Shredded Clutch 2012

[Vegamatic]

At 55,000 miles (100 highway miles/day 5 days a week for 2 years) I'm trying to sell this Sonic: 2012 1.4L Turbo with 6 spd. manual. I've never had any issues with this clutch. On a test drive, the new driver says it won't let him disengage the clutch, stalling at a stop. Then it wouldn't let him put it into gear while it was running, but it shifts to all gears with the engine off. Can't get it to move. "careful driving on an uninhabited street to learn". Happened at 4:30 PM on Friday.

Flat bedded to a Chevy dealer Monday morning where their first impression was a "cracked reservoir" that leaked hydraulic fluid. Pulled the transmission to connect to the slave cylinder and found this...... (see pics)

The dealer asserts that someone revved it to redline and dumped the clutch. Dealer says the "actuator" (slave cylinder) overextended when the clutch blew, thus leaking new oil. However, IMO, it is physically impossible for the actuator to overextend because it's movement acts only on the fingers of the pressure plate.

In other photos of the bell housing and the pressure plate, I see evidence of oil and dirt which seems like oil has been leaking from the actuator/slave cylinder for some time.

Of course, this gets down to the dealership saying it's wear and tear. I have an extended warranty and suspect, given that I've had no problems and now have a catastrophic failure, that this failure is not normal wear and tear. Does anyone have any insights?

 

[Stew]

Yikes, it shredded alright! It looks to me like it's been leaking for a while as well; plus you can't red-line it in neutral while stopped, the most it will rev to is around 4000 RPM as I understand it.

 

[wasteoffilm]

I believe Preloader has had issues with overextending the slave during one of his many clutch jobs/trans swaps, might be for different reasons, though.
Also, my 2012 doesn't limit the revs in neutral.

 

[Vegamatic]

The slave shouldn't overextend if it's acting on an intact pressure plate. Logical? It moves to release pressure. Extending the cylinder releases more clutch clamping. The pedal movement is still limited by the floor of the car (until
It rusts away)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Vegamatic]

Short response....... Don't buy the extended warranty. The dealer training includes every way to say it's all due to driver error or wear and tear. An oil leak that's spinning oil into your pressure plate is your fault. The Owner Experience response of: I'm sorry for your experience but feel free to send me a personal message so I can reach out to your local dealer where their Owner Experience Managers were just hired and don't know how a manual transmission works. Send us $1500 and we'll cover all of our work for 12 months unless we determine that it's your fault. I'm picking up the old parts in my new Ford.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Foxbox]

When I had my Sonic it saw at least 3 redline clutch dumps at the dragstrip. This was while I was running my Mickey Thompson slicks. All on the stock clutch. It took it just fine.

Something was definitely wrong in OPs application. I doubt the extended will cover it even though in this case I would personally say that should be covered.

 

[SmoothSonic]

My clutch was replaced free of charge. Maybe you can make a case like this for yours. The dealership found that my master cylinder leaked out all the fluid. The manager determined that the lack of hydraulic pressure in the line caused the slave cylinder to not retract the clutch all the way, causing it to rip to shreds like yours. He spoke to the warranty department and got them to add the clutch since the master cylinder is a warranty replacement. Apparently this looks like a common failure, unfortunately.

 

[Hawkdsl]

Holy Cow. I have no clue what the clutch material is, but if its organic, it'll soak up HD Fluid like a sponge... and do that picture from just normal driving. No dumping required.

would love to see the pressure plate face. That'll tell you allot too.

 

[Vegamatic]

I'll try to include two shots of the pressure plate. They hang onto their idea that the throwout bearing "overextended" making it leak after the clutch shredded. The fingers on the pressure plate show no damage.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Vegamatic]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Vegamatic]

And inside the bell housing..

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Hawkdsl]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh yea, it got hot for sure. I've seen allot worse though. I assume the shread was on the motor side. Unless there are deep dips in the PP, it can be turned just like brake disk. PP/Flywheel, and clutch are relatively cheap parts though. If I was doing this job, I'd replace the entire thing, including the slave, and hdydro line to it. It's not fair, but all shops assume abuse when it comes to clutches. Manual shift is rare these days, so no one thinks people know how to drive them anymore,.:blankface:

 

[mitdr774]

Flywheel, disk, pressure plate, and slave were all shot. The slave cylinder probably failed first and took out the others.

 

[SmoothSonic]

It's not fair, but all shops assume abuse when it comes to clutches. Manual shift is rare these days, so no one thinks people know how to drive them anymore,.:blankface:

I know. The manager at the first dealership was trying to school me on how to shift. I told him that I grew up driving old Porsches, an old manual Suzuki jeep, and a manual VW van.

 

[Vegamatic]

Paid $1500 ish including towing. Roadside Assistance is only covered if it's warranty work (at Chevy). No help with Owner Experience contacts. Sold it with all of the new parts at the same price as before the Failure. Have you driven a Ford lately?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mitdr774]

That seems to be the way a lot of formerly GM "loyal" families have gone. GM really has dropped the ball on some things over the past years and they are loosing famliles that have been loyal to them.

How does the Escape compare to the Subdivision for hauling things?

 

[Vegamatic]

Can't fit a 4x8 sheet of plywood in the Escape. Mileage isn't as good as it was in the Sonic. The Mini is more fun than all of them!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mitdr774]

I have a hard time picturing you in a Mini. They just look so small, must have deceptive amounts of head room.

 

[Dirkdaddy]

The Mini has deceptive amount of cargo room, and decent passenger room. They are not very reliable and parts are quite pricey. I know this as I have worked on a friend's 04 base mini. The powertrain is PACKED into the nose of the car in nearly ridiculous manner where you can hardly fit a finger between parts. The Sonic by comparison is easy to repair. The mini uses ball bearing strut bearings, which works great no German roads but our rough roads tear them up. Had to replace at 27k. Hatch and other rattles galore that cannot be resolved. Coolant leak from theromstat. The CVT transmission rarely lasts over 80k, cannot be rebuilt and costs $7k to replace. You can check north american motoring Forum for mini issues to confirm.

I found the ride to be jarringly stiff and handling obviously pretty good but you pay for it. The Sonic rides 3x better and still handles great. Maybe if I autocrossed I'd tell the difference but honestly they are not that far apart.

On the other hand the wife drove a Fiat 500 and said she loved it, and that is supposed to be the worst car quality wise! Told her we're keeping the Sonic!