Ok, I was on my way to work this morning and finally got what I think is a symptom of the dreaded clutch failure on our beloved SVTF's. I was going up a pretty steep hill in 3rd gear at about 3k rpms and it felt like the whole car had a hiccup and just quit pulling for a second and then started pulling again and jerked the whole drivetrain. I'm not sure if it's actually a clutch problem but that's what it felt like to me, just a quick slip in the clutch and then it recaught. Could I be right on this or could it be something engine related seeing as how I just got a new tune? What do you guys think? Looking for opinions from guys who have had the problem in their svtf.

Doesn't sound like it is the clutch slipping. More like the car might have quickly died and started up again? Did you notice any lights or anything else?

That's why I think it was the clutch. No lights came on on the dash, the headlights didn't flicker or anything. I've had it die on me before but that was only when the clutch was pressed in and the rpms dropped quickly. It definately wasn't a feeling like it died. The only thing I can compare it to that I've felt is like the tires lost grip for a split second and then regained grip almost immediately I'm gonna keep an eye on this and see if I can't duplicate the feeling and watch my rpms when it happens. I wasn't paying close attention to them this morning when it happened because I wasn't expecting it, so I can't say with 100% certainty that the rpms jumped or dipped when it happened but I believe I did hear the slightest rpm jump. Being that it was only for a split second and my radio was on I couldn't really tell.

Maybe you ran over some water or loose dirt/gravel on the road an the traction control kicked on for a split second. I know its pretty startling when it happens to me.

Originally posted by svt_gEEk
Ok, I was on my way to work this morning and finally got what I think is a symptom of the dreaded clutch failure on our beloved SVTF's. I was going up a pretty steep hill in 3rd gear at about 3k rpms and it felt like the whole car had a hiccup and just quit pulling for a second and then started pulling again and jerked the whole drivetrain. I'm not sure if it's actually a clutch problem but that's what it felt like to me, just a quick slip in the clutch and then it recaught. Could I be right on this or could it be something engine related seeing as how I just got a new tune? What do you guys think? Looking for opinions from guys who have had the problem in their svtf.

Definitely sounds like the clutch is going to me. Mine started slipping in a similar situation and got progressively worse. Try putting the car in 6th at highway speeds and push the gas to the floor. If it slips, that is your answer for sure.

I don't have traction control and it hasn't rained in a while here and there was no dirt on the road. So that's a no. Either the engine had a hiccup, the ECU had a brain fart, or the clutch slipped...just not sure which.

I haven't been able to duplicate the problem yet. Maybe it was just a fluke or very early sign of clutch failure. Anyway, I'm gonna start saving money in case it does go out.

wow, these problems lately i've been having too, just never really thought anything of it. in my situation there were 4 people in my car and it was going up a slight incline from a stand still, after i got her going with the clutch fully released i felt this vibration when i was gasing it. like the engine didn't want to move but still did. could be clutch related not to sure, but i think it's more ECU related, i had a tune at that time though, never happened ever again after that 1 time. i even went to do some auto x-ing the next week with out any of the same issues. but after like 2 weeks something went wrong and my batt light came up so it's in the shop now for that.