Clutch Slip

Hello folks, thought I'd ask you guys.

Basically, I have a 96 BMW 328is, and when I am driving round normally it's
fine, I get nothing at all. But if I am doing say 30 or 40, or almost any
speed and I happen to really press the throttle hard, my revs go up and the
speed doesn't increase despite the clutch being engaged. After perhaps a
second or two the revs will return to where they should be and after that
point the car will accelerate as normal.

Some guy here thinks it's something to do with loss of pressure in the
engine!?!? I'm not sure where he's got that idea from, sounds like rubbish
to me..

At the moment this problem is only really noticeable when driving hard, and
some guy told me to sort it out otherwise eventually it could end up
breaking my fly wheel.

Advice would really be appreciated...

Cheers

Craig

> Basically, I have a 96 BMW 328is, and when I am driving round normally it's
> fine, I get nothing at all. But if I am doing say 30 or 40, or almost any
> speed and I happen to really press the throttle hard, my revs go up and the
> speed doesn't increase despite the clutch being engaged. After perhaps a
> second or two the revs will return to where they should be and after that
> point the car will accelerate as normal.

Sounds like a dying clutch. It'll get worse and worse. I'd replace it
before you get stranded somewhere.

E36s have a plastic part inside the clutch mechanism. I think it's near
the fork that pushes the release bearing. Anyway, this plastic 50p part
broke on our E36 and we had to drop the tranny to change it. Moral of
the story is that I'd find that bit and replace it at the same time.


--
Who needs a life when you've got Unix? :-)
Email: , John G.Burns B.Eng, Bonny Scotland
Web : http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk - The Ultimate BMW Homepage!
Need Sun or HP Unix kit? http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/unix.html

On Tue, 4 Oct 2005 10:29:58 +0100, "C.Read" >
waffled on about something:

>Hello folks, thought I'd ask you guys.
>
>Basically, I have a 96 BMW 328is, and when I am driving round normally it's
>fine, I get nothing at all. But if I am doing say 30 or 40, or almost any
>speed and I happen to really press the throttle hard, my revs go up and the
>speed doesn't increase despite the clutch being engaged. After perhaps a
>second or two the revs will return to where they should be and after that
>point the car will accelerate as normal.
>
>Some guy here thinks it's something to do with loss of pressure in the
>engine!?!? I'm not sure where he's got that idea from, sounds like rubbish
>to me..
>
>At the moment this problem is only really noticeable when driving hard, and
>some guy told me to sort it out otherwise eventually it could end up
>breaking my fly wheel.
>
>Advice would really be appreciated...

You're either driving an automatic or your clutch plate it is giving
up.

The problem will be worse the heavier the load you put it under, so
accelerating gently in 1st or 2nd will be okay, but put it in top gear
and stick your boot down and the clutch will slip.

I've never heard of a fly wheel breaking, but you can end up scoring
it. The clutch plate is made of several layers, and they're all held
together with rivets. When the friction material wears down the rivets
end up making contact with the fly wheel and carve great big grooves
in it.

Make sure you replace the release bearing, pressure plate and clutch
plate while you're doing it. And the plastic bit John mentioned,
whatever it is... * shrug* I've got an auto!

Dodgy.
--
MUSHROOMS ARE THE OPIATE OF THE MOOSES

C.Read wrote:
> Hello folks, thought I'd ask you guys.
>
> Basically, I have a 96 BMW 328is, and when I am driving round normally it's
> fine, I get nothing at all. But if I am doing say 30 or 40, or almost any
> speed and I happen to really press the throttle hard, my revs go up and the
> speed doesn't increase despite the clutch being engaged. After perhaps a
> second or two the revs will return to where they should be and after that
> point the car will accelerate as normal.
>
> Some guy here thinks it's something to do with loss of pressure in the
> engine!?!? I'm not sure where he's got that idea from, sounds like rubbish
> to me..
>
> At the moment this problem is only really noticeable when driving hard, and
> some guy told me to sort it out otherwise eventually it could end up
> breaking my fly wheel.
>
> Advice would really be appreciated...
>
> Cheers
>
> Craig
>
>

You have already diagnosed the problem in the subject line. What is
happening is your clutch is slipping.

That is because either the clutch disk friction material is worn too
thin or the pressure plate springs are tired, or some combination of the
two.

Either way, both the disk and the pressure plate are always replaced
along with the throw-out bearing when doing a clutch job. The pilot
bearing is often also replaced and (depending on how long you let it go
before you fix it) you may end up having to resurface or replace the
flywheel.

My advice is not to let it go as the job will only get more expensive
and possibly strand you and require towing.


--
-Fred W

"Malt_Hound" <""Malt_Hound\"@*spam-me not*yahoo.com"> wrote
> C.Read wrote:
>>
>> Advice would really be appreciated...
>>
> Either way, both the disk and the pressure plate are always replaced
> along with the throw-out bearing when doing a clutch job. The pilot
> bearing is often also replaced and (depending on how long you let it go
> before you fix it) you may end up having to resurface or replace the
> flywheel.

Don't forget to replace the guibo at the same time!

FloydR

You didn't say if you have an automatic or manual transmission, but either
way you are having problems with either the transmission (automatic) or
clutch (manual). My guess is that with a '96 car, you probably have the
factory original clutch, and it's time for a new one.





"C.Read" > wrote in message
...
> Hello folks, thought I'd ask you guys.
>
> Basically, I have a 96 BMW 328is, and when I am driving round normally
> it's fine, I get nothing at all. But if I am doing say 30 or 40, or
> almost any speed and I happen to really press the throttle hard, my revs
> go up and the speed doesn't increase despite the clutch being engaged.
> After perhaps a second or two the revs will return to where they should be
> and after that point the car will accelerate as normal.
>
> Some guy here thinks it's something to do with loss of pressure in the
> engine!?!? I'm not sure where he's got that idea from, sounds like rubbish
> to me..
>
> At the moment this problem is only really noticeable when driving hard,
> and some guy told me to sort it out otherwise eventually it could end up
> breaking my fly wheel.
>
> Advice would really be appreciated...
>
> Cheers
>
> Craig
>

"C.Read" > wrote in message
...
> Hello folks, thought I'd ask you guys.
>
> Basically, I have a 96 BMW 328is, and when I am driving round normally
> it's fine, I get nothing at all. But if I am doing say 30 or 40, or
> almost any speed and I happen to really press the throttle hard, my revs
> go up and the speed doesn't increase despite the clutch being engaged.
> After perhaps a second or two the revs will return to where they should be
> and after that point the car will accelerate as normal.
>
> Some guy here thinks it's something to do with loss of pressure in the
> engine!?!? I'm not sure where he's got that idea from, sounds like rubbish
> to me..
>
> At the moment this problem is only really noticeable when driving hard,
> and some guy told me to sort it out otherwise eventually it could end up
> breaking my fly wheel.
>
> Advice would really be appreciated...
>
> Cheers
>
> Craig
>
These are the classic symptoms of clutch slipping. It is hard to see how a
manual clutch could break the flywheel, but, if you don't fix it soon, you
will get stranded somewhere (probably a long way from home).
Jim

Jeff Strickland wrote:
> "C.Read" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>> Hello folks, thought I'd ask you guys.
>>
>> Basically, I have a 96 BMW 328is, and when I am driving round normally
>> it's fine, I get nothing at all. But if I am doing say 30 or 40, or
>> almost any speed and I happen to really press the throttle hard, my
>> revs go up and the speed doesn't increase despite the clutch being
>> engaged. After perhaps a second or two the revs will return to where
>> they should be and after that point the car will accelerate as normal.
>>
>> Some guy here thinks it's something to do with loss of pressure in the
>> engine!?!? I'm not sure where he's got that idea from, sounds like
>> rubbish to me..
>>
>> At the moment this problem is only really noticeable when driving
>> hard, and some guy told me to sort it out otherwise eventually it
>> could end up breaking my fly wheel.
>>
>> Advice would really be appreciated...
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Craig
>>
> You didn't say if you have an automatic or manual transmission, but
> either way you are having problems with either the transmission
> (automatic) or clutch (manual). My guess is that with a '96 car, you
> probably have the factory original clutch, and it's time for a new one.
>
>


His reference to the clutch being engaged sure made *me* think it was a
manual transmission... ;-)

--
-Fred W

Jim wrote:
> "C.Read" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>Hello folks, thought I'd ask you guys.
>>
>>Basically, I have a 96 BMW 328is, and when I am driving round normally
>>it's fine, I get nothing at all. But if I am doing say 30 or 40, or
>>almost any speed and I happen to really press the throttle hard, my revs
>>go up and the speed doesn't increase despite the clutch being engaged.
>>After perhaps a second or two the revs will return to where they should be
>>and after that point the car will accelerate as normal.
>>
>>Some guy here thinks it's something to do with loss of pressure in the
>>engine!?!? I'm not sure where he's got that idea from, sounds like rubbish
>>to me..
>>
>>At the moment this problem is only really noticeable when driving hard,
>>and some guy told me to sort it out otherwise eventually it could end up
>>breaking my fly wheel.
>>
>>Advice would really be appreciated...
>>
>>Cheers
>>
>>Craig
>>
>
> These are the classic symptoms of clutch slipping. It is hard to see how a
> manual clutch could break the flywheel, but, if you don't fix it soon, you
> will get stranded somewhere (probably a long way from home).
> Jim
>
>

It won't "break" the flywheel, but if the surface of it gets scored
badly, such as what happens when the lining is worn to the rivets, it
may be unrepairable. Even if it is repairable, you'd have to remove it
and take it somewhere to be resurfaced.

--
-Fred W

"Malt_Hound" <""Malt_Hound\"@*spam-me not*yahoo.com"> wrote in message
...
> Jeff Strickland wrote:
>> "C.Read" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>> Hello folks, thought I'd ask you guys.
>>>
>>> Basically, I have a 96 BMW 328is, and when I am driving round normally
>>> it's fine, I get nothing at all. But if I am doing say 30 or 40, or
>>> almost any speed and I happen to really press the throttle hard, my revs
>>> go up and the speed doesn't increase despite the clutch being engaged.
>>> After perhaps a second or two the revs will return to where they should
>>> be and after that point the car will accelerate as normal.
>>>
>>> Some guy here thinks it's something to do with loss of pressure in the
>>> engine!?!? I'm not sure where he's got that idea from, sounds like
>>> rubbish to me..
>>>
>>> At the moment this problem is only really noticeable when driving hard,
>>> and some guy told me to sort it out otherwise eventually it could end up
>>> breaking my fly wheel.
>>>
>>> Advice would really be appreciated...
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>>
>>> Craig
>>>
>> You didn't say if you have an automatic or manual transmission, but
>> either way you are having problems with either the transmission
>> (automatic) or clutch (manual). My guess is that with a '96 car, you
>> probably have the factory original clutch, and it's time for a new one.
>>
>
>
> His reference to the clutch being engaged sure made *me* think it was a
> manual transmission... ;-)
>

I thunk the same thing, but there are people out there that don't know the
difference. Automatics use clutches, sorta.