Cruze Clutch Problems

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

sciphi

Joined
Mar 24, 2007
Messages
10,007
Location
Upstate NY
This isn't on my car. It's on a cruzetalk's member's 2011 Cruze Eco. The guy's screenname on there is TravsCruze, and he gave me permission to re-post these photos. The clutch was gone after 5500 miles. That did include 14 drag launches around 3000 RPM. Here's the link to the thread: Cruze Clutch Photos Now, photos re-posted with permission: This is worrying me for longevity. A few other clutches have gone out around 8-10k miles, with normal driving reported. Nobody has enough miles on their car to know if the OEM clutch will make it to 100k miles yet. So far, the evidence is that the Cruze's clutch has a short lifespan. I've already started pricing out aftermarket replacements. It's irritating to me that the clutch on my car might need replacing around the time it needs its first set of tires. I can do it myself, but it's still irritating and an expense that should not be needed at 20-25k miles. Fortunately the clutch in my Cruze Eco hasn't shown signs of weakness yet at 6k miles. Time will tell.
 
That's why you should avoid buying a new model vehicle for the first few years. By the 3rd year *most* bugs have been resolved for any car maker.
 
I agree. First year of the generation almost always have the most issues. Hopefully it was a rare case or gm issues a tsb soon
 
Originally Posted By: sciphi
I've already started pricing out aftermarket replacements. It's irritating to me that the clutch on my car might need replacing around the time it needs its first set of tires.
I am completely baffled as to why anybody would attempt his own non-dealer repair on a brand-new car with less than 6K miles on it. This car is still very much under warranty. The purchase price of the car contained the cost of a new-car powertrain warranty. Why would you not let a GM dealer deal with this (and with GM) before expending your own labor and money on this problem? For all you know, the problem might have been the adjustment mechanism, not the clutch assembly itself. LuK is also an OEM to Toyota, by the way. But who made the adjuster mechanism?
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Tegger
Originally Posted By: sciphi
I've already started pricing out aftermarket replacements. It's irritating to me that the clutch on my car might need replacing around the time it needs its first set of tires.
I am completely baffled as to why anybody would attempt his own non-dealer repair on a brand-new car with less than 6K miles on it. This car is still very much under warranty. The purchase price of the car contained the cost of a new-car powertrain warranty. Why would you not let a GM dealer deal with this (and with GM) before expending your own labor and money on this problem?
Clutches are rarely covered under warranty. I have only seen it done once and that was on a 2007 GT500 which had a TSB for a specific noise concern. I wouldn't see this being covered especially since the owner stated he did hard launches at a drag strip. I have seen a Mazda 3 with 100, yes 100 miles on it and the flywheel was purple from being so hot. Mazda flat denied the warranty coverage when their rep drove with the cars owner in another manual car and it was obvious he couldn't drive a stick to save himself.
 
Here is my likely unpopular answer: Keep it in perspective, Remember this is the age of the internet. As an owner of a restaurant told me once, if someone comes in and has a great dining experience they may tell one or two people. On the other hand, if they have a BAD experience they will tell everyone they know. -Add the internet into the equation, and a few people can make it look as if there is MASS problems. Until it happens to you, drive as you normally would and sleep soundly at night...
 
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
I have seen a Mazda 3 with 100, yes 100 miles on it and the flywheel was purple from being so hot. Mazda flat denied the warranty coverage when their rep drove with the cars owner in another manual car and it was obvious he couldn't drive a stick to save himself.
But this vehicle exhibits signs of no contact at all, not overheating. Totally different thing. My personal belief is that the problem has to do with the adjuster, not the clutch assembly. Did anybody bother to check the adjuster, and the freeplay?
 
I doubt the problem has to do with clutch adjustment (especially with a hydraulic clutch). Looks like the flywheel, pressure plate, or disk isn't perfectly flat/machined correctly or warped.
 
Did I get it right that these were drag launches on a car designed for economy of operation? First year car or not, I'll bet that if the driver is drag racing a new economy car, he is also driving overly hard and misusing a car that isn't designed for that use. I'm not concerned. IMO it is end user error. Is the engine stock or is the owner trying to run a tune on it too?
 
A bum clutch is something for which the aftermarket or the OE can cobble together a workable replacement with new materials or design that will bolt-in by the time most need it. Shoot, even if you have to change your flywheel to match a newer model year clutch system, that's only an extra hundred bucks usually. OT I rode in a cruze LT 1.8 rental today. Driver is a spaz but the transmission and DBW were all over the place. Seems if you let off the gas, it will hold a low gear/ high revs for a while. 15k miles, CEL on. The rest of the car was decent. I probably could have driven it way better too, and if it has learning software for the transmission it would have calmed down.
 
Originally Posted By: sciphi
This isn't on my car. It's on a cruzetalk's member's 2011 Cruze Eco. The guy's screenname on there is TravsCruze, and he gave me permission to re-post these photos. The clutch was gone after 5500 miles. That did include 14 drag launches around 3000 RPM. This is worrying me for longevity. A few other clutches have gone out around 8-10k miles, with normal driving reported. Nobody has enough miles on their car to know if the OEM clutch will make it to 100k miles yet. So far, the evidence is that the Cruze's clutch has a short lifespan. I've already started pricing out aftermarket replacements. It's irritating to me that the clutch on my car might need replacing around the time it needs its first set of tires. I can do it myself, but it's still irritating and an expense that should not be needed at 20-25k miles. Fortunately the clutch in my Cruze Eco hasn't shown signs of weakness yet at 6k miles. Time will tell.
From another one of TravsCruze posts: "just for fun I went and thrashed my brand new Eco Cruze (its got about 600 miles on it [it was a dealer trade and had 300 miles on it after coming from texas to central ark]) down the track a handful of times for ya'll tonight. Sorry its not a 1/4 mile, but 1000' is as big as it gets here" 600 miles? He also says the launches were at 4,000 RPM, not 3,000... which likely means a few of them were more like 5,500. Oh yeah, this little gem from the same thread: "But THIS weekend should be even more fun as I got my trifecta tune last night." A tuned Cruze that was beat on early in it's life is now having clutch problems? Must be a bad design! shrug
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: david_ES2
I agree. First year of the generation almost always have the most issues. Hopefully it was a rare case or gm issues a tsb soon
Thread Golf TDI VS Cruze so guys there were screaming that Cruze has reliable record bla bla bla, since it was sold in Korea for several years. Here you go. Here is your reliability. It also mentioned that clutch went out on Daily Driven cars after 8k-10k, not that particular "ricer wanna be". Feel sorry for the guys who will need to deal with it.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: zyxelenator
Originally Posted By: david_ES2
I agree. First year of the generation almost always have the most issues. Hopefully it was a rare case or gm issues a tsb soon
Thread Golf TDI VS Cruze so guys there were screaming that Cruze has reliable record bla bla bla, since it was sold in Korea for several years. Here you go. Here is your reliability. It also mentioned that clutch went out on Daily Driven cars after 8k-10k, not that particular "ricer wanna be". Feel sorry for the guys who will need to deal with it.
the interesting thing is, the Cruzes in europe, and Asia have been sold with this exact same transmission. And afaik, they haven't been having these problems. I think it's due to these Shaeffler group made clutches. I think GM needs to kick their butts into gear.
 
Originally Posted By: sciphi
Here's an example of a clutch gone at 8k miles on a bone-stock car: http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/34-1-4l-turbo/4373-burnt-clutch.html Thread about grinding not caused by operator error: http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/25-service-issues/3783-grinding-during-hard-shift-2nd-3.html User error can account for some of it. What about the grinding and failed clutches on the stock cars?
"I smelled my clutch slip today" Seriously? Smelled? He didn't notice that the engine speed was increasing much more rapidly that the vehicle speed? He noticed that it smelled first? Well, maybe somebody lit it on fire! Given his utter lack of any other symptom of a slipping clutch, it's just as likely. Now, I'm not one to judge, but your examples aren't really giving me the most confidence in the members of Cruze Talk. One guy has a modified Cruze that wasted a clutch after he beat on it, but blames it on a bad design. The other one "smelled" his failed clutch before noticing ANY other symptoms? At least the modified Cruze guy could replicate the slipping at WOT in 3rd or 4th. I wonder if he smelled his clutch too? If your friend's smelly clutch has indeed failed, it will be covered under warranty. Though he'll probably have to come up with something more solid than, "I smelled my clutch slipping once last week."
 
Okay, maybe I've over-reacted based on the Internet echo chamber. I'm also not out to make my clutch fail prematurely. If it does fail at 20k miles on a highway-driven car that's driven sensibly, then I'll be digging this thread back up. As it stands, I'm pricing out non-GM replacements. Knowing that a clutch is considered a wear item and isn't covered under the powertrain warranty, I'm counting on doing it myself. The only way it would be covered would be if a design defect was found, and GM was forced to recall the affected cars.
 
Originally Posted By: kozanoglu
That is the new GM for you.Which is same old GM.
do thinking people a favor. don't post.
 
I have not heard of any problems with the Cruze Clutches but in any event I agree with the others...6000 miles on the car..it should have went in to the dealer for warranty work/ I am sure it would be covered. If you had 40k miles it would probably be considered wear and tear, but NOT 6,000 miles and you can see the issue in the pictures. Just don't mention drag racing...but even so, the clutch is not grabbing all the material so there is a problem somewhere.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

9
  • Locked
102K on Plugs - '13 Chevy Cruze LS
2
Replies
24
Views
3K
nascarnation
S
  • Locked
Cruze 1.4T water outlet leak
2
Replies
20
Views
18K
CapitalTruck
J
  • Locked
Speed Dependent Whine Under Acceleration (pic hvy)
Replies
8
Views
2K
jamesbillion
S
  • Locked
Cruze 1.4T misfire (with carnage pictures)
Replies
7
Views
15K
sciphi
S
  • Locked
'94 5.9l Magnum tune-up time!
Replies
7
Views
2K
Stelth
Top