does anyone know if the clutch activation electronic sensor switch (when fully depressed) has any other function than to allow the car to start? i know there is another switch that is at the top of the travel, so that if you are in cruse control mode, as soon as there is any clutch pressure, the cruse control is disabled. (to prevent over rev and clutch slip).

I want to jumper the clutch bottom of travel sensor switch, so that i dont have to FULLY depress the clutch when starting the car. this is the worst thing to do to a clutch as it puts maximum flex in to the presure plate which causes premature wear and fatique.

my advice a few years ago was on clutch operation and how to not "smoke" the clutch on releases. it is a racing style clutch and very grabby, so slow release just causes more wear. more wear , increases the pressure plate clamping distance and reduces its pressure, ultimately causing clutch slip.

Ive had my '06 for about 4 years now and the clutch is still in great shape ive put about 10k more miles on the car since i bought it with 20k.
From my track/racing experience , ive used the concepts of not using the clutch unless you are shifting and when shifting, you dont need to push all the way to the floor (over stress) and when downshifting, a partially depressed clutch with a blip can help with synchro wear too.

The clutch is not the AMV8 strong suite. it looks very much like the valeo mustang clutch, and is not the most durable design ive seen. so , any precautions and unnecessary wear techniques should be avoided for a long expected life. if you think about it, if part of the wear of the cluch is the activity of flexing the pressure plate, and you could remove 50% of the time and flex that it goes through, it makes perfect sense that it can make it last 50% longer, if not more. (more because if you never have to depress the clutch 100%, and the fatique goes up almost double by doing so, the pressure plate can be preserved.

so, does anyone know about the clutch engagement switch for starting the car and if it has any other function or draw backs to jumpering it closed for permanent use of the starter button WITHOUT the activation of the clutch? I know its a safety issue, as pushing the starter with it in gear is a problem, but, ive survived 50 years of driving sticks with that not ever being an issue. i dont want to disable it, and then have the full clutch depression, alter the way the computer manages the engine or something.

thanks for the help..............other wise, if you want a easy work around, you can reach your clutch foot , between the brake and clutch and find the button with your toe and press. be careful as you can dislodge the switch mounting and then you need to go up there with a flashlight and re-attach. (its just a momentary push button switch housing into a bracket that holds it in place)

 

Interesting comments
My clutch went at 29000km driven very conservatively but one of those four springs in the middle fell out?
The plate still had material on it that would have been ok for many miles.now I'm concerned with what you Say? Do you think the leaf springs are going to fail?

 

Why can't you just relocate the switch (or extend its wiring) to a position in the console or under the dash which can be operated by your spare hand when you press the starter button?

Good idea though, always bothers me starting with clutch depressed - with my old triumph cars it's a real no no as it wears out the thrust bearings on the crank

Graze

 

This may be tricky for some and I would not recommend doing this unless one is accustomed to doing it. It is relatively safe and easy to shift sans clutch. I frequently do not use the clutch 3 to 4th and 5th to 6th and rarely depress the clutch until the car is out of gear passing through, double clutching without the first clutch engagement sort of, (which, if you can not do you should learn) Down shifting can be easier but harder on the transmission as the synchros (now i believe mini clutches) are subjected to abuse if one is a novice at it. "Back in the day" in formula Fords, we never really used the clutch too much except to pull away. An important caveat, when you are going into gear, you need to discern, by feel and practice, the point at which it "drops" into gear. every moment you are applying pressure on the shifter and it is not going into gear, the synchros are trying to do something they can not do and are being subject to significant wear. This will save clutch depressions and perhaps wear for some. I have over 100k miles on my 07 V8V's original clutch and have had three Porsche with over 200k miles on the original clutches with only three master cylinder replacements and two slaves.

 

Back in the day we did not have to press the clutch in to start cars. With a manual transmission we just made sure the car was in neutral.

 

back in the day..........like in the 80s?? haha .
Yes, it is over working a part of the clutch that is likely to fatigue prematurely for no other reason than super-safety.

 

im not saying, illiminate gthe clutch, but partial depression can have a huge life saving effect on the pressure plate and you dont need much clutch upshifting, and downshifting if you are waiting for revs to fall or rev matching for downshifts. double clutch is not ever needed as that was the old days with drive trains with high inertia. the double clutch (effect) is something i call "dragging the clutch" which is partial depression. this allows for the engine blip to do its thing and spin up the driveline because there still is enough friction to couple the driveline..... but not enough to effect the force of the synchros to engage a gear at a slightly differnet rotational speed. formula fords have motorcycle transmissions, and their sequential layout is much different than our traditional 6 speeds. now, the friction surfaces of the synchros can do their job without much clutch help, but you need some engagment , or you risk wear of the synchros and dog teeth. The fully depressed clutch is EVIL to the pressure plate and if that is a wear factor, then starting the car with it to the floor, is a huge wear increase factor.

so, does anyone know if it can be just jumpered and not effect any other electronic . (is anything else in the ECU looking for the clutch switch to be released or engaged?)

 

Partial depression may not negate as much wear as one may think, also the less the throwout bearing is used the greater it's longevity.
Perhaps locate the switch or sensor on clutch and fool it.

 

I don't know what all the worry about the pressure plate is about, you'll burn thru the disc before you wear out the plate anyway

 

pretty sure the pressure plate isn't the weak spot on these cars and not sure why pressing the clutch all the way down is a bad thing?

 

Pressure plates use small strong springing, by nature prone to wear. Every depression lessons the life slightly. Some very smart people calculate wear. In many higher performance vehicles a higher degree of robustness is designed in, however sometimes the experts can not account for differing driving habits and premature (in our minds) occurs, as appears to be the case with the clutch in our beloved cars. To that point it stands to reason the same could possibly be true for the pressure plate, hence the concerns expressed. I can tell my pressure plate is not the same as 90k miles ago, engagement is slightly softer at high rpms with a slightly more aggressive driving style, something I very rarely do, and only on Turnpike with walls either side and 0 traffic for miles.

 

The feel should be different at 90,000 miles, there is much less friction material on the disc. But at least you drive your car. The point still remains, the disc is going to wear out before the plate, and after all the labor to change the disc you would not be smart to leave the original plate and slave.

The best way to not wear the clutch is to leave the car in the garage

 

pressure plates loose their pressure and then the clutch slips, accelerating wear. its the nature of springs. and the more frequently they are flexed the wear accelerates, vs not using them... and the degree in which they are flexed, accelerates the loss of clamping force. just as springs wear out faster on a car always on a bumpy road vs on level streets.

 

not true. ive had clutches last with fulll clamping force and so little wear that the ink writing was still visible on the clutch surface after 100,000 miles and 100 race days!
Most folks still don't know how to drive a clutch. sorry, this is reality

 

I fully understood the point, but IMO there is no way you're going to fatigue the springs before you wear out the plate. My plate was dead when I bought the car at 5700 miles. Had nothing to do with the plate springs. I'd never expect to get more than 50-70k out of a clutch, I do not baby my car. If you're trying to get 200,000 miles out of a clutch I wish you the best of luck and absolutely, take all the precautions you wish. I certainly don't think Aston intended it to last that long, or anybody to drive one in a way that it could last that long