2004 Vectra CLutch Gone

sdanseo

Just been told by the AA man that I've killed the clutch on my 1.6 Vectra petrol...any ideas how much it'll cost me?

Also, how harmful is the smoke off clutches, reckon I;ve been breathing in asbestos for a couple of weeks as I knew there was a smell but didn't have the money to do much about it, until today when it failed fairly suddenly!

Any input appreciated too re best cheapest places to get the job done in North Dublin!

sdanseo

I rarely bump but...can anyone tell me even how much this is likely to cost please?

shakin

Mates megane clutch went lately...nearly sure he said €800 to get it sorted, not entirely sure though.

Jagle

depends realy, mates bclass merc clutch blew before 2,500 and 3 day repair job that was from main dealer tho, goodluck

sdonn

sdonn wrote: »

reckon I;ve been breathing in asbestos for a couple of weeks as I knew there was a smell but didn't have the money to do much about it, until today when it failed fairly suddenly!

Pads have been asbestos free for years and years, I reckon (but don't know for sure) that clutches have been too.

_MadRa_

sdonn wrote: »

Just been told by the AA man that I've killed the clutch on my 1.6 Vectra petrol...any ideas how much it'll cost me?

Also, how harmful is the smoke off clutches, reckon I;ve been breathing in asbestos for a couple of weeks as I knew there was a smell but didn't have the money to do much about it, until today when it failed fairly suddenly!

Any input appreciated too re best cheapest places to get the job done in North Dublin!

That clutch did well to last a few weeks of abuse.
maybe you should get a few lessons before you have to shell out again...
would be a shame to spend half the price of the car on a new clutch...

sdanseo

_MadRa_ wrote: »

That clutch did well to last a few weeks of abuse.
maybe you should get a few lessons before you have to shell out again...
would be a shame to spend half the price of the car on a new clutch...

In fairness, if the clutch was slipping it needed replacing no matter how long I continued driving on it, so I don't think that statement was entirely nessecary.

Yeah I need to lean less on the clutch, stop riding it and maybe drive the car a little less hard, but at the end of the day I only have the thing a few weeks and am still getting used to it. I'm a poor student, I can't go asking my folks for money because "I think it's revving a little high" - although I have had to get a bailout now to cover some of the repair cost, and I guess I'm lucky that they'll help me out in that regard.

As for spending half the price of the car - it cost €4,700 and the clutch will be around €800-1000. Got a price from the main dealer - €1200 on the nail - and a quote of anywhere from €450-€1200 from an indy. Suffice to say I'm getting it towed to the indy in the morning :P

07Lapierre

sdonn wrote: »

In fairness, if the clutch was slipping it needed replacing no matter how long I continued driving on it, so I don't think that statement was entirely nessecary.

Yeah I need to lean less on the clutch, stop riding it and maybe drive the car a little less hard, but at the end of the day I only have the thing a few weeks and am still getting used to it.

As for spending half the price of the car - it cost €4,700 and the clutch will be around €800-1000. Got a price from the main dealer - €1200 on the nail - and a quote of anywhere from €450-€1200 from an indy. Suffice to say I'm getting it towed to the indy in the morning :P

Driving a car with a slipping clutch can damage the flywheel. Only way you'll know is to remove the gearbox. Let us know how you get on.

sdanseo

OSI wrote: »

http://mycarservice.ie/ suggests upwards of €600

Hope that'll turn out to be realistic - my Indy that I always brought my last car to was, I found, never one to jack up the price on anything and in fact almost always charged at or under his initial estimate. Never had him quoate such a wide price range though.

We'll see tomorrow. Is it a one-day job usually or does it depend on the garage? This fella is just working out of a lock up and is usually busy, makes me fear I won't be seeing the car till Wednesday teatime

OSI wrote: »

Hardly constructive input or a fair comment to make.

There are plenty of reasons the clutch could have failed that wouldn't be as a result of the OP's driving skills. Especially with the all icey roads of late it would be very easy to toast a clutch looking for grip.

Well, to an extent I do drive quite hard and I do ride the clutch a lot. My last car though was a 1996 Corsa given to me by my Mam with 86,000 miles, sold it just the other day with 110,000 miles and never any clutch problems, and I reckon I've the same driving style with both cars. Suppose when you trade up you trade up the cost of running as well!

_MadRa_

Its fair to say you are not 100% in the driving department...plenty cheap cars to drive til you are...if you are a poor student i dont think you need to spend near 5k on a car...i had a nissan sunny when i was going to college, cost me 300 euro, used it for 4 years...never had a problem with it...

did you buy the astra at an auction?

As for the icy weather hurting a clutch, that sounds wrong since no traction means no stress... high revs doesnt mean the clutch is involved, unless it is depressed the whole time and that has nothing to do with the weather, only the driver...

Ush1

_MadRa_ wrote: »

As for the icy weather hurting a clutch, that sounds wrong since no traction means no stress... high revs doesnt mean the clutch is involved, unless it is depressed the whole time and that has nothing to do with the weather, only the driver...

If you want to keep the revs low without the car cutting out, you may have to depress the clutch slightly which could cause more wear than normal.

_MadRa_

Ush1 wrote: »

If you want to keep the revs low without the car cutting out, you may have to depress the clutch slightly which could cause more wear than normal.

as long as the revs are low i dont think the clutch will suffer..slamming the limiter with half clutch is the worry

sdanseo

_MadRa_ wrote: »

Its fair to say you are not 100% in the driving department...plenty cheap cars to drive til you are...if you are a poor student i dont think you need to spend near 5k on a car...i had a nissan sunny when i was going to college, cost me 300 euro, used it for 4 years...never had a problem with it...

did you buy the astra at an auction?


As for the icy weather hurting a clutch, that sounds wrong since no traction means no stress... high revs doesnt mean the clutch is involved, unless it is depressed the whole time and that has nothing to do with the weather, only the driver...

Firstly it's a Vectra, no bought it from a SIMI dealer actually but didn't give them the time of day for the clutch as there's no way it'd be covered by the warranty and they were pricks to deal with due to a bit of trouble with the tie rod and a squeak in the wheel at medium speed (which still needs sorting, will get that seen to tomorrow as well).

As I said this over-revving, slipping etc has been going on for a few weeks so even if the cold weather did worsen it, it needed replacing anyway. In any event, it's started very soon after purchase so the damage could just as easily have been started by the previous owner, who was a lady type

The only driving errors I ever make are clutch related and I attribute that to the adjustment to a new car. I often don't let the clutch in enough when changing grear and might also release it too early resulting is over-revs, lately I've been revving near the limit the odd time in low gear straining for grip although the slipping started a long time before the ice. I'd also forget to change up a gear in good time - again with this new car it feels and sounds much more subtle and quiet than the old one so it might seem that you're cruising along in 4th, when in actual fact you're still in 3rd. They're little, albeit costly, bad habits which I'm doing less and less and less as I keep getting used to the car, and in general my standard of driving is extremely good. While friendly advice is what I came here for, slagging of my ability to drive is not something I appreciate.

_MadRa_

You know you have these bad habits and still you purchased a 5k car with a knacked clutch + whatever other problems
also why did you buy it from a dealer that you had no respect for?
Id rather ruin a **** car than an expensive one...up to you tho buddy...

snowman707

_MadRa_ wrote: »

You know you have these bad habits and still you purchased a 5k car with a knacked clutch + whatever other problems
also why did you buy it from a dealer that you had no respect for?
Id rather ruin a **** car than an expensive one...up to you tho buddy...

lighten up ffs

OP came on boards to ask for advise, not to get take sh1t from you,

4.40 am post and that's the best you contribute?

sdanseo

_MadRa_ wrote: »

You know you have these bad habits and still you purchased a 5k car with a knacked clutch + whatever other problems
also why did you buy it from a dealer that you had no respect for?
Id rather ruin a **** car than an expensive one...up to you tho buddy...

Don't have to defend myself against someone like you, but I will anyway, just to justify myself and cos I'm bored.

The dealer was lovely, great to deal with...until something went wrong. Then they just didnt want to know; despite quite openly saying when I drove off in it that if there's any issues, give us a bell and we'll do our upmost. Blah Blah.

I didn't have the bad habits - or certainly didn't know about them - with my last car! As I said there was 110,000+ miles on it with no problems. It drove so well and with so few problems, I was ridiculously well-fortuned with it.

If you've nothing else to add might I kindly ask that you go away.

(FWIW, just got it towed, indy says it'll be tomorrow but I'll know the cost later today. Turns out there's a chance it could have a dual-mass flywheel and if the DMF is borked, well frankly so am I)

Leonard Hofstadter

A clutch should be around €500.

It's a petrol, not a diesel, so there's no DMF or anything like that. Changing the DMF can be a €1,500 job, more on some premium make cars at a main dealer.

Anything north of a grand is talking the p1ss for a petrol engined car.

sdanseo

captainspeed wrote: »

A clutch should be around €500.

It's a petrol, not a diesel, so there's no DMF or anything like that. Changing the DMF can be a €1,500 job, more on some premium make cars at a main dealer.

Anything north of a grand is talking the p1ss for a petrol engined car.

Cheers. The indy I left it into said he wasn't sure about a DMF but he'd barely lifted the bonnet at that stage and I hadnt specified petrol or diesel - I'm sure he'll manage to figure that out somehow :rolleyes:

sdonn

sdonn wrote: »

Cheers. The indy I left it into said he wasn't sure about a DMF but he'd barely lifted the bonnet at that stage and I hadnt specified petrol or diesel - I'm sure he'll manage to figure that out somehow :rolleyes:

He'd know if 'twas petrol or diesel at a glance

trad

I've used this company and have recommended them to others http://www.walkinstownclutch.ie/index.php

My experience was good value for money and same day service.

sdanseo

Got the car back this evening - €650 all told, including a tpo up for the oil tank. Delighted.

Still a musty asbestosy smell in the car that'll hopefully **** off soon -reckon there's a pile of it stuck in the air filters so might get them done soon. Anyone reckon it's a bad idea to keep driving round with the smell lingering (was blowing the clutch smell in through the heater very noticably, and breathing it, for a good few weeks before hand, I'm gone all health paranoid now what with the whole asbestos thing!)

Cheers for the input folks.