it just has the appearance of rough driving. Its wonderful they covered it, but if this is something that will be repeated in another 15000 miles they were clear that it would not be covered next time.

I'm grasping at straws here, does anyone have any ideas what could be the problem? My thoughts are:

1. I had an aftermarket cruise control put on prior to driving from IL to CA. I only used it when I was already going 60+ on the highway in 5th gear, and would not have shifted with it on, so I'm not sure how this could possibly cause a problem.

2. The Fit is a little short for my legs. Its possible that I had been inadvertently putting some pressure on the clutch. The question is whether or not this would give any noticeable signs. The cruise control should disengage when the clutch is pressed (though I haven't tested this), so I think this would have given this away.

3. In CA, I went over some very steep passes and would put the car in lower gears to help keep my speed under control. (I highly doubt this though because I would do the same on my Civic).

4. I took another trip where a friend drove and I was sitting in the front seat. It was only about 180 miles of driving and his driving seemed completely normal to me (and mostly highway driving as well).

bump, subscribed out of curiosity

Concerning point #3, can you downshift pretty well? Rev-match and all that? That seems like the only point you've mentioned that could lead to excessive clutch wear, but you sound pretty competent so I'm sure your downshifting isn't horrible enough to wear the clutch so much so to warrant replacement so soon.

I'm at 21,XXX miles thus far and I haven't noticed any slipping or anything with my clutch yet. I know that a few members here have complained of the clutch getting worn very quickly (only around 10k-20k+ miles), but they may have had different issues.

It's nice that the dealer replaced it under warranty. Let's hope Clutch #2 lasts longer.

I'm at 22,000 miles and it doesn't feel any different that it did when it was new. there's also people on here with like 60,000 miles who have the original clutch too.

I'm worried that my with my GD8 chattering its clutch will lead to premature wear. The clutch in my dad's 01 PT Cruiser is still on it's original at 87,000 miles.

I've got 149K on my 2007 Sport, and the clutch is just now starting to act a little funny. I drive the piss out of it, too.

If there was excessive moisture in the clutch hydraulic system, it could have caused the problem.

I'd never heard of clutch delay valves until I read this thread https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...ng-issues.html .

I wonder if it is possible that a bad CDV could cause too much slippage upon reengagemant of the clutch, and be prematurely wearing out clutches?

Not sure if that's possible, but thought I'd throw it out there.

It sounds plausible to me that the CDV valve could be the problem but it would seem that clutch slippage would have to be noticeable when shifting up and accellerating....

Thanks for all the comments.

@cojaro - my technique for down shifting may not be perfect, but to put it in perspective, most the driving was east of the Mississippi (quite flat). The amount of mountain passes and hilly driving is very limited and I would think to wear out a clutch so fast would require borderline recklessness. That said, after reading your reply and several other forums, I will take note when I am downshifting in those circumstances.

@ Texas Coyote - would excessive moisture in the hydraulic system show up as something the Honda techs would see? The dealership told me that the hydraulics checked out perfectly.

@ Krizz&TX Coyote - The failure was all of a sudden. The clutch went from 100% perfect (shifting on the Fit seems to be extraordinarly easy), to becoming quite difficult to accelerate from a stop to 45 mph. The dealer noted that it was working perfectly in the parking lot, and once it became hot, immediately started slipping.

i drive my FitS spritedly including heel and toe downshifts on all approaching traffic/stop lights, turns, etc. from day one.

im at 15K miles with no issue. but again, driving spritedly does not mean driving aggressively/abusively.

i too think you may have been riding the clutch too much by accident espcially if the plate shows colors consistent to aggressive driving. :)

The slipping shows up when the clutch gets hot does suggest moisture saturation of the fluid creating steam and not allowing complete engagement.... The clutch mastercylinder could also be messed up as well..... A friend of mine recently had a problem in an old truck he drives where he had parked it and retuned to find that the clutch pedal would not move when he pushed it down due to pressure from steam.... I had brakes completely lock up from the same problem in an old VW.

Is your foot touching the clutch pedal when you're not actively shifting? If so, this could be part of your problem. If you're cruising on the highway you shouldn't be touching the clutch pedal at all.

I have hit girls for riding the clutch and not shifting out of gear at signal lights, in their own car even.

yah, your left foot needs to be on the zeta dead pedal when you are not shifting. :D hahahaha.

I don't think I've been riding the clutch. I was aware of the fact that the car was a little short and that it could have been an issue. Right now the car is still in the dealership, so I will be curious to see how far my foot is from the clutch when I'm driving normally. I do use the dead pedal, so unless my feet are especially wide, or the space between the dead pedal and the clutch is very small, then I don't think I should have been pressing on it.

The other hint is that the aftermarket cruise control should have kicked off if the clutch was depressed and this never happened to me. Again, once I get the car back I will try to test this to make sure.

I'm thinking more and more there may have been some defects in the clutch lining. Perhaps a large chunk spalled off. I will ask some more questions when I get the car back from the dealership, particularly about moisture, but again my previous car went 150k miles on the original clutch, and is currently up to 160k with still no replacement (I sold the car to my roommate).

Regardless once I get my Fit back, I will be quite paranoid as to what sort of driving habits I am doing could possibly have led to this. Hopefully it'll be another 100k+ miles before I need to worry about a replacement again.

tap the brakes just slightly (enough to trip the switch) to turn the cruise off

Ah, the good ol' boring Mississippi River Valley. I'm smack in the middle of it and you're right, there are practically no substantial hills around here.

ive read a few post where some folk's clutches were wearing out at very low milage so it can be a defect.

were there any signs before it gave out? like did the pedal feel different when you engaged or did it engage very high on the pedal, etc. any early warning?

I drove the repaired car back, all 2300 miles from Livermore, CA to Chicago. The clutch seemed okay. I did note that it was extremely quick to engage when I first drove it out of the dealership - difficult to start without a jerk, but that smoothed out in the first couple of miles.

@ kenchan - There was no warning at all. After one light the engine just started revving up without any acceleration of the car.

@fat ping cat - I don't use the clutch to disengage the CC, rather I was saying that if I had been riding the clutch the CC should have not stayed engaged.