Clutch or gearbox? How to tell what is wrong when changing gear gets hard

When changing gear starts to feel wrong, most people fear the worst: a new gearbox. Often it's the clutch, which is a smaller job. Here's how to tell the two apart on a manual car, and what to watch for.

Signs it is the clutch

• It bites high. The car only starts to move when the pedal is nearly all the way up.
• It slips. The revs climb but the car doesn't speed up to match, usually in a high gear going uphill.
• It judders as you pull away, especially in reverse or on a hill start.
• The pedal feels different: heavier, softer, or slow to come back up.
• A burning smell after a hill start or towing.

A clutch wears like brake pads do. How long it lasts depends on the car and how it is driven, and lots of hill starts and stop-start traffic wear one faster.

Signs it is the gearbox

• A whine or rumble that changes with the gear you are in, or goes away when you press the clutch.
• Gears that jump out, or are hard to find even with the clutch right down.
• Crunching into one particular gear while the others are fine.
• Oil leaking where the engine and gearbox meet.

Crunching can be either

A crunch going into gear can be a clutch that isn't fully letting go, so the gearbox is still turning when you change. Or it can be worn synchromesh inside the gearbox, which usually shows up in one gear, often second. Checking the clutch first tells us which.

What we do

We start with the simple things: the clutch hydraulics, the pedal, the gear linkage and the gearbox oil. Then we road test the car to hear and feel what you have described. Once we know where the problem is, we explain what it needs in plain English. Sometimes that is an adjustment or a fluid change. Sometimes it is a new clutch.

Don't leave it until it is stuck

A slipping clutch only gets worse, and it tends to give up at the worst moment, like halfway up a steep hill in the snow. Round Buxton there is no shortage of those. If your clutch is biting higher than it used to, ring us while you can still drive the car.

There is more about our gearbox and clutch work on the services page.