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YACT: Clutch Problems?

C

crumpet19

Platinum Member
1989 Chevy Corsica
4 cyl. 5spd.
187,606 miles

This problem has developed over about a week.
Before from a stop I'd shift into first gear and let out the clutch as I applied the gas. The car would move.

Now I do the same but the car remains stationary and I must apply more gas and rev the engine to make the car eventually move.
Before If i let out the clutch w/out giving gas it would die. Now I can completely let out the clutch while aplying no gas and the car will just sit there idling.

After the car begins movement and reaches approx 15mph, (this is about the shift point) I'll shift into second. Well, now there is hesitation between the point when i let out the clutch and when the car resumes acceleration. There is also vibration. For a moment it feels like its stuttering or something. This vibration is noticible between all of the gears besides 4th and 5th.

While cruising at highway speeds the car will sometimes begin to slow (moreso than usual) even when engine RPM is increased.

The cruise control now no longer works. If i set it at 50mph in 4th gear on a straight flat section of road, as the car begins to slow for no reason, engine rpm slightly increases and then all of a sudden the cruise will turn off, engine RPM drops and the car slows.

Does this sound like the clutch or transmission or something may be going out?

Whatever part/problem this may be.. how much am I looking at?
I live in oklahoma.
I suck with hand tools, so, I'd probably have to have someone else do it for me.
 
How much am I looking at spending on these things?
I live in oklahoma. I'm not mechanically inclined -so doing it myself is out.

How much is a clutch and/or a flywheel?
 
Originally posted by: Ronstang
Originally posted by: Sluggo
You are in the market for a new clutch.
Click to expand...
Yes, and if you continue to drive it you will be in the market for a new flywheel also.
Click to expand...
At that mileage the flywheel will probably need to be replaced anyway. There's only so many times those things can be re-surfaced.

ZV
 
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Originally posted by: Ronstang
Originally posted by: Sluggo
You are in the market for a new clutch.
Click to expand...
Yes, and if you continue to drive it you will be in the market for a new flywheel also.
Click to expand...
At that mileage the flywheel will probably need to be replaced anyway. There's only so many times those things can be re-surfaced.

ZV
Click to expand...

Never been resurfaced. This car has never had any problems of this nature.
 
Originally posted by: crumpet19
How much am I looking at spending on these things?
I live in oklahoma. I'm not mechanically inclined -so doing it myself is out.

How much is a clutch and/or a flywheel?
Click to expand...
Probably $500-$600 total for a shop to do it right. (Clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing, re-surfaced/replaced flywheel.)

ZV
 
Originally posted by: crumpet19
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Originally posted by: Ronstang
Originally posted by: Sluggo
You are in the market for a new clutch.
Click to expand...
Yes, and if you continue to drive it you will be in the market for a new flywheel also.
Click to expand...
At that mileage the flywheel will probably need to be replaced anyway. There's only so many times those things can be re-surfaced.

ZV
Click to expand...
Never been resurfaced. This car has never had any problems of this nature.
Click to expand...
Uh, flywheel is resurfaced every time the clutch is replaced. There is no bloody way the original clutch went 187,000 miles. The clutch that wore out is almost certainly the second clutch. The clutch, like the brake pads, is an item that wears and it supposed to wear. A worn out clutch is not a "failure".

ZV

EDIT: If you've owned the car its whole life and that is the original clutch then either you drive like my grandmother, or you have been relying on the rivits for clamping friction for the last several thousand miles. Also, a clutch does not go from perfectly fine to slipping horribly in just one week. There should have been numerous signs over the past year.
 
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Originally posted by: crumpet19
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Originally posted by: Ronstang
Originally posted by: Sluggo
You are in the market for a new clutch.
Click to expand...
Yes, and if you continue to drive it you will be in the market for a new flywheel also.
Click to expand...
At that mileage the flywheel will probably need to be replaced anyway. There's only so many times those things can be re-surfaced.

ZV
Click to expand...
Never been resurfaced. This car has never had any problems of this nature.
Click to expand...
Uh, flywheel is resurfaced every time the clutch is replaced. There is no bloody way the original clutch went 187,000 miles. The clutch that wore out is almost certainly the second clutch. The clutch, like the brake pads, is an item that wears and it supposed to wear. A worn out clutch is not a "failure".

ZV
Click to expand...

Back in '92 at around 25,000 miles my mother stripped 1st gear. That's the only clutch/gear work done on this car. So, it has got about 150k miles on it. It has never before had any of these kinds of problems. So, if it is the clutch as you, others, and myself think it is, I'll consider myself lucky.

EDIT:: I do drive like a grandmother and I'm not mechanically inclined AT ALL so I probably haven't noticed the signs.

Thank you for your assistance in diagnosing the problem. I'll get it into the shop monday.
 
sadly it will cost more then the blue book to have it done prolly.

guy at work just had his done on his old subaru wagon for $400.. he bought the car for $300
 
Sounds like clutch replacement time. 187k is a good long life if its original.
Clutch pedals must always have a little free play, hydraulic ones a little. Cable or linkage operated ones a little more, free travel of 1/2 inch or little more. On an older car with a cable operated clutch make sure the cable is not hanging up or resisting movement in anyway inside its housing. This will hold a clutch partially released
and will cause the clutch to slip. The grabbing you refer to is most likely the rivet heads of the friction disk melting down and permitting limited engagement.
 
Originally posted by: crumpet19
Back in '92 at around 25,000 miles my mother stripped 1st gear. That's the only clutch/gear work done on this car. So, it has got about 150k miles on it. It has never before had any of these kinds of problems. So, if it is the clutch as you, others, and myself think it is, I'll consider myself lucky.
Click to expand...
Wow. I'm kinda curious how it would be possible to strip a gear (particularly first gear) without destroying the clutch in the process. Not that I disbelieve you, I'm just awed by the sort of manufacturing defect a transmission would need to have in order to have a gear strip within 25,000 miles. I really hope you got GM to cover that under warranty somehow.

Average clutch life, in my experience, has been 60,000 - 120,000 miles with about 100,000 miles being pretty typical. The clutch in my last daily driver was replaced at about 142,000 miles, but I knew when I bought the car (140,000 miles) that the clutch was on its last legs.

ZV
 
Probably the only thing that could cause spontaneous failure would be to glaze it. BUT, if you drive like a grand mother, you probably didnt do that....

Replace the clutch, it is clearly slipping.
 
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