Smoking Clutch

[Byrnsie Member Find all posts View Profile Close Byrnsie]

Several weeks ago I was at Stockton Beach and got the Prado seriously stuck. I was giving the V6 a workout in high range first to try and move forward when there was a big cloud of smoke and associated stench from a burning clutch. I was not riding the clutch. I was a bit concerned, so when the car was next serviced I asked Toyota to check the clutch. They reported that everything was OK and they could not induce any slipping.

Have just returned from holiday in Fraser Island. Once again, in soft sand, although not bogged, the car was smoking and smell of clutch was clearly evident. Left foot was no where near the clutch pedal. This happened on several ocasions.

On return to Sydney, put car up on ramps to give it a good clean. This time I was riding clutch as I eased up ramps - once again, smell of burning clutch was evident.

Has anyone else experienced burning clutch.

Does this mean my clutch is at the end of it's life.

Car is out of warranty and has 93,000kms.

What's the damage for a new Toyota clutch. Are there aftermarket HD clutch options worth considering?

Cheers - Byrnsie

[KMKPrado Member Find all posts View Profile Close KMKPrado]

smoky clutch

Not sure if this helps or is anything like what you are experiencing but a while back I found a simillar smell when beach driving and then eventually even noticed while parked in garage. Didn't seem to be associated with the clutch. My mechanic had a closer look and found a leaky manifold gasket, only mild but the smell went away after replacing the gasket. $90 including labor from memory. Hope this helps. KMKPrado

[Prado04 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Prado04]

It could be slipping under a lot of load, thats why Toyota could not find any problems with it. Was it under the same condition say half bogged in soft sand?

[Byrnsie Member Find all posts View Profile Close Byrnsie]

It could be slipping under a lot of load, thats why Toyota could not find any problems with it. Was it under the same condition say half bogged in soft sand?

It was certainly working hard in very soft sand when the smoke and smell appeared.

Thanks - Byrnsie

[120GXV6 Member Find all posts View Profile Close 120GXV6]

I've had the same problem a couple of times trying to reverse up a steep hill (my driveway!) and ended up having to put it in low range.

[4xx4 Driver Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 4xx4 Driver]

Have just returned from holiday in Fraser Island. Once again, in soft sand, although not bogged, the car was smoking and smell of clutch was clearly evident. Left foot was no where near the clutch pedal. This happened on several ocasions.

If your clutch was slipping under load to the extent that you saw smoke as well as the smell, and your foot was off the clutch pedal, chances are your clutch is stuffed. The linings will be glazed and the pressure plate and/or flywheel will probably have hot spots. The ckutch spring has probably lost tension from heat. (It may have been weak in the first place, which can cause the onset of the problem) From now on, if not fixed, it will get gradually worse, slipping under progressively less load until it's useless.

If you do the following, do them quickly and not often. They're hard on the drive-line and brakes. Enough to establish a problem for yourself and demo to a serviceman.

A test you can do:
Find a quiet road, you're going to be a bit distracted. In 4th gear at about 60-70kph (you need the engine reasonably in its power band) quickly but progressively brake with your left foot and at the same time counteract the brake by applying power fairly aggressively with your right foot. Watch the tacho and listen to the engine. The brake should win, ie slow the car and reduce engine revs. If you take it to the extreme you should be able to stall the engine (but don't do that, it's not necessary)

On the other hand, if the accelerator wins, ie engine revs don't reduce, or increase, even as the brake slows the car, then you have a clutch problem that needs to be fixed.

Another test:

Go up through the gears and do a change from third to fourth at reasonably high revs so that in fourth the engine would be in its power band. In that change from third to fourth, as you release the clutch give the car a boot full of power. The revs should very quickly come down to the correct revs for your speed in fourth. If the engine "flares", ie revs up and slowly comes down, then you have a "lazy clutch" that is slow to engage. You can live with that if you baby it, but eventually it will need fixing.

Sorry for the gloomy outlook, but I think you have a problem.

Cheers

Frank

[KMKPrado Member Find all posts View Profile Close KMKPrado]

smoking clutch

Just today on the way home from camping I had a hill start in Caloundra while towing our camper (1.3tonne) I needed a lot of revs to get it going and the clutch seemed sluggish to engage finally it did but there was a slight clutch smell afterwards. I'll be avoiding that hill next time. Now wishing I had the D4D or a performance chip for hill climbs in town, highway tows great.

[clifton Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close clifton]

Yep with manual transmissions coupled to 4 cylinder Turbo diesels one needs to use Low range and or good handbrake start techniques for starts on steep inclines. I always use low range when backing my boat up my steep drive the D4D can do it in High Range but it means slipping the clutch to start which is a no no.

[KMKPrado Member Find all posts View Profile Close KMKPrado]

smoking clutch

Hi Clifton
Can I shift the manual from low range to high range on the fly without damage? Or do I have to pull over after reaching the top of a hill and switch to high range? Possibly a stupid question but I thought I had better ask before trial and error.

[Damien Parker Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Damien Parker]

The lil guide on the back of the drivers visor will tell you less than 5kph and its ok to shift under motion.

I stop before shifting the transfer lever from Hi to low.

[KMKPrado Member Find all posts View Profile Close KMKPrado]

smoking clutch

Hi Damian, thanks for the reply. That is what I have been doing as well just in case. I might climb the hill, pull over and shift back to high range. Cheers.

[jeff s Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close jeff s]

Hi.
I have noticed smell on the sand as well.
But I will add, that was on the beach. trying to start from a standstill, with road pressures in the tyres.
Other times with sand pressures no such issues. So much less stress for the clutch.

That was some 20-30000 ago with towing involved and still on the same clutch. So the sand can really drag some power out of the old girls.

On a seperate thing, was reading some of Ron Moons stuff and he once mentioned the standard Nissan clutch went on him. And he swore by the after market HD one. But cant help you with prices etc. But thats the way I will be heading when it finally gives up the ghost.

Jeff.

[clifton Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close clifton]

I used to get horrible smells off my Nissan Pootrol clutch when I needed to slip it slightly to get moving from deep holes, as the 2.4l six had horrible turbo lag so you had to slip the clutch to get Boost/Torque up then fully engage the clutch, it becomes second nature after awhile

[Fungi2003 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fungi2003]

Re: Smoking Clutch

Have just returned from holiday in Fraser Island. Once again, in soft sand, although not bogged, the car was smoking and smell of clutch was clearly evident. Left foot was no where near the clutch pedal. This happened on several ocasions.

On return to Sydney, put car up on ramps to give it a good clean. This time I was riding clutch as I eased up ramps - once again, smell of burning clutch was evident.

I have experienced exactly the same thing (on Fraser) and started thinking something was wrong with the clutch; I got bogged in sand a couple of times and accidently slipped the clutch on a few occasions. The same goes for steep driveways; I considered using low range on a couple of steep driveways but wasn't too keen on it being used on the concrete surface.

Do you guys experience a very slight knock/bump when traversing through the gears 1-2-3-4?

[clifton Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close clifton]

Hi Fungi2003,
Yes I do get a slight knock in the drive train but I am not fussed about it as it is Torsen and drive train taking up a little backlash.