Manual Tranny Problem & Questions! - 04 Sunfire

[OriginHacker21]

Car: 2004 Pontiac Sunfire 2.2L Ecotec 5 speed manual Getrag transmission. 144,000 miles on original clutch till now.


On Friday my manual transmission gave out... on the way home from work my clutch pedal stuck to the floor as I entered the freeway. I had to pop it back out with my hand. Before that however, on my way to the freeway I noticed the transmission was "catching" the gears as soon as I let off the clutch instead of providing a cushion for getting into the next gear as I depressed the clutch. Something was definitely wrong.

Anyway, upon exiting the freeway the clutch gave out completely - it wouldn't let me shift gears even with the clutch in so I had to match RPMs with speed to get it into gear.

Had my car towed on Monday to an automotive shop. The AAA tow truck guy noticed my hydraulic transmission fluid was empty and full of black [censored]. Also noticed a pool of fluid (oilish looking) under the car that wasn't there before.

In the end the automotive shop found out that the clutch slave cylinder was leaking. Being that I had 144,000 miles on the car they also suggested replacing the clutch. Total bill: $1444.28.

Mechanic said that they had to drop the transmission to get the clutch kit in hence the $500 labor cost. The "clutch kit" was $871.93" - brake fluid also had to be replaced for $5 only.


Now after it all: The clutch pedal is like 3 times easier to depress/press, and there is no jerking or rough shifting from gear to gear! It is actually smooth and very very nice! Ever since I bought my car it had an extremely sensitive clutch - very difficult to drive. Now have to get used to a new one all over again.

Questions:
Was the price fair?
What would cause this to happen?

Suggestions/comments/anything welcome!

Thanks!
-Paul

 

[Whimsey]

If you like the car and intend to drive it till rots apart around you then that's a fair price to pay. For my 2002 F-150 I was quoted $1200, independent shop, to $1800, Ford dealer, in 2005 for a clutch slave cylinder and related clutch parts. I was lucky and Ford paid for the majority of the repair out of warranty. Still less expensive then repairing an auto transmission.

Whimsey

 

[Steve S]

sounds normal.Have you changed the trans oil?

 

[tom slick]

144,000 miles is plenty of life out of clutch components.

NAPA lists clutch pars as $560 for clutch and $265 for the slave so the price quote sounds reasonable to me.

 

[double vanos]

Did you ever flush out the clutch hydraulic system?

On some cars (BMWs come to mind) the clutch hydro system uses brake fluid from the brake master cylinder, while other cars (like my Nissan Maxima)have a separate reservior for the clutch.

With either one it's pretty easy to use one of the many brake bleeders on the market to flush the hydraulic brake system.

I do it to my manual trannie cars once a year, usually in the spring.

Cheers!

 

[Drew99GT]

I have 150K on the original clutch in my 94 Corolla and although it seems to have plenty of friction material left, but it is so jerky and hard to drive, like the pressure plate and disk have a lot of heat glazing. I might just suck it up and change it as well, although the hydraulics seem to be fine.

 

[Bulli]

my clutch had 120k and it still didn't slip and i sold it.
The slave broke.. that normal. my bros broke after 15 years and 60k miles...

 

[OriginHacker21]

Whimsey - I don't like the look of the car but it drives nicely (even nicer now) and gets me 35-38mpg for my 180 mile drive/day to from work. Thanks for the quotes.

Steve S - Yep, change it religiously every few oil changes because its only 1.8quarts (Royal Purple ATF, and recently Amsoil ATF).

Double Vanos - Nope, never even knew it existed till today. Will add that to my list of things to do to my car!

Drew99GT - Yeah, the last 10,000 miles seemed really bad - almost impossible to shift smoothly but my car has always been that way since I bought it. With this new clutch, its like I got a brand new car that can actually shift so smooth it feels like an auto!

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: OriginHacker21
Double Vanos - Nope, never even knew it existed till today. Will add that to my list of things to do to my car!

Yes, definitely flush the brake fluid every two years. On my GM vehicle, I use Motive Products' Pressure Bleeder. They offer a GM specific adapter which screws onto your brake fluid reservoir. For me, I first turkey baster the brake fluid reservoir and replace it with new fluid, attach the adapter, pump the system to 20 psi, then I go and one wheel cylinder or caliper at a time. I can flush the entire vehicle in less than ten minutes.

 

[OriginHacker21]

Well, here is the thing - in my car there is a brake reservoir and right next to it (about half the size) is the Hydraulic oil reservoir. I have had my brake fluid changed/flushed at 100,000 miles - and will do it sooner (well I got it done yesterday). But the transmission hydraulic oil apparently needs serviced too? How often? I don't remember seeing that one in the manual. lol.

 

[mechtech2]

Labor is about right.
Parts seem outrageous.