Just heard back from mechanic, need help please

Ok, here's the deal. My car was making some funny noises, so we checked around the engine compartment to see where it was coming from using that stethescope type tool, and the noise we found originated from the water pump, thinking that it was just going bad, I took my car to the shop to double check our diagnosis and to replace the pump if it were bad.

I got a call back today, saying that it is actually my clutch, and that its going to cost roughly 1050 bucks to replace it.....I know I only have a non turbo 420A engine, but I am trying to squeeze some power out of the car when I have the money to throw towards it (and at some point down the road, I would like to turbo it).

Being the clutch is getting replaced now, do you think that I should get a performance clutch put in now? If the answer is yes, can you guys offer any suggestions?

Thanks in advance
- Dan

um whoa, for one, that is one expensive clutch plus labor, thats a little absurd... how do they determine that it isn't your water pump and jump to the clutch? 1050.... can get you a TSi AWD 1g with a boost leak lol.... how many miles are on it?

First off, getting rid of the car is kinda out of the question, I know it is slower than a turbo dsm, but this is my baby, and I don't want to sell it. The mechanic said that the sound that we heard was not coming from the water pump, but was vibrating through the frame or something like that, I have not talked directly to the mechanic, because I just got out of class at college, and my mom was the person who talked to him, but he said that it was some part of the clutch that was vibrating or rubbing on something. This came as a shock to me, because the clutch feels fine when shifting, doesn't grind or anything. You think something shady is going on here?

I have been to 3 different mechanics about my car and there is always something shady going on :).

I don't know what kind of mechanical expertise you have, but it might be a good idea to try to learn do it yourself especially if you are going to turboing your car. The experience will be very valuable. You can definitely get the tools and the parts to do it yourself for less than $1,050.

If you are doing it yourself, I say go with a performance clutch. I know that ACT sells all the parts separately so when you wear it out, you don't have to buy the whole thing every time, just the plate. Plus you'll already know how to do it.

If you don't have the means to do it yourself (time, location, desire) then go with a stock clutch without a doubt. I had to have my clutch replaced and I brought in one I bought from Advanced Auto Parts to have the dealer put in. Needless to say it "magically" went bad after about a month (I was still within the 500 "baby the clutch" period). The dealer blamed the clutch because it was aftermarket. I had to have the whole thing done again. Went with the stock clutch the second time and haven't had a problem since. You get the warranties if you let them use their parts.

This does depend on the fact that it really is the clutch. If you get it done and the noise is still there, make sure you stay on them until the problem is gone and make sure you get free labor to make it right. I played that game yesterday :).

Ok, I just personally got off the phone with my mechanic and he said that the throw out bearing went bad. I do not have the time or the space to do the work myself, living on campus and being a full time student without a garage. My mechanic is not affiliated with a dealership at all, would that make any difference as far as putting in an aftermarket clutch? Again, thank you guys for all the help.

- Dan

I definitely know how that goes. I would ask your mechanic if he guarantees his work and ask him if it matters if you provide your own clutch. I can imagine from a risk standpoint that the mechanics want to only use parts direct from the factory, but he/she might be cool. I'm about 99% certain you can get a better and cheaper clutch than the one he wants to give you.

I don't personally know that a TO bearing would make that sound. Hopefully someone else can shed some light on the situation.

Best thing for you is some one else change it for you and in this case your mechanic. But 1,050 for a clutch sounds like a lot of cash. I dont thing that the dealership will charge you that much for a clutch replacement. Your mechanic looks a little expensive, search around your city. I got charged $200 by the mechanic to change my clutch and he did an excellent job. I would never pay 1K for a clutch since thats like almost half of what your car costs.

I paid slightly less than that for a new clutch, new flywheel and all the work associated with changing them but a GSX requires more labor to do. It is definitely very steep. See what if costs for the labor to do the clutch and if is significantly higher than $200, then I agree with Eclipse4ever, go find somewhere else.

Well the situation is a little more complex than what I have said so far. The alternator also needs to get replaced, and apparently that was causing noise that was masking the clutch noise, no big deal, I'll have the alternator replaced, thats not an issue, I just don't know if its a good idea to spend all this money to put in a new stock clutch and then down the road spend more money to replace it with a performance one, I guess its just timing.

I kinda live in the middle of nowhere, and this guy has been my mechanic for a while, (this is the first time that anything has actually broken on my car) so I have not personally needed his services much, my mom and her friends go to this guy often and he has a good reputation.

If I were to go with a performance clutch would you guys have any suggestions? I was looking around at some ACT clutches, but only found em for the 4g63, not the 420a.

- Dan

I'd pay anything to find a mechanic with a good reputation in my area. If I were you, I'd get the alternator done now and wait a bit on the clutch. I don't know how serious your problem is but I'd get it done sooner rather than later. Go for the aftermarket one because it'll make you happy. If you put the stock one in you'll just end up wishing you'd put the aftermarket one in (trust me :)). It sounds like you want us to tell you that anyway.

Don't know about a NT clutch so I can't really help you there.

Its not that I necessarily want to put one in, the timing just seems right, and if they are not that much more expensive than stock ones, I dont see the point in throwing a stock one in now. I'll also try to call around other places to check on the price, the mechanic said it was driveable, its just something that needs to get done soon, cause once the TO bearing really goes, I will not be able to shift at all.

I disagree with your mechanic's diagnosis. Does the noise change when you push in the clutch at all? Usually the clutch disk goes before the TOB. I'd just keep driving it till it dies, then get a friend to pull you to a shop. I have only found 1 out of maybe 20 different mechanics I have ever used to be trustworthy. With the steep price he is asking for to replace your clutch, I would question his motives. If you do decide to get it done, it would be worth it to you to drive it somewhere it could be done cheaper. Allthough its a big job that requires pulling the tranny, its not exactly rocket science. There is not a ton of things that can go wrong, if you know what I mean.

He said it makes the noise when you start the car, and when you press the clutch it goes away, apparently those are "classic" signs the throw out bearing is going. I called up an Aamco and they said that his estimate was ballpark because you have to replace the flywheel and the clutch at the same time with a non turbo dsm, and then the flywheel has to get cut which is like a 50-100 dollar charge on top of actually buying the part. The guy at Aamco included 6 hours of labor in his estimate, he was a bit lower, but not by much (i think around 900 bucks, he didnt give me an exact number).

I don't know about drive it until it dies, especially with a clutch. If you catch problems sooner rather than later, you don't end up having to get a flywheel also.

I would say now is a good time to consider how far you want to go with your car. A stock one should be just fine for you. Even when you put a turbo on, I'd think the stock one will hold (I have no experience so it's all guesswork).

Do you launch your car frequently? If so, you might want to get a performance clutch that will grab harder (although you're going to need a bunch of other stuff also to put power to the ground). Otherwise, there is no real benefit other than "you want it."

Bah, you convinced me that it is the TOB, but you don't have to replace the flywheel. The TOB makes contact with the splines on the preasure plate, the fork, and the driveshaft. It doesn't ever even touch the flywheel, which is under the preassure plate and the clutch disk itself. The only time you need to replace the flywheel is when it is warped, or scarred. If it was warped it would cause studdering on launch and excessive clutch disk wear. If it was scarred it would cause excessive wear on the clutch disk as well, which if you are still driving with no slippage, your fine.

I've changed the clutch on mine three times (once back in college, same situation as you, car parked in front of the dorm) and have never had to do anything to the flywheel.

Go here for a quick explination of how a clutch works:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/clutch2.htm

The guy on the phone at Aamco said that with the non turbo dsm's you have to replace the flywheel and the clutch at the same time, you are saying this is not true?

You got it. Mine is n/a as well. Albiet a 4g37, which is a different application than yours, but ya. I've never heard that kind of statement before, but then again, I stay away from repair shops as much as possible.

I would be interested to hear Aamco's 'explaination' for this statement.

Are you having problems with the clutch other then it making noise? Is it slipping or anything? If it's not, why isn't the mechanic just replacing the bearing? It costs like 10-20 for the part plus whatever ungodly amount for labor. It's hard to believe the mechanic can tell exactly what the problem is without taking it apart. I'd say he just gave an educated guess.

My apologies. This thread peaked my interest, so I asked in another forum. Turns out your flywheel/clutch assembly is all one unit, so in fact you do have to replace the whole shooting match. STBY.

thats CRAZY i just replaced my clutch in my 92 gs... i got a exedy clutch off ebay for like 125$ bucks and i called the shop and they put it in for 250,,,,i would never pay more then 275 for a clutch job.....do it your self its easy and im stupid as shit and i pulled it off

I have been to 3 different mechanics about my car and there is always something shady going on :).
My thoughts exactly. My grandma got taken for like $300 IIRC when they "replaced her starter" in 20 mins and my mom got screwed out of quite a bit of money in her old van. She had it in to have something changed, she left it there for part of the day and when she got it back, the lights, locks and windows would just randomly turn on and off and roll up and down. Turns out some sensors or some shit went while it was at the shop. Yeah right. I havent had any mechanic other than me work on my car and if I dont have the tools to fix it, I will watch over the mechanics shoulder while they do it. I definately think you are getting screwed. I would have a friend do it, sure as hell wont cost you a grand. That whole clutch and flywheel deal doesnt sound right to me, but I dont know much about clutches and flywheels especially for a 420a. Good luck though, I hope you dont get screwed.

i replaced my clutch without replaceing the flywheel and it hasent cause any damage at all i bought the clutch for 200$ adn replaced it myself it took all of about 5 hours takeing the tranny out and takeing my old clutch off puting the new on changing the tranny oil and puting the tranny back in

Hmm I'm a bit confused here.... About a month ago my clutch with less than 3000 mile on it started making noise when the clutch pedal was pushed in. It basically made some sort of griding noise(kinda like a roller skate wheel) basically a bearing noise haha. Well I took it to my brothers garage and I had 3 mechanics check it out. They all said that it was the TOB. Kinda funny cause I read that your mechanic said when the clutch is pressed in it stops making the noise but it should make the noise when the clutch pedal is pushed in. How long has it been making this noise? Because when I found out it was my TOB I didn't have enough money to replace it so I just drove with the noise. After about 2-3 weeks the noise almost went away. I can barely hear it now. The mechanic told me the bearing could of just been dry or not properly lubed and now it is.

Oh and as for the clutch. My mechanics told me they would need to order a whole new clutch as well. I had the stock mitsubishi clutch in and they were going to have to get another one. I don't agree with the 1k estimate. When I got a new clutch installed it was about 700 altogether with labor and parts. Oh and labor was about 8 hours.

I don't really know how to respond to all this, I contacted another shop (an Aamco, which specializes in transmission work) and they said the estimate wasnt too bad. I live in a kind of back woods area of New Jersey (sussex county), and there is not much in the way of chain shops , the Aamco was quite a distance from my house. Do any of you guys live in the area and know of a good DSM place that I can take my car from now on? Unfortunately due to a bunch of different reasons I had to suck it up and dish out the cash on this one, thanks for all the input though. I go to school at NJIT, if any of you guys are located near the school and know of a shop in the area, that would be appreciated also.

dude your so getting screwed im from philly like 30mins from you,, and in philly i dont know ANY shop that charges more then 300 to put in a clutch!! and i had alotta clutch jobs done for me anything from my civic to my gs i dont get it....i would say fuck it and get a haynes manual and start reading ,,,like i said before im stupid as all hell i mean real dumb and i did a clutch job in a day,,, if i can do it you can ,,,,and i will tell you after you do it your'll be happy with your self and it'll push you to do more work to your car yourself..... like i said before go to e-bay and look for centerforce clutch co and just get a stock OEM clutch for 100 bucks i had my clutch in for about 3 years with no problems! good luck

Yeah, I'm basically retarded and I've done pretty much everything on my car including the clutch. You'll make mistakes but the experience is worth the trouble. Then again, if you're not that into cars it's probably not gonna matter. You should see if you can find someone to let you use their garage or someone to give you a hand. If I was close I'd lend a hand but I'm in Chicago. Anyone close enough?

Anyone else who is considering/needing a clutch replacement for the 420a read this post from DSM talk. I posted in there trying to get an answer to the original poster's question and got some good info.

http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=139862

Basically, the 420a engine clutch assemblies were all one piece, so the first time you change it your pretty much screwed, unless you want to try to drill out the rivets. You can replace the assembly with a non modular clutch that is used in a neon, so your not screwed the next time it goes.