RS200 DCT clutch plate specs

My Clio (on top of other problems) has been posting the Check Antipollution error which I was told before is related to clutch slip. I bought a low mileage gearbox with clutch from a wreck. I can see the clutch plate nearest to the engine and measure its thickness. The question is: is the clutch in good shape or not? Can anybody tell me how thick the plate should be when new, and how thin when worn out? Obviously I can't see the rivets, only measure the visible edge of the plate.

I'm in for a new TCU, but I could do a gearbox and clutch swap before then.

the check antipollution error is related to so many things. Did you get a proper in depth diagnosis before hand?

also the diag can tell you the thickness of your current clutch disks. Thickness is also only part of the issue, if one is contaminated it can also slip but still be full thickness

if you are going whole hog anyway, slap in a new clutch pack, remove the flywheel and replace the rear main seal which, so say, lets oil mist through and contaminates the closest plate causing slip issues.

I took it to the Renault dealer before and they said it was clutch slipping. The car was undriveable when I got it back: the clutches really WERE slipping. Then I parked it and it was good when restarted. I've driven it for 1.5 years since with no sign of slipping clutches. I've locked it in gears and floored it going up hill with no sign of RPM surge. No smell of hot clutches. So my faith in their diagnosis is pretty minimal.

I can't diagnose the plate thickness because a) I don't trust the TCU and b) the clutch that I want to examine is in a box not in the car. I've bought better diagnostic software and I'll try to get more specific error reports then. We'll see if it helps.

I'm about to cough out ~$5,000 for a TCU and fitting. I'm guessing that a new clutch pack and labour would be another $7,000 - $8,000 which is getting a bit rich for my taste. Actually VERY rich for my taste. At that point a Toyota Caldina starts to look like a good option! I sold one to buy the Clio ...

My wife doesn't want to drive a manual.

Yup, if I do take the tranny out, I'll try to do the rear seal. But you may remember that before I had no luck trying to get the tranny out and leaving the engine in. This time I'd have to brace for the whole hog.

Oh, I've bought the Renolink software.

GtirHil said:

Oh, I've bought the Renolink software.

Click to expand...

great bit of kit, very dangerous if you get it wrong though.

id be tempted to swap just the tcu to start with on your original box, rather than going mad with the whole hog. Reno link will allow you to recalibrate it. Really no need if you cant feel or see the clutch slip (if it was even there to start with) could have been a failing tcu all along.

Thanks. Sounds like a good plan!

But apparently I'm a bit shaky on good plans.

Seeing is believing: I wonder why Getrag didn't supply inspection holes? With cute little covers? Perhaps because they don't care about your cost of pulling a gearbox and would rather that you just bought a new clutch unit and kept their lives simple.

So I provided some of my own holes in my spare gearbox. What do you expect of somebody that started on Mini 850s in 1967 and moved up to series 2 Land Rovers? I don't think that the strength of the bellhousing is significantly reduced and the holes can be plugged after use. More of a worry is the metal shavings from the drilling. It's hard to stop some getting in, but I reckon that they'll sit in the bottom of the housing and do no real harm. And I take Adey's point that plate thickness is not the only issue.

So I drilled two holes. To see clutch 1 was 56 mm back from the engine face of the gearbox. I drilled a pilot hole, then stepped up to a 9mm drill.
Clutch 2 is tricky to see even with the gearbox out. It's mostly hidden by things, including the shared pressure-plate. I drilled a 13 mm hole centred at 73 mm back from the bellhousing face. It's not quite far enough back, 78 mm would have been better to see the edge of the plate.

And then it is hard to see in to measure the plate thickness. I think that both mine are about 6.3 mm.