The engine of your car is complex, it is not always easy to understand all the signals it sends us. Nevertheless, it is definitely fundamental to try to stay on alert for the slightest indication of weakness in your vehicle to limit the risk of serious problems. If you have the feeling that your clutch is slipping on your Lexus RX, you’re right to have started looking into it. It’s a defect that must be taken into account quickly, otherwise you could end up with an unusable vehicle. To help you in your way our team has decided to produce this article which should allow you to see more clearly and make the right decisions to avoid aggravating the problem and be certain that it is indeed the problem you are victim of. To achieve this, we will first have a look at what a slipping clutch on Lexus RX is and how to examine that this is what is occurring to you, and then, what actions can be taken to resolve the problem.
What is slipping clutch on Lexus RX and how to recognize it?
A Lexus RX with a clutch that slips
The clutch of your Lexus RX is the component that permits your car to shift gears. It is located between your gearbox and your engine. It is the component that comes into contact with the flywheel which is located on the engine side and which will receive the power transmitted by the clutch. With wear, the clutch of your Lexus RX slips because it is made up of notches that engage in the flywheel, and with wear and friction it wears out. It is said that the clutch slips when its teeth are too worn for it to engage on the flywheel.
How to recognize clutch slipping on an Lexus RX?
There are many ways to identify that the clutch of your Lexus RX is slipping. You can perform all of these tests on your own.
You can simply identify that your clutch slips when you accelerate and your engine revs up, but your car does not speed up, you may also experience a burning smell.
To verify the first observation, you can stop, pull the parking brake, engage the first one, accelerate reasonably by releasing the clutch of your car carefully, if your engine motor rises in revs but the Lexus RX is still stationary it is the indication of a dead clutch.
Finally, you can put yourself, still in third gear, with the handbrake on, and by releasing it, your vehicle should stall, if not, your clutch is almost certainly dead.
What should I do when my clutch slips on my Lexus RX?
Some advices to avoir the wear of your Lexus RX clutch
We will now give you some ideas to limit the wear of your clutch and avoid your clutch slipping on your Lexus RX. Firstly, it is good not to leave your foot on the clutch pedal, regardless if the pressure you apply is very mild you will pre wear the clutch release bearing which will eventually produce a total change of the clutch kit. One more point not to be neglected, do not over-accelerate when you start, your acceleration must permanently be adapted to the velocity of your engine motor. If you are at a standstill accelerate slowly, if you are at medium speed accelerate gradually when you release the clutch pedal of your car so as not to make it slip against your engine flywheel.
Replacing your Lexus RX clutch
At last, in this last part, we will discuss the repair part. In circumstance the clutch of your Lexus RX is dead, you might be stuck at a standstill and have no other option than to contact the tow truck, because a dead clutch no longer allows the transmission to transmit power to the wheels. If this is the circumstance, take note that you will have to change the complete clutch kit, this repair needs quite a few hours of work and is estimated to cost between 500 and 1200 euros based on the engine and the garage.
If you wish more guides on the Lexus RX, go to our Lexus RX category.
