Thanks again.
We bought the car last June. My son said the owner had said he had recently replaced the clutch. I "seem" to recall he said that. But I've slept since then...
The carfax report shows the maintenance done and it's not on there. Not sure how thorough those are. Unfortunately my son can't find the service papers that I believe were with the owners manual.
So...let's say the clutch was replaced and they also did the flywheel. Then perhaps just 5-6 hours of labor plus part, fluids, and tow. But if they get in there and the clutch ang flywheel are toast, he's committed or wasted the money on labor.

 

That's exactly the reason why under a normal clutch repair you ALWAYS replace all the components. They probably did replace the clutch and flywheel but they didn't feel like paying for the CSC/CMC to be replaced as well and this is what happens. Those two items were never intended to last the life of TWO clutches so they will inevitably fail sometime during the life of the second clutch.

However, it's still definitely possible the clutch is fine, even if the clutch does need to be replaced you can always mate it up against the same flywheel. Definitely not IDEAL because it will cause premature wear of the clutch friction surface as it's ground into the unmachined face of the existing flywheel but once the initial wear happens it's going to wear at a normal rate from that point on. Sure the mechanic is going to try to talk you out of it because it's not how you would NORMALLY perform the repair but just let them know ahead of time that your biggest concern is the BILL and that you are fully aware that this is a band-aid and not a true "fix".

Something that your son should definitely be looking into is if there is a local skills center as part of the school district that has an auto body / auto machine program. They will typically accept student vehicles to train the class with and you can recieve labor-free repairs, just know that the work is performed by high-school age kids under the supervision of their classroom instructor. I've referred MANY people with financial problems to the one here locally.

The more I think about this the more I think you should invest the minimal amount into this vehicle to simply get it running then SELL IT before your son causes any more damage to it and buy him a Honda Civic which is MUCH cheaper to work on and is less prone to various issues and also has much less power /sportiness since your son doesn't appear to be a very responsible driver at the moment. Putting him in the seat of a sports car doesn't seem like it's going to end well and he can't afford to repair the damage or maintenance.

 

Thanks. I'll take your lecture under consideration.
Perhaps they did a full clutch job "recently" and just the csc failed. It's a bad component. He said the clutch was smooth and fine.
https://youtu.be/joywyhfte9o

 

It's pretty common to have the slave fail on these cars after a clutch job it seems. I would also recommend the shop class method, but if time is of the essence this will probably be an issue. Cleric knows his stuff, so read and take it to heart!

 

Yes!!

 

I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking at? Did they authorize the repair as part of that "voluntary replacement" ?

 

It's the repair receipt from last June from the previous owner. He did the clutch, flywheel and slave cylinder right before he sold it to us. Plus rear main seal, crank position sensor and serpentine belt.
So those slave cylinders really do suck.

 

Wow... I know they had a pretty high failure rate but I DIDN'T know it was happening on brand new items like that. I would definitely get the CSC relocation kit installed if you plan on keeping the vehicle. The cost of the parts is a little spendy yes but cheaper than the cost of having the transmission removed next year for ANOTHER CSC if you're so unlucky...

 

Does that shop offer a warranty ? I'd be tempted to ask the previous owner to help you out on this (even pay him something for his troubles!).

 

Hmm.

 

Ah damn. That's a good point.... I'll call
Thanks

 

Hot to the damn!
It has a 2 year /24k warranty.
I called and its transferable!
Wow, what a turn of events.

HUGE thanks Hall for pointing that out.
I really appreciate it. So does my son.
He can actually enjoy that he just finished school today.
Thanks for all the help cleric and others. What a little journey that was.
Scott

 

Congratulations! I'm sure that's a huge weight lifted off of you, enjoy your memorial day weekend lol.

 

There is now a You Tube video on replacing the CSC with an external slave and fork system. I have an 07 Infinity G35 Coupe and it has an external slave. Too bad about the sedan. I have just ordered an OEM master and slave from Z1.They have the best price on OEM. I am selling my G35 because I'm 72 years old and it;'s hard to drive anymore. I need a 4 door for the grandkids. 105k, original owner, no mods, no accidents and has every option including rear-wheel steering. HKS exhaust installed by dealer - was on the car when I bought it.