Date: Sun, 31 Jan 1999 10:51:28 +0000
Reply-To: The Henrys <jch@VNET.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: The Henrys <jch@VNET.NET>
Subject: Re: Clutch repairs, was "Is mechanic on the level?"
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Dear David:
Recent clutch experiences in my 84 westy may be of some value. Evaluating the
veracity of your mechanic is something that time will only tell. I my case,
the PO has replaced the clutch and throw out bearing at 80 k miles and again
at 90 k miles and the slave cylinder at some point in-between. Their mechanic
said it must be the way "his wife drove" and hit him up for $700+ for each
clutch job.(the garage has since gone out of business or I would mention
names.) It is easy to see why they sold me the van at 95k miles.
So on to the point of my story, sure enough at 101k miles, at a stop light in
Black Mountain, NC, (250 miles from home) at 9:30 pm on a Saturday night, the
throw out bear went out with no warning. Well, disasters often have positive
results, and this did. The very fine folks at the French Quarter Cafe
(incredibly good food as well as folks) directed us to Rick Marrett (they
said he was formerly known as the "bug doctor" at I-40 Auto Service. His
examination of the whole system showed that all the parts you mentioned
required replacement and, probably most important, the clutch "guide sleeve"
was bad. He saved all of my old parts and the old sleeve had a noticeable
bend in it which was preventing the throw out bearing from completely
disengaging. Total cost: $511.
I have not seen anyone on the list mention the sleeve as part of a clutch
repair, but it is only a $17 part and seems to have a real important role in
the whole operation.
Good luck with your effort, I hope my experiences add reliablity to your
future miles.
jim henry
84 westy
84 rx7 gsl-se
DAVID MOST wrote:
> I just took my '87 in for a clutch replacement, and the service manager
> called me the next day to tell me that not only was my throw out bearing
> bad, but I needed a new slave cylinder, "cross shaft", and cross shaft
> bushing (is this the release shaft under a different name), and my
> flywheel resurfaced and new main seal.
>
> He began to describe how the clutch must have felt (I didn't speak to him
> when I dropped it off), and he really missed the boat in his
> description. Other than some
> intermittent screeching with the clutch pedal out (Most people said pilot
> bearing), it drove as it always has. It shifted fine without any of the
> crunching or sloppy shifting that the service manager stated must have
> been the case.
>
> Unfortunately, the place I dropped it off is about an hour away, so I
> can't go see for myself. I'm wondering if he's trying to take me for a
> ride, or if it's possible that all the things mentioned above need to be
> done and I was just experiencing a little symptom.
>
> As well as it was driving, and given the way the service manager was
> talking, I feel like somethign is up. However, I've never had a vehicle
> that needed a clutch or clutch parts, so I'm quite ignorant with respect
> to these matters.
>
> What started off as a $250 clutch job is being revised to a $575 job.
> I've done most of the work on my vanagon since I've had it with the help
> of the list, so it's kind of a drag having to pay such huge sums. It
> would help if I could find someone that I could trust for sure around
> here.
>
> Thanks in advance for any input.
>
> david
| 
