I had my master clutch cylinder replace 2 weeks ago becuase it was leaking bad and the clutch would not engage. Worked for 2 weeks, then it was leaking again, same thing, clutch wont engage. Took in for warranty, the mechanic said that the clutch got to hot and burned up the slave cylinder. It has been leaking for over a month now and says it wont pay for clutch.
If the slave cylinder or master cylinder was leaking a got all over the clutch, could that ruin the clutch? He says it has hot spots all over it. The clutch never slipped before, just totally stopped working from all of the leaking of the fluid and I think the fluid got all over the clutch and thats why I could not engage it???? 29,000 miles on the car
PLEASE HELP???? They want $2200.00...should they cover the clutch??
If it was a stock car with warranty still remaining, I would think they should cover damage to the clutch due to leakage from another part of the drivetrain. I certainly would argue that oil or any other fluid from an otherwise covered part that trashed the clutch should be covered under the warranty (even though torching the clutch by itself isn't).
It sounds like consequential damages to me... check your warranty and see if thats covered.
that aside, the right thing to do would be for them to cover it, but prepare for a fight. Maybe get a 2nd opinion and if it agrees with yours, you have more ammo to get it fixed.
(99 GTS no orginal factory left, but purchased the added care plus 51/60 which is good for 4 more years)
They called today and said that the slave cylinder is not covered under warranty, is this true? It was leaking on the outside of the slave cylinder the first time, the hose thats sticking out of the tranny, but was replaced, and thats what got all over the clutch, but now they said they are fixing nothing because it is not covered under warranty and they want $250 for taking my car apart, which I did not authorize, I told them I am here for warranty work and they said no problem!!!!!
Did you look at your Added Care paperwork? They are pretty specific about what systems are covered and what aren't. My guess is that they consider the clutch system a "wear item". Added care was mostly engine, transmission if I remember correctly. I don't think clutches are covered after a year under the standard warranty.
If you don't have your paperwork, then you can search the Dodge site (under Owner's Tools) for Extended Warranty Coverage and you should be able to see a definition of Max Care, Added Care, etc.
No clutch parts are cover under any of the D.C Extended Warranties (service contract).
If you read your Service Contract policy under Transmission, it says as a last line "Manual Transmission Clutch Parts are not covered at any time."
If they already have the trans out, why not just supply them with a clutch to install. There are usually the LUK Viper clutch assemblies (new pressure plated & disc) on Ebay for about $200. It's my understanding that the LUK brand are the OEM clutch used in the Viper. They've already done the hard part of removing the trans. get a clutch to them, have them resurface the flywheel (or go to an aluminum one) and then install the new clutch.
That would be my recommendation of how to procede....
Most dealerships service departments are charging $90-$100 per hour labor rate these days.
The big question is how much "book time" they show for removing & reinstalling the trans.
Even if the tech does the job faster than book time, they usually still charge book time, unless you can work out a deal with them on the labor pricing.
Hell, anything is negotiable....
Realisticly, it's about a 2 hour job to remove the trans from a Viper.
I've done it in less than that, so I know others are capable of doing it that fast too.
I never authorized them to take the tranny out... I told them the problem and they said they would take a look at it, I will never give them the $250, I will pay for 1 hour for looking at the car period..if I have to, I will have the police help me get my car out of that palce..
Expect that they WILL hose you for labor. Figure $75 per hr. I believe they get 4 hours for a clutch, not including the slave and the bleeding process. I bet they charge $500 in labor for the job, and they will get you for the clutch too.
Just a word of caution about buying a new clutch for the dealer to install. I did exactly what others have suggested and bought a replacement clutch (Luc OEM) and new flywheel for my dealer to install. I visited with my local dealer's service department and told them that I was going to order the clutch and flywheel and that I wanted them to install it. They said "no problem" and I set up a date to take my car in, and I delivered the clutch and car to them as planned. Four hours later they call me and say that they can not install the clutch since I didn't buy it from them. We went round and round but they would not do the work. I was more than a little ticked off when I went to pick up my car. Some dealers will not install any parts not bought through them. Hope you get everything worked out soon.
Doc
Thanks guys for all the info!! The slave cylinder is not covered under warranty, which totally sucks!!!! I plan on picking up my car tommorow and letting my local mechanic do the job, they want way to much money for the job.
One more question if anyone can give their 2 cents.......the tranny is out of the car and so is the clutch. How long does it take to install new clutch and slave? What is a fair price for labor, remember, the tranny is already out?
I did the clutch in my 96 myself. This is a very straight forward job. Do you have a manual for your car? If not get one for the mechanic. The process on bleeding the clutch may be different than other cars(guessing). This was my first ever clutch and it took me 8-9 hours. If I had to do it again, I could do it in 4 hours. 4 hours to remove and replace, so if it already out, I say three hours max for the entire job. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Thanks guys for all of your help!!! Greatly appreciated!!
I bought the clutch from LUK for $210.00 delivered and the slave cylinder from Chryslerpartsdirect.com for $255.00 delivered, told the dealership that I am taking the car somewhere else and they told me that they would use my parts and charge $500.00 for labor and resurfacing the flywheel!!! That is a grand total of $965.00, and they wanted $2200.00 for the job a week ago
So it saves to ask around and buy your own parts...especially for saving $1200.00.THANKS GUYS!!!!
I have been told you should NOT resurface the flywheel. Get some coarse emory cloth and a sander and using light presure to clean up the face of the flywheel. When I did mine, (still in the car), I sanded by hand. Getting a good crosshatch marking makes for surface for the clutch to grab.
