Clutch & Flywheel

Whether you prefer an automatic transmission or a manual transmission car, the clutch is a vital component in your vehicle. The clutch ensures a smooth transition between the engine and the gears while accelerating and decelerating. The flywheel side of the clutch connects directly to the rotary motion of the car engine via a pinion and shaft. This toothed flywheel is then loosely sandwiched with a clutch disc that connects directly to the gearbox with a second shaft. The clutch disc is free to either be pressed or pushed away from the flywheel. When pressed, both are forced to rotate together by friction, thereby transferring the engine rotation through the flywheel and disc to the gearbox. When separated by a gap, the gearbox is no longer forced to rotate and disengauges, allowing changing gears.

A clutch is the main connection between a car transmission and the gearbox. It consists of many mechanical moving parts such as cover plate, flywheel, input shafts, diaphragm springs, pressure plate, cables and hydraulic cylinders - and is prone to significant wear and tear. The clutch allows for changing gears by interrupting the connectivity to gears connected to the engine that eventually drive rotations of car axles and wheels. Older clutches relied on mechanical coil springs, whereas modern ones utilize a hydraulic master cylinder and piston. Clutches require a careful balance between the foot pedal and the release lever in order to avoid slippage and the resulting forward creep in a manual vehicle. This happens when the friction plate or pressure plate is damaged, and can be avoided by adjusting the linkages through scheduled maintenance every 10000 km. In case of hydraulic clutches that do not have an adjustment option, the entire clutch may need to be replaced to fix creep. One option is to troubleshoot the hydraulic system in order to eliminate fluid leaks or air locks.