[Drez7]

I have a 1995 Saturn SL2 manual trans. w/about 165k miles on it. I've been having a problem with it where the rpms get really jacked up here and there...I've come to think it must be a fuel flow issue or something? I took it to a mechanic before and he said that something was really dirty and that i should make sure to clean to pvc pipe or something once a year...and he said the cause of my car being dirty was from cheap gasoline and that I should use Plus instead of regular, which I have been doing, yet the probelm still exists....btw, i think that mechanic had no effin clue what he was talkin about.

The problem: every now and then the rpms will get really high when the car is not in gear. If I'm driving in gear everything will seem normal, but once I push in the clutch to switch gears the rpms will rev up really high, over 2 often and this will happen when it is in neutral or until i come to a complete stop and wait for a while or put it back in another gear. Also, and I usually notice this when I'm in 5th gear, the car will begin to feel like it's studdering and have a sort of sharp push forward when I let off the gas for a while and then push it. For example, I'll accelerate up to 40 mph, let off the gas for a bit, and then push it again, and once i push the accelerator the car will studder a bit and jerk forward. Once this happens and it doesn't go away quickly, it means when I put the car back into neutral the rpms get really really low and the car will die out, usually once I come to a complete stop. It then takes a bit longer than usual to start up, and it's died on my quite a few times.

The "Solution": Now, I took it to a mechanic yesterday and let them test drive it, where they immediately told me it was the clutch. I don't know much/anything about cars, but I really didn't expect that to be the problem, and what's more fishy is the fact that they described a bad clutch as having high rpms until the clutch is engaged, yet they said they couldn't figure out why the car was dying and that must be another problem. The guy who drove it told me it must be "just a Saturn thing" ...wtf?

My thoughts: I certainly believe that whatever is wrong with my car can't be a two-issue deal here, which leads me to believe it's not the clutch, although maybe it's possible. Why? Because, usually the problem begins where the car will die out as described above, then once I start it back up again the high rpms problem kicks in. That is, the rpms get really low and the car dies out, then once I start it back up the rpms will get really high on start up and between shifting or having the car in neutral. This leads me to believe the "two issues" are connected and are simply just one.

Your thoughts: So, what do you guys think about my situation? Is the mechanic right? He said something about the pressure plates and the clutch was bad and sounded like he was 100% sure...but I'm not sure about that. My question is, what's the sign of a bad clutch? Is there any way you can tell if your clutch is bad? How does a clutch get worn out mostly, ie., is there a bad way of driving that wears out the clutch quickly? I certainly hope it's not the clutch, cuz they said total with labor would be about $1,000 to fix, which I'm certainly not going to pay for a car they aren't even sure about why is dying. Also they said they have no way of knowing how long the clutch will last...but I was just thinking if it really is the clutch I might as well drive the car until the clutch wears out, because it's just not worth it to invest about as much money as I paid for this car into it and still not be sure it's totally okay.