A slipping clutch is a headache to deal with. It\u2019s also not always easy to spot until you have to have your car or truck towed to the garage. How can you spot slipping before you\u2019re stranded on the side of the road? Check out these three easy tips for determining whether your vehicle\u2019s clutch might be on the way out.<\/span><\/p>\n The most common indication that you are dealing with a slipping clutch is when you step on the gas pedal and see your engine revs rise out of sync with your actual forward progress. Before this happens during normal cruising, however, you\u2019re more likely to notice issues climbing hills, towing or when your car or truck is filled with a full load of passengers or cargo. You might also detect an odor like something is burning while this is happening, which is a sign that the friction material on the clutch plate is overheating due to slippage.<\/span><\/p>\n Suspect a clutch issue? If your vehicle has a<\/span> hydraulic clutch<\/a><\/strong> \u2014 and most modern cars do \u2014 the first place to check for a problem is the clutch fluid reservoir under the hood. The fluid itself should be clear with no debris floating in it. If it\u2019s black, brown or cloudy, it should be replaced and<\/span> the clutch should be bled<\/a><\/strong> to remove any air that might be lurking in the lines. If fluid is low, you should top it off and pay your mechanic a visit to see if you can figure out where that fluid is leaking. You won\u2019t always see puddles on the floor, as the leak could be inside the clutch mechanism.<\/span><\/p>\n One other surefire sign that a slipping clutch could be on the horizon is when the clutch pedal itself starts to feel different from when you first started driving the vehicle. Have you noticed that the pedal\u2019s engagement point \u2014 the point in its travel where the engine and the transmission are engaged \u2014 has moved? If it\u2019s gotten much closer to the floor or if there\u2019s only a small amount of travel possible between engaged and disengaged, there could be a problem with the clutch master cylinder that needs to be addressed.<\/span><\/p>\n You might not encounter each of these issues all at once, but if you notice any of these problems while driving, it\u2019s worth paying closer attention to what your clutch is trying to tell you.<\/span><\/p>\n For more information on dealing with a slipping clutch, chat with a knowledgeable expert at your local<\/span> NAPA AUTO PARTS store<\/a><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n Photo Credit:<\/span> Clutch<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0by<\/span> dave_7<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(CC BY 2.0)<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n This article has been reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder, National Automotive Parts Association. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Click here for more<\/span>\u00a0<\/i>automotive tips and stories<\/a><\/i><\/strong>\u00a0from NAPA, or here for more information on<\/span> the next Pomona Swap Meet & Classic Car Show<\/a><\/strong>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":9766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cos_headline_score":0,"cos_seo_score":0,"cos_headline_text":"","cos_headline_has_been_analyzed":false,"cos_last_analyzed_headline":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[805],"tags":[3342,5569,5568,5572,5573,5571,5570,5567,2382,3491,3037,3026,5574],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/5177966386_9174ee8775_o.jpg?fit=3664%2C2748&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9nnZN-2xs","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9762"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9762"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9768,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9762\/revisions\/9768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}1.\u00a0Revs Rising<\/strong><\/h3>\n
2. Clutch Fluid<\/strong><\/h3>\n
3. Clutch Pedal Feel<\/strong><\/h3>\n