Clutch burning on reversing

[Jeff-Pontypridd]

Hi,

Advice welcomed.....

I have an Abbey Aventura 330 and new Galaxy. Every time I reverse, I get a dreadful smell of burning clutch. This is my 2nd Galaxy with this 'van, and I had the same problem with the first one too. This suggests either my driving technique or possibly a problem with the reversing mechanism/braking on the 'van. I had no problems when reversing the CC's 'van on their manoeuvering course (lots of reversing that day!), so I think my technique's OK.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Are the 'van brakes staying on (it's OK when we push it)?

How can I test that it's working properly?

Cheers....

 

[metz]

Hi Jeff, Sounds like the van brakes have been overadjusted,not allowing the trailing shoe to drop away when reversing, if you mention problem to your dealer he should be able to sort it without any difficulty.

 

[wombat1]

I too experienced a burning clutch in my 02 VW Sharan a few weeks ago. This happened whilst I was trying to reverse the van onto a slightly sloping pitch - I was reversing the van up the slope. Reversing on the flat give no problems.

This was the first time ever I have experienced this smell, it wasn't until several days later whilst talking somone else whilst washing the bbq, that he said he'd watched me reverse and thought that the vans brakes had engaged and that the smell which I thought was an impending electricl failure was the clutch. I was so relieved! No expensive repair job when I get home.

The smell hung around for 4 days, and it always seemed to appear when I turned the ignition to activate the electrics, hence my fear of an electrical fault.

Is this an incorrectly adjusted set-up, I have the Alko chassis on my 07 van? Does reversing up a slope make the brakes more susceptible to being engaged?

 

[Steve L]

HI Jeff.

I might be teaching you to suck eggs here but I wonder if the brakes were applied quite firmly as you stopped prior to your reverse manouver?

This is based on your comment that you had to reverse up a slope. On our van (25 years old by the way) the brake do engage quite hard if one brakes going down a slope prior to a reverse operation. What I do is place a chock under the front wheel of the van (twin axle) then pull forward until I feel resistance. At this point the hitch is now extended fully forward and the brakes are off. Now I reverse gently getting the wife to knock the choc away once it is free with the steady brace for safety reasons (pinched fingers if I stall!!)and now the van goes backwards with ease.

One other point to bear in mind is that reverse gear on most cars is a higher ratio than first but lower than second gear, so you do inherantly find the reverse is a bit harder on clutches anyway. I tend to try and find a roll on roll off pitch or one that if anything slopes slightly down hill, just to make it easy on our car as we tow at 100% of the car's tow capacity anyway.

Steve L.

 

[wombat1]

You might be onto something there!

I didn't attempt to free the brake after taking up position for the reverse, but isn't this the same scenario for a reverse on the flat? I thought the brakes were supposed to release if the wheels were moving in reverse direction - or is it because I needed so more push to get the brakes to release because I was on a slope?

Dadio

 

[joeby]

I wouldnt worry too much ,the smell is caused by the brake and cluth linings having no asbestos in them any more ,there was an article in the caravan mag about it last year

 

[Steve L]

Hi Dadio.

You can have the same symptoms on level gorund if you have stopped a little suddenly. What happens is that the brakes apply hard to the drums and then as the van has not moved froward to release that pressure, you in effect have still got full braking in situ. By going directly to reverse you need more effort to overcome the friction on the drum and release the brakes.

By doing as i suggested earlier, you take the brake pressure off as much as possible.

Obviously if this doesn't resolve the problem then there is the possability of a mechanical fault.

One last thing you could try is after a prolonged downhill run where the vans brakes have been applied, you could stop and check (carefully) if any of the van's wheels appear to be hotter than the other. This quick check for excess heat build up may indicate if only one side appears to be sticking.

Steve L.

 

[unclefesta_5095119]

Hi, Jeff.

I too had problem with clutch smelling when reversing van into storage on dolomite. Tow Car was mazda 6 towing a twin axle bailey senator. Ouch new clutch required. Replaced under warranty with

 

[Jeff-Pontypridd]

.........costly solution, though!

Will try the pulling forward tip, and get the dealer to check on next service (July).

Thanks for all the help, folks....