2002 Is300 Clutch

[goonie12]

Hi,

I bought a 2002 IS300 (manual 5-speed) in March this year. It is in excellent condition and was well cared for by it's previous owners. I love the car. It handles beautifully. Yesterday, I was parked on a hill and I am not very good at uphill starts. As I shifted into first to move up, I messed up by not releasing the clutch fully. I revved really high. and then started rolling. I saw black smoke coming out from under the hood and could smell an acrid burning smell strongly. The smoke kept coming out for about 10 seconds and then stopped.

My friend who was there said that I had burnt the clutch. It drives ok now but I sense a slight change in the clutch action. I feel a slight vibration in the action as I shift into first. I feel that the action has changed a little and I need to let the clutch out a little sooner to move forward.

Sorry for the long setup. I have 2 questions.

1) What happened and what do I need to do?

2) I am going to a Lexus dealer tomorrow for an oil change and a 5000 mile inspection. Do they check the clutch at these inspections or do I need to mention it to them?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[smooth1]

Hi,

I bought a 2002 IS300 (manual 5-speed) in March this year. It is in excellent condition and was well cared for by it's previous owners. I love the car. It handles beautifully. Yesterday, I was parked on a hill and I am not very good at uphill starts. As I shifted into first to move up, I messed up by not releasing the clutch fully. I revved really high. and then started rolling. I saw black smoke coming out from under the hood and could smell an acrid burning smell strongly. The smoke kept coming out for about 10 seconds and then stopped.

My friend who was there said that I had burnt the clutch. It drives ok now but I sense a slight change in the clutch action. I feel a slight vibration in the action as I shift into first. I feel that the action has changed a little and I need to let the clutch out a little sooner to move forward.

Sorry for the long setup. I have 2 questions.

1) What happened and what do I need to do?

2) I am going to a Lexus dealer tomorrow for an oil change and a 5000 mile inspection. Do they check the clutch at these inspections or do I need to mention it to them?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Your friend is correct in that you burned your clutch. I would imagine that you only surface scorched it though. The vibration your feeling is the pressure plate hopping on the clutch plate as it re-engages. When you burn or scorch the surface of your clutch, what happens is it glazes the surface of the clutch on some areas. This reduces the friction or grip between the pressure plate and the clutch plate. It should only be temperary depending on how bad you burned the clutch and how you drive.

So, let me get this straight, you have a 2002 with less than 5000 miles on it????

If that is so, then you might mention the clutch incident. the car is out of factory warrenty, but the mileage wouldn't indicate wear on the clutch. Also, I wouldn't be overly concerned about it, 5000 miles on aclutch means you have plenty of life left on the clutch anyway. Once the clutch wears thru the burn marks you won't know it ever happened.

By the way, when I park on a steep hill, I like to use the hand brake. I lock the brake up, push the clutch in and start the car, then I press real easy on the gas and as I release the clutch, I "feel" the car move forward as I release the hand brake. It eliminates the need to rev the car up and use the clutch to stop the car from rolling backwards, which can lead to that "jump to the gas pedal" feeling and over revving the motor by accident. Just a tip.

[goonie12]

Your friend is correct in that you burned your clutch. I would imagine that you only surface scorched it though. The vibration your feeling is the pressure plate hopping on the clutch plate as it re-engages. When you burn or scorch the surface of your clutch, what happens is it glazes the surface of the clutch on some areas. This reduces the friction or grip between the pressure plate and the clutch plate. It should only be temperary depending on how bad you burned the clutch and how you drive.

So, let me get this straight, you have a 2002 with less than 5000 miles on it????

If that is so, then you might mention the clutch incident. the car is out of factory warrenty, but the mileage wouldn't indicate wear on the clutch. Also, I wouldn't be overly concerned about it, 5000 miles on aclutch means you have plenty of life left on the clutch anyway. Once the clutch wears thru the burn marks you won't know it ever happened.

By the way, when I park on a steep hill, I like to use the hand brake. I lock the brake up, push the clutch in and start the car, then I press real easy on the gas and as I release the clutch, I "feel" the car move forward as I release the hand brake. It eliminates the need to rev the car up and use the clutch to stop the car from rolling backwards, which can lead to that "jump to the gas pedal" feeling and over revving the motor by accident. Just a tip.

Thanks buddy! Oh no, the car has 73K miles on it. I just mentioned 5000 miles service as I checked Edmunds and Lexus recommends a basic service along with the oil change every 5000 miles.

I took the car in to the dealer today and mentioned the clutch issue. He said that it could cost $2800 because they might have to replace the flywheel. I was like. WHAAAT?!!?

How does the flywheel figure into this? I think he was BSing me. That leaves a bad taste in my mouth if they are just being dishonest. Or was he right?

[rondoggnuts]

Unfortunately he wasn't BSing you. Believe it or not, our stock flywheel is a ~35 lb "dual-mass" dampened flywheel and is something like $1200-$1500 at the dealer. Lexus uses this flywheel in conjunction with an un-sprung, solid clutch disc to dampen torque spikes to the transmission. This supposedly allows more "play" and is designed to protect the transmission. Others beg to differ and opt to install aftermarket lightweight solid flywheel with sprung clutch. The sprung clutch allows for damping in the system but does not have as much "play". Some will say the aftermarket setup feels great but it is still debatable whether or not damage will result from this setup. Aftermarket will probably cost you less than half of what the dealer wants but you might have to find a reliable shop to install it for you.

Your flywheel is almost certainly damaged, especially if you drove it while it is "slipping" with the clutch engaged. Although it is not generally recommended, some have found shops willing to resurface the flywheel for them. Yet again, this is a debatable topic.

Basically, you need to weigh the pros and cons of each setup and decide which is best for you. These topics are thoroughly discussed on www.my.is. So if you haven't already found it, I would log onto there and do a search. You will find an overwhelming wealth of information that will help you make your decision. Good luck with your new clutch/flywheel. Take good care of it and you may get 150k mi out of it.