Burnt Clutch at just 4800 miles!

[comic0guy]

Like some others have said, a loss of pressure could cause what you are describing. The Evo X has a weak clutch master cyclinder (now apparently being recalled) that when people upgraded their clutches would break the CMC.

When the CMC would break, it leaked fluid, and the clutch pedal would go to the floor and not pop back up without some assistance.

[Porsche]

Originally Posted by mike the snake

I would think, that even with abuse, it would be pretty hard to burn up or break a clutch in 4800 miles.

That would seem reasonable.

The truth is different, though, which may be worth learning for some of the new manual transmission drivers reading here. There's abuse and then there's ABUSE!

A service manager at a VW dealership related this story. A dad brings his 16-year-old teenage son into the dealership on a Friday to buy him a new GTi.

The kid has never driven a manual gearbox, so someone at the dealership offers to give him a brief driving lesson to familiarize him with the basics.

Dad and kid decline, and they take the new GTi home.

They angrily return on Monday with a burned out clutch disk and a blued flywheel. It lasted just one weekend.

Surprisingly, VW generously offered to replace the parts, but the owner had to pay for the labor. But, only this once, naturally.

It is quite possible to destroy a clutch (and the flywheel via over-heating) in a mere weekend of abuse. The kid must have gone berserk, though, don't you think?

Expensive lesson to learn.

[Malt]

Originally Posted by FastOnFastOff

On Saturday November 16th, my clutch failed at just under 4800 miles.

Could this be why your clutch got fried?

From the thread :$110 Track Day@Willow Springs-Big Willow- Nov 16-17 in SoCal

Originally Posted by FastOnFastOff

Just registered...I'm in!

God willing, I'll see you on the 16th!

Originally Posted by FastOnFastOff

Yes! And for this reason, I'll be losing my track-virginity. As of today, however, I'm still the 41-year-old virgin!

Originally Posted by FastOnFastOff

Folks at ExtremeSpeed were great! Not too many 86's...I saw a white BRZ and the white Crawford BRZ which appeared to be on fire at turn 9. I did a 1:47.7 in a bone-stock FRS with the Primacy's. Nothing to write home about...but it did bump me up to "green"!

It failed on the same day you had a track event. Did it fail at the track? Could the dealership had people at that track event writing down plates? Anytime you post up information about what your doing with the car that could be considered "abuse" or post up what mods you've done and then you try to bring it in for warrenty issues you run the risk of warranty repairs being denied.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by Malt

Could this be why your clutch got fried?

From the thread :$110 Track Day@Willow Springs-Big Willow- Nov 16-17 in SoCal

The clutch on the OEM car should be able to survive several AutoX and Track days if not ABUSED! as Porsche's story describes, only the OP really knows if he fried it on his own or not, which may be why he's willing to shell out this time.

Makes me nervous about losing my 86 track virginity though...

[Malt]

I'm not making any claims to the reason it got fried, just that it looks extremely suspicious that on his very first track day ever the clutch gets fried. Its unfortunate that it happened, but at least he's doing the right thing and paying for it out of pocket. What is unfortunate is that he took it to a dealership and now he's going to end up with another stock clutch and flywheel. He could of had a better clutch and lightened flywheel for not that much more money.

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by FastOnFastOff

For me it's primarily a time-issue. If I had the time (the ability to live without a car), I'd be much more aggressive. $1600 is not small for me, but just at the point where I think waving the white-flag is the better option. I should be getting the car back tomorrow or Friday at the latest.

Just because you pay up front for this doesn't mean the warranty doesn't cover it and get you a refund or dealer credit after the fact. Warranty is warranty.

The main dealers have to do the work if you want to claim warranty.

Clutch plates are not warranted against wear but they are warranted against manufacturing defects.

You are entitled to Toyota HQ ruling on the cause of this premature failure and, if they refuse to warranty it you can still try to prove them wrong. You will need your own experts though. Toyota must preserve the parts and produce them to your experts or tusk an adverse finding in court should it go that far.

Premature clutch plate wear is caused by inadequate pressure plate pressure. This can be due to operator error (by far the most common) defective pressure plate spring (rare but possible as these are heat treated spring steel) or hydraulics that prevent full spring pressure reaching the plate. Other possible causes of clutch failure include disintegration of clutch plate lining or failure of the pressure plate assembly. Your description is of failed hydraulics. If the clutch pedal stays fine then the master or slave cylinder failed or the clutch line blocked up internally holding the clutch partially disengaged. However, this should not wear the clutch plate unless it had been a developing fault for quite some time.

What is Toyota saying are the damaged parts and why they are damaged?

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by pche

Agree, however, shutting off the engine you also lose power steering and power brakes, just something to keep in mind. Turn off the engine once you have slow down and steer clear of danger.

Yes, you shut off the engine in old cars to stop them blowing up, not ideal but a blown engine also leads to no power steering or brakes and also a blown engine.

Modern engines will run at the limiter all day without breaking and you should NOT switch them off until the car has stopped. The noise can be very intimidating though so you need to stay cool.

[1086]

GG.

[Porsche]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

Makes me nervous about losing my 86 track virginity though...

LOL!

Time to begin practicing your heel-and-toe technique?

If you lived near me, I'd gladly teach you. Sincerely.

When I was done with you, you'd be beside yourself with satisfaction and joy.

[fledonfoot]

Originally Posted by FastOnFastOff

For sure I'll ask. They already offered to show it to me.

Ask for the parts back.

They belong to you, and are not being returned to Toyota as part of the warranty process. That's awfully nice of the dealership to show you something that belongs to you

Take pictures. Call corporate. The least you can do is ask for some kind of assistance. You might get a sympathetic ear on the other end that offers help.

[STV3]

A worn clutch disc would not cause your clutch pedal to lose pressure and fall flat on the floor. Sounds like something went in the hydraulic system and they are just trying to make some money off of you.

[Bad Habits]

Originally Posted by Malt

Could this be why your clutch got fried?

From the thread :$110 Track Day@Willow Springs-Big Willow- Nov 16-17 in SoCal

It failed on the same day you had a track event. Did it fail at the track? Could the dealership had people at that track event writing down plates? Anytime you post up information about what your doing with the car that could be considered "abuse" or post up what mods you've done and then you try to bring it in for warrenty issues you run the risk of warranty repairs being denied.

This EXACTLY why I drive my car like a Corolla, so what I got smoked by a Daewoo Lanos the other day. This a BRZ not Zonda

[midnight23]

if they aren't going to cover it under warranty get your car back and take it to a shop, you can get an even stronger clutch + install for less than that price!

[FT-86-]

Dude my buddy did burnouts, massive downshifts on the highway, rev matched all the time, canyon runs, and reved the crap out of his 86 for 22k miles and the clutch was perfect. Heck this is his first manual car.

Contact Headquarters but DO NOT! get angry at them when explaining/complaining, it will get you nowhere.