L.A. Traffic at 5:30PM- ever destroyed your clutch?

[Joe Papa Sr]

Geez, from what I hear, traffic doesnt die down until past 8:30 or so- bumper to bumper. stop/go, for miles. Throw out bearing already has a whine-vibration to it (mechanic says its OK for a while, and can wait til the clutch needs replacement).

Now, clutch is still fine. Just wondering how much of this kind of beating -1st gear- neutral-stop. 1st gear-neutral-stop, 1st gear........can a spider take????!!!!!

1 yr? 2 yrs?

[ardo123]

Yeah the traffic has been horrible lately. I don't know how long the clutch will last but I do know that mine is going out and I've only had it a year.

[Joe Papa Sr]

Thanks for your feedback/experience. Misery loves company.

[jillian70]

Traffic is so bad here and weekends offer little relief. All my driving is in stop and go traffic. It gets worse every year.

My TO bearing squeals like a baby elephant if I don't let off the pedal just right. It's been like that for over a year, hasn't gotten any worse.
I won't mind when the clutch finally goes on this car because it'll mean a new TO bearing at last.

[wutdhec]

I work from home which is ideal for Alfa ownership, but sometimes I have to travel across LA from eastern LA county all the way to west LA. Every time I do this, I have some kind of weird issue come up thanks to the abuse of stop and go driving. Luckily I've never been stranded.

[Cobralfa]

Well, don't do what I did when my GTV6 was my daily driver; my TO bearing made noises for a long time, until it gave up and I was stranded.

It gave new proof to that wise old saying: "The two best tools you can carry in your car are a triple A card and your cellphone".

[Joe Papa Sr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cobralfa Well, don't do what I did when my GTV6 was my daily driver; my TO bearing made noises for a long time, until it gave up and I was stranded. It gave new proof to that wise old saying: "The two best tools you can carry in your car are a triple A card and your cellphone".

[Cobralfa]

A month and a half....

[Joe Papa Sr]

Yikes! hardly time to make the appointment with the Alfa mech! Thanks for the tip. So far, all we are getting is not so much "noise"/squealling, but I should say, more likely to just be "felt" in the left foot when its on the pedal . Guess we have some time still (praying)

[ardo123]

My clutch makes a fair bit of a squeal/squeaking noise when depressed. Is that the TO bearing?

[60sRacer]

Hey Joe.

Stop and go traffic destroys my clutch LEG in a single trip! Yikes! I take my BMW (6 speed automatic) for any forays into the long parking mall!

Robert

[Joe Papa Sr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardo123 My clutch makes a fair bit of a squeal/squeaking noise when depressed. Is that the TO bearing?

[Joe Papa Sr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 60sRacer Hey Joe. Stop and go traffic destroys my clutch LEG in a single trip! Yikes! I take my BMW (6 speed automatic) for any forays into the long parking mall! Robert

[60sRacer]

The BMW - a 2004 325CSi - is my commute car; at least it has paddle shifters and auto/manual modes! I drive 60 miles each way, five days a week from TO to Santa Barbara on the PCH. Long drive but a zen-like peaceful trip along the Pacific Ocean at 5:30 am; takes about an hour. Most importantly, I get up to 43 mpg! The torque converter has a top-end lock mode that eliminates the classical slip of a fluid drive, and I can watch the rpm drop a few hundred as it engages; as long as it's locked and I'm under 75 mph, the computer says I'm getting 40+ mpg; and doing about 2700 rpm as well.

That's about 30,000 miles per year. I'd never abuse my 44 year old Duetto like that!

Robert

[verdegrrl]

Lived for 12 years in OC. Lots of street driving. I did my darnedest to creep without having to use the clutch much. I would get about 80K miles on the clutch, doing both that and spirited mountain drives.

Beats the heck out driving an auto!