Engine Corolla clutch

Corolla clutch

Hello. I have a 2001 Corolla 5spd with a new clutch put in it by Toyota right before I bought the car at 70,000ish km.

This is the first Toyota 5spd I have ever driven, but I have driven a few VW's and such. This clutch is very strange. It catches slightly high, higher than any VW I have driven anyways, it has always been like this. By big problem is starting in first from a stop, if I give it a shot of gas slightly early, or on (VERY) steep hills even what seems like perfect starts, you get that horrible clutch smell.

I was starting to get frustrated, and always very careful when starting not to give it much gas at all. Finally I asked my father to take it for a drive because I though it was me. He has always driven 5 speeds. He took it to a VERY VERY steep hill and started off from the middle of the hill. It was a perfect start, but we got the same horrible clutch smell.

I only put 8,000 km on the car, and had the engine replaced under warranty because of oil consumption. When they dropped the engine, I asked them to check the condition of the clutch, I was afraid it was almost gone because of all the times I smelled it. They said there was only slight wear, and no signs of overheating of the clutch. Hmmm.

Is this normal for Toyota's? When learning to drive on my fathers Jetta, I had some bad, bad starts on steep hills. I NEVER EVER smelled a thing from that clutch.

Any ideas?

thats normal,when ever you install a (any)brand new clutch.the smell should go away about 1,000miles of driving.

But I have 10,000km on this clutch, and it STILL does it VERY VERY easily. \


Any ideas?
Thanks!

Just to give you an idea.

I just got in. Starting off on level ground, I kept it at 2,000rpm the whole way until the clutch was completely engaged. I even got a slight slight "smell" out of that! I don't ride the clutch, it was probably 2 seconds from completely disengaged to completely engaged

You almost have to bog the engine down to not get any smell at all, which is what I usually do. Just t he bare minimum to keep it from stalling. My father hates driving my car.

Hmmm, strange eh?

It's the most sensitive clutch I have ever driven. Another problem with mine is the gas pedal tensioning spring applies like NO tension to the gas pedal. It makes it really hard to judge how much gas I am giving it on hills with big boots on.


How do you make out on very steep hills? I mean hills like this " / " There may not be too many where you are from, but there are lots here, it's tricky sometimes to start off with no smell


Thank you very much for your reply

I had no such trouble with my factory clutch, but I bought the car with 113k on it...

Swapped an ACT in at ~140k, though - no regrets!

Edit: That was on a '98..who knows..maybe I was lucky with mine?

yeah, so it sounds like you do the same thing I do on hills.

When I bog it down like that driving with other people, I have received comments such as "Want me to show you how to drive that thing?". Most people that do try to drive my car don't like it

I drove home with a mechanic I work with in the navy. He has owned probably 15 toyota's in his life and has driven everything from the old 3-on the tree, to new 6 speeds.


He made some nasty smells from my clutch, says he has not seen such a weak clutch before