Manual Transmission Clutch Replacement

[Rainier]

I think I'm changing my user name to Necronomicon

A fellow Miskatonic U. alumni ?

 

[TomE]

With all the internet myths about Evora clutches being made of cheese and needing a casket of myrrh and a unicorn horn to change them, it’s no wonder people have queried if the Emira will have the “same” (non) problem.

 

[Toomanyloti]

i have just seen (today) an image of an evora with all the front stripped off to change a wiper motor.....

To be fair my mate just changed several lamps in his clio cup and had all the front end off too.....

 

[kitkat]

With all the internet myths about Evora clutches being made of cheese and needing a casket of myrrh and a unicorn horn to change them, it’s no wonder people have queried if the Emira will have the “same” (non) problem.

I think the cost is the scary part. I've asked the Lotus dealers here in the bay area on the Evora and it's still a $10K job with labor rates here.

 

[Pops68]

Haha, another thread resurrected! You're waving your hands over the Necronomicon with this stuff.

For those just arriving to the thread, two important facts to know:

1. The Emira doesn't use a clamshell design like the Evora, Exige, etc. It has removable body panels. Also, there's more room in the Emira's engine bay than in prior designs. Hopefully this will make a major service like a clutch replacement significantly easier (and cheaper) to accomplish.
   
   
2. Rapid slip of the clutch plate against the flywheel and pressure plate is what kills clutches prematurely. This can be a result of "riding" the clutch excessively during initial acceleration, or sometimes from riding the clutch between shifts at maximum throttle, but usually it's sudden, violent application of torque during a launch start (resulting in slip under power) that does damage.
   
   The Emira has a relatively linear torque curve, and while there's a lot of area under that curve, it doesn't make an enormous amount of torque even at peak. A skillfully driven car should therefore have no reason to need a clutch replacement for many, many miles. 100k+ without clutch service shouldn't be unusual.

Totally agree. I'm an old fart now and have gone through quite a few cars with manual transmissions, running up over 75k miles on most of them and have never needed a clutch replacement......wait I did have to replace the clutch on my Datsun 510 after a several day trip to Arizona in the middle of summer. Temps were over 110degs and I think that just killed my poor clutch.

 

[CoryC]

With all the internet myths about Evora clutches being made of cheese and needing a casket of myrrh and a unicorn horn to change them, it’s no wonder people have queried if the Emira will have the “same” (non) problem.

Everything I've read about the actual transmission and clutch tells me it is NOT a high performance short life clutch, but rather a clutch designed for that transmission and engine output... from a Toyota powerplant designed to go for many many miles. Driven properly... spirited or not, the clutch should last 100k+ for experienced manual transmission drivers that don't unnecessarily ride the clutch and rev match for downshifts. During proper driving, the only intentional "slippage" should be when starting from a stop in first, or reverse. Everything else is either engaged, or disengaged... with no slippage, there is no wear.

 

[TomE]

I think the cost is the scary part. I've asked the Lotus dealers here in the bay area on the Evora and it's still a $10K job with labor rates here.

It was originally 36 hours labour according to the official Lotus service book. But indies got down quite a lot lower than that and most UK Lotus dealers have got the trick of how to do it now too. It's £3000-3500 here. $10k is daylight robbery.

 

[digilotus]

Surely someone at Lotus can answer whether the engine needs to be pulled for a clutch replacement in the Emira?

In the Evora, they needed to add ~5cm of width to the steel subframe to enable the box to be taken off from underneath.

 

[kitkat]

It was originally 36 hours labour according to the official Lotus service book. But indies got down quite a lot lower than that and most UK Lotus dealers have got the trick of how to do it now too. It's £3000-3500 here. $10k is daylight robbery.

I think I’m just pointing out that while there’s lots of myths out there, it’s still a very labor intensive job to do by the book, and most people still get their work done at the dealer. While the quote is indeed robbery, it’s also not a myth.