This is the GF's car, a 2008 Chevy Aveo with 162k-odd miles on it.
I believe I posted the last repair in the "What are you working on today?" thread, which was replacing a leaking water pump and doing a full timing belt service.
Well, wouldn't you know it, it didn't last 3 weeks without another issue. The clutch throw out bearing has been screaming since I met her ~2 years ago, and I've always told her the same thing: when it breaks, I'll fix it. Not before then. Well, last Saturday that very event occurred. I got a text around noon saying the car wouldn't move and there was a terrible screeching noise coming from up front. Obviously, I knew exactly what it was.
I got to where she was and tested out the clutch. It sounded awful, but still engaged and shifted so I decided to limp it to the shop to avoid a $100 tow bill, something like 8 miles. I got the trans town out in about 2 hours, and pieces of the old throw out bearing literally fell from the case. Surprisingly, the clutch disc itself looked great, like it could have made it to 200k easy.
Anyways, it got a new LUK clutch kit and bearing, everything went easy peasy until I fired it up for the first time. It refused to go in to gear, just grinding and bucking. I found this hard to understand, being as the clutch slave cylinder is externally mounted and I never disconnected any of the hydraulics. This is how I do every car with an external slave, just unbolt and set to the side. That usually allows the new clutch to just operate without issue. Well, not this time. I'm not sure why, but I had to bleed the crap out of it just to get a proper engagement point. I have no idea how air could have entered the system, but this seemed to give me back the pedal I needed.
Issue #2: Shifter alignment. The Aveo uses a shift linkage setup I've never seen before. It's much like a Saab, if anyone has done a clutch on one of those. There aren't separate rods or cables to control forward-aft and left-right movement. It's just a single shaft that both twists and articulates. The shift shaft is joined to the linkage with a sleeve and clamp setup, much like an older tie rod adjuster. I made sure to mark the position of this point when I removed it, which has worked fine on the Saab's I've done, however it didn't work this time. I don't know if it was a combination of worn linkage bushing, sloppy assembly, or the simple fact that it's an Aveo, but it took me almost an hour to set the linkage back properly. There is a factory procedure to making everything line back up, but it was useless in my case.
Long story short, I finally got everything working as well as I could. I gave the GF my Volt to drive in the mean time, I plan on keeping the Aveo for at least a week to verify everything is kosher before I give it back. She's the type that the littlest issue will send her to anxiety city, so I want to make sure it's right. I really hope I'm done working on this thing until she gets a new vehicle, hopefully within the next 12 months.
Just to recap, over the last 12-15 months this poor little $9k MSRP car has received the following work just to keep it on the road:
Front control arms
Complete brakes front and rear (friction components only, not hydraulic)
New timing belt kit with water pump
New clutch kit
Plugs and wires
Throttle body
Coolant flush
Battery
New stereo and speakers (that was just for fun)
Cam sensor
Granted, most of that is considered maintenance, but it's starting to get annoying. This is literally the most basic car sold in America yet just keeps nickel and diming. To be fair, the fact that I do the labor and the parts cost about the same as a pound of Bananas helps. I did discover a blown out RF strut while I was doing the clutch, so it looks like a pair of Quik-Struts and links are next on the list. Luckily, the assemblies are $50 each and the links are about $5. Yes, those are RA "Ultra Power" parts. I don't care. This car is getting the absolute bare minimum, as required.
I believe I posted the last repair in the "What are you working on today?" thread, which was replacing a leaking water pump and doing a full timing belt service.
Well, wouldn't you know it, it didn't last 3 weeks without another issue. The clutch throw out bearing has been screaming since I met her ~2 years ago, and I've always told her the same thing: when it breaks, I'll fix it. Not before then. Well, last Saturday that very event occurred. I got a text around noon saying the car wouldn't move and there was a terrible screeching noise coming from up front. Obviously, I knew exactly what it was.
I got to where she was and tested out the clutch. It sounded awful, but still engaged and shifted so I decided to limp it to the shop to avoid a $100 tow bill, something like 8 miles. I got the trans town out in about 2 hours, and pieces of the old throw out bearing literally fell from the case. Surprisingly, the clutch disc itself looked great, like it could have made it to 200k easy.
Anyways, it got a new LUK clutch kit and bearing, everything went easy peasy until I fired it up for the first time. It refused to go in to gear, just grinding and bucking. I found this hard to understand, being as the clutch slave cylinder is externally mounted and I never disconnected any of the hydraulics. This is how I do every car with an external slave, just unbolt and set to the side. That usually allows the new clutch to just operate without issue. Well, not this time. I'm not sure why, but I had to bleed the crap out of it just to get a proper engagement point. I have no idea how air could have entered the system, but this seemed to give me back the pedal I needed.
Issue #2: Shifter alignment. The Aveo uses a shift linkage setup I've never seen before. It's much like a Saab, if anyone has done a clutch on one of those. There aren't separate rods or cables to control forward-aft and left-right movement. It's just a single shaft that both twists and articulates. The shift shaft is joined to the linkage with a sleeve and clamp setup, much like an older tie rod adjuster. I made sure to mark the position of this point when I removed it, which has worked fine on the Saab's I've done, however it didn't work this time. I don't know if it was a combination of worn linkage bushing, sloppy assembly, or the simple fact that it's an Aveo, but it took me almost an hour to set the linkage back properly. There is a factory procedure to making everything line back up, but it was useless in my case.
Long story short, I finally got everything working as well as I could. I gave the GF my Volt to drive in the mean time, I plan on keeping the Aveo for at least a week to verify everything is kosher before I give it back. She's the type that the littlest issue will send her to anxiety city, so I want to make sure it's right. I really hope I'm done working on this thing until she gets a new vehicle, hopefully within the next 12 months.
Just to recap, over the last 12-15 months this poor little $9k MSRP car has received the following work just to keep it on the road:
Front control arms
Complete brakes front and rear (friction components only, not hydraulic)
New timing belt kit with water pump
New clutch kit
Plugs and wires
Throttle body
Coolant flush
Battery
New stereo and speakers (that was just for fun)
Cam sensor
Granted, most of that is considered maintenance, but it's starting to get annoying. This is literally the most basic car sold in America yet just keeps nickel and diming. To be fair, the fact that I do the labor and the parts cost about the same as a pound of Bananas helps. I did discover a blown out RF strut while I was doing the clutch, so it looks like a pair of Quik-Struts and links are next on the list. Luckily, the assemblies are $50 each and the links are about $5. Yes, those are RA "Ultra Power" parts. I don't care. This car is getting the absolute bare minimum, as required.