OEM Clutch Replace time

[JRollar]

So.... awkward moment when you kill the clutch at 25k miles just happened. I got the car April 2012 and had a billion warranty issues. Something tells me this isn't warranty.

I'm not mechanically inclined, and I don't trust my friends with a $20k car.

Price for OEM disc is a little under 100$, does anyone know a reasonable labor cost? Dealership wants to charge 1000$ for labor, I'm thinking this is a 4-5 hour job for most transmission shops, and paid nicely 60$ an hour, $300 cash is understandable.

How far off am I?

[wparsons]

How did you kill the clutch already??? It should last MUCH longer than this.

Things might be different where you are, but up here transmission shops charge more like $90/hour and I bet this would be more like a 6-8 hour job.

[CircuitJerk]

Most shops would likely charge 3-400 bucks for labor. I can't see this taking more than a few hours.
I'd say you're spot on @JRollar
Be prepared to give some attention to your flywheel, it may need resurfacing or replacement. It's likely you've got some hot spots.
There could also be other things amiss that caused your clutch to fail early.
When I do replacements, I usually get the clutch disc, the pressure plate and a new throwout bearing.
Additionally, if you buy a kit, it comes with the throwout bearing, but I am weary of what some vendors/manufacturers supply with their kit so I get the OEM bearing unless I know the supplied one is as good or better. I've been burned a few times on relying on the supplied bearing.

Finally, if they have to remove the flywheel, you'll want to replace the bolts with new OEM bolts.
There's lot's of options, look into some local performance oriented shops.
If you're concerned about warranty then the dealer is going to rape you on the labor.

[carlitosway6891]

Why would you be paying for this? You have 25k miles and powertrain warranty is 5 yrs 60k miles....you should be covered. If they can't prove you abused the car then it's covered. When it comes to warranty the only way they can deny the claim is if they have proof that you were the cause of the failed part

[CircuitJerk]

Originally Posted by carlitosway6891

Why would you be paying for this? You have 25k miles and powertrain warranty is 5 yrs 60k miles....you should be covered. If they can't prove you abused the car then it's covered. When it comes to warranty the only way they can deny the claim is if they have proof that you were the cause of the failed part

I agree. But you probably know it's a wear item not normally covered under warranty unless something failed causing the premature wear. It's certainly a possibility.
I've seen these scenarios play out in the car owner's favor, but more often than not, it ends up not being covered. The problem with the latter is the dealer has you over a barrel once they've got things apart. Tough call.

OP, is this the first manual for you? Are there any factors in this that might sway them in your favor?

[wootwoot]

"Granny shifting... Not double clutching when you should!"

[Mikem53]

Originally Posted by carlitosway6891

Why would you be paying for this? You have 25k miles and powertrain warranty is 5 yrs 60k miles....you should be covered. If they can't prove you abused the car then it's covered. When it comes to warranty the only way they can deny the claim is if they have proof that you were the cause of the failed part

Clutch is a wear item.. Driving style can kill a clutch early.. Not the OEMs fault if the driver can't operate a clutch properly.. Usually not covered unless defective.

[Argento_FR-S]

The clutch is only covered for the first 6 months or 6,000 miles if I remember right. At least that what Toyota had told me.

[JRollar]

Full disclosure: This is my first manual, I abused the s*&t out of it, I also killed the syncros within 10k miles (replaced under warranty, but we know who's fault that was), one of my parent's work for a private dealership chain that owns 10+ Toyota stores.

I spoke with the region rep, they are calling this premature wear, the clutch is working 'as designed.' With who my parents are, usually I can work the rep, but this one is a 'no-brainer' to them.

When they replaced the transmission (gear-box, etc) to fix the syncro's they did not replace the clutch/flywheel.

My plan: I plan to grab one of our better transmission tech's, pay him cash (I don't want to insult him or myself by giving to little/much), have him resurface the flywheel, replace the bearing. I like to work with new OEM parts because I get them at-cost.

Because of your comments: should I have them also replace the pressure plate? I thought this was a longer-term Item and If I replaced the clutch fast enough it should never have any damage.

@Mikem53 @CircuitJerk

[Mikem53]

Originally Posted by JRollar

Full disclosure: This is my first manual, I abused the s*&t out of it, I also killed the syncros within 10k miles (replaced under warranty, but we know who's fault that was), one of my parent's work for a private dealership chain that owns 10+ Toyota stores.

I spoke with the region rep, they are calling this premature wear, the clutch is working 'as designed.' With who my parents are, usually I can work the rep, but this one is a 'no-brainer' to them.

When they replaced the transmission (gear-box, etc) to fix the syncro's they did not replace the clutch/flywheel.

My plan: I plan to grab one of our better transmission tech's, pay him cash (I don't want to insult him or myself by giving to little/much), have him resurface the flywheel, replace the bearing. I like to work with new OEM parts because I get them at-cost.

Because of your comments: should I have them also replace the pressure plate? I thought this was a longer-term Item and If I replaced the clutch fast enough it should never have any damage.

@Mikem53 @CircuitJerk

Since you mentioned that u abused the clutch.. I would replace the pressure plate as well.. It could grove the new clutch disc.. And the springs might be weakened from the abuse..

[carbonBLUE]

Trd clutch... loved the last one i bought, abused it daily for 60k miles

[CircuitJerk]

I think there may be some confusion here.
The pressure plate has nothing to do with how any gooving can affect the clutch disk. Grooving happens on the flywheel surface. Which is why I mentioned it may need to be resurfaced.
If it was abused, there's a good chance there's hot spots and in many cases warrants replacement.
The pressure plate is not a "plate" Per se, it's a spring assembly that applies pressure based on the pre set spring load.
The main reason it's good to replace the pressure plate is when under normal wear, over a long time, the tensile strength of the spring tangs can be diminished. Failure to replace the pressure plate in that situation will often lead to premature disk wear, slippage and glazing of the clutch material.
You may be fine since its so new but most kits come with the PP anyway.

Good luk

[Ryuu0u]

Can you define "abused" in your case? This was my first manual also but I'm starting to think I abused it in the first 500mi I've put on it.

[rusty959]

Originally Posted by Ryuu0u

Can you define "abused" in your case? This was my first manual also but I'm starting to think I abused it in the first 500mi I've put on it.

It shouldn't be hard to tell when you are putting a lot of stress on a clutch. If you find yourself often putting heavy strain on the clutch, you might be abusing it.
Examples of this include clutch drop starts, Significant downshifts without rev matching, and possibly upshifts if you do it wrong, such as hit the gas before you let out the clutch.