New clutch at 8500km!

[carneb]

Add my car to the list of those who have had their clutch replaced. The cars only done 8500km and hasn't been flogged, not consistently anyway ;) . The clutch hasn't been right since new, with an inconsistent takeup point. I took it in to be checked a couple of months ago and of course was told it was normal. It seemed to settle down after that, but recently it was taking up closer and closer to the floor. Finally on Monday I was having trouble getting it into gear, so rang the dealer to book it in. The next morning, I couldn't get it into gear at all. I rang Holden Roadside Assist and had it towed to the dealer. Today they replaced the clutch assembly. They said that 4 of the fingers on the pressure plate had collapsed. The clutch feels a million percent better now, and the gearbox has lost most of it's notchiness. The only problem will be getting used to the higher takeup point.

Does anyone know why the fingers on the pressure plate would have collapsed? Faulty part, my driving style, or something else?

Carneb

[hypervxssgen3]

G'day,my vx ss is on it's second clutch and it is going in for another one on friday.I have had the same problem with mine getting it into gear and not much travel in the pedal before the clutch engages.The dealer is fitting another clutch kit and they are also replacing the hydrolics as well.I am getting a constant burning of the clutch smell even when i am driving the car like my grandmother would :rolleyes: ,it would be much appreciated if anyone knew what the problem is.

[snapper05]

It could be driving style. I don't 'launch' my M6 SV8, instead roll it off the line and then bang through the gears. I've asked Holden about my clutch, though, because the take up point is so high!!! A mate with a VX R8 drove it and thought it wasn't in gear, because his knee was just about smacking him in the face!!! Holdens reply??? "Its within specs, sir". But after 26,000km, I'm still on the original clutch... :)

[KeenGolfer]

Hmmm, I've been noticing a burning smell lately after giving the car a run. Been trying to work out what it is, now you've got me thinking it might be the clutch...

[SSbaby]

Add my car to the list of those who have had their clutch replaced. The cars only done 8500km and hasn't been flogged, not consistently anyway ;) . The clutch hasn't been right since new, with an inconsistent takeup point. I took it in to be checked a couple of months ago and of course was told it was normal. It seemed to settle down after that, but recently it was taking up closer and closer to the floor.

Identical problem to mine except my take up point was too high from the floor. Inconsistent and never right from the start.

I had a hell of a time trying to convince my dealer that there was something wrong with the clutch...dealer said that they couldn't find anything wrong with it after inspecting it and they wouldn't take my word for it. I brought it back time and time again until I got fed up and spoke to Holden Customer Assist. They advised the dealer to give me a new clutch (including pressure plate). The 2nd clutch is quite good now and I'm happy to say that I was right all along. I didn't really need the hassle with the dealer.

I believe the flywheel should also be changed whenever the clutch assy is replaced, but some dealers choose not to. My dealer didn't. :mad:

[georgec]

There is a known problem with the pressure plate which results in some parts of the clutch plate not receiving the same amount of pressure as other parts hence the inconsistent take-up points. I mentioned this problem at my 1500 service to be told it was OK. When they took my M6 gearbox away to be rebuilt I asked them to have a look at the clutch. Turns out the pressure plate was cracked! After being replaced it was OK for a while but now even one WOT will give me either very high pedal pressure or a very low take-up point until (presumably) the fluid cools off a little.

[MonaroCV8]

I also have had clutch problems. I took it to my local holden dealer (which is the same as yours carneb) and they said there was an air bubble in the system so they bled it. After driving it for 1 day it was back to normal (no pressure). I was told by a number of people including a guy who used to work there that this dealership is hopeless. I took my car to another dealership on the north shore and they replaced the pressure plate and flywheel. The car has been great since.

[Danv8]

"clutch replaced", sounds like a holden to me. see if u had a toyota camry u wouldnt have any problems at all :D


:rolleyes:
Yes you would have problems of falling a sleep behind the wheel in a Camry. :stick:

[Danv8]

At least we get to drive our cars unlike push our holdens because our clutch is screwed :D

Yeah what ever..

I will put this very bluntly
Are you so bored that you would run rampant through non "Toyota" Forums posting your
worthless blather? or is there some sense of assistance you
wish to provide. People come here to get assistance with their products and
your mindless (repeat mindless) diatribe show no use.

Thanks.

[ssberlina]

"clutch replaced", sounds like a holden to me. see if u had a toyota camry u wouldnt have any problems at all :D

To be honest I wouldnt be seen dead in a camry. They are crap. Now back to the topic.

carneb I am interested whether you do a lot of stop start city driving? This cant be good for the life of a clutch. An example I was in bumper to bumper traffic in mostly 1st gear for 45 minutes this morning.

While I was sitting their I was wondering how a clutch stands up to this start stop procedure. It must heat the clutch plate etc up.

[SSbaby]

Guys, I wouldn't worry too much about the Toyota Troll. He won't stay here very long.

[markone2]

At least we get to drive our cars unlike push our holdens because our clutch is screwed :D


I’ll concede to that ,after all Toyota has a duty to its purchasers to ensure the elderly and infirm are not left stranded on there way to Bowls………..

[PepeLePew]

Since we're on clutch issues....is it normal, when engaging gear from standstill, to have the car 'clunk' forward even tho the clutch is flat to the floor?

[clixanup]

Since we're on clutch issues....is it normal, when engaging gear from standstill, to have the car 'clunk' forward even tho the clutch is flat to the floor?

Nope. Sounds like it isn't fully disengaging.

[carneb]

carneb I am interested whether you do a lot of stop start city driving? This cant be good for the life of a clutch.

Most of my driving is too and from work, a 15km trip one way. There's a couple of roundabouts and traffic lights but there's not much stop and start.

There have been times when in heavy traffic that I've thought the same thing - that it couldn't be good for the clutch, especially with the standard diff gears and having to slip the clutch so much (relatively) when getting moving.

[muzza]

My first car was a Chrysler Centura - (a nice 265 cui with a few choice mods) but had some clutch probs. Blew 2 pressure plates within 1 year - no abuse - but similar in that gearchange was very difficult with clutch effectively dragging.

WTF - you are saying - has this to do with Gen 3 clutch probs?

Well they both have hydraulic clutches.
Bill Shaw - hemi guru at Hemi Performance diagnosed the problem in the Centura as the hydraulic fluid, under the influence of gravity, pushes the slave cylinder piston slightly out all the time, which rests the thrust bearing against the pressure plate diaphragm fingers all the time. With that slight push circling through the pressure plate fingers it flexes it a little with every rotation and causes premature fatigue of the pressure plate diaphragm.

What I dont know is whether Commodores have a similar set up - I suspect it is.

I solved the Centura problem by Bill's suggestion of placing a return spring on the outer end of the clutch fork to just pull the thrust bearing back off the diaphragm. Result? - the final pressure plate lasted well over 2 years and was going strong when sold. If that was the problem - not just a dud batch of pressure plates - then the solution worked.

[JaseSV8]

Well ... I've just picked up my SV8 from the local holden dealer, having had the clutch assembly replaced. My circumstance is almost identical to Carneb, except that the fingers on my pressure plate let go with a 'bang' whilst I was in the middle of 3 lanes of peak hour traffic!
Had to call Holden Assist and have the car towed. The service centre told me that it was a 'manufacturing fault' with the pressure plate.
My car has done 37,000 km ... and I must admit that most of my driving is in heavy stop/start traffic.
The good news for me is that the pedal now takes up much earlier and the clutch itself feels much tighter and smooth.

[SSbaby]

'manufacturing fault' with the pressure plate.

Well, you'd think Holden would have asked the manufacturer to rectify it by now if that were the case. My clutch felt crap from the moment I picked the car up at the dealer. It took me 3 services later to convince the dealer that it's playing up. They couldn't find anything wrong with it even though the take up point was inconsistent and right at the end of it's travel (just before its alignment with brake pedal).

On the second clutch now... still not the best. Can't wait for a new aftermarket one. One thing that you must budget for when you're buying a Holden (new or used) is around $10K in after market mods to improve the driving experience - exhaust/edit, suspension, brakes, clutch, etc...

[Jphdg]

These problems sound so familiar.

I had all of these problems with my last car, a VS BT1 Pack with a mild 5.0Lt with about 215kw. I picked the car up when it had 55,000 Kms on the clock and it blew 2 pressure plates and required the flywheel to be machined once by the time I sold the car when it had done 110,000 kms. I have a feeling the third clutch is probably about to blow or has already blown by now.

Also the cluch would ocationally shutter but would always seemed to have that 'Clunk' into engage from the lights which really bothered me as the problem never got fixed no matter how many times I asked someone to look at it.

So I guess what I am saying is that this is not just a problem with the GenIII series of cars, seems to have been a problem going well back over quite a few models of commodores.

I bought an Auto this time around as I just don't want the headaches with it and with more HP with the GenIII I worried that the problems would be compounded and yes I hardly ever did burnouts or launched really hard from standing still.

:rolleyes:

[SCOTTR8]

my clutch was replaced 30,000km ago my car has been sitting in the dealers parking lot for the last 2 days, hope the get around to looking at it soon! 8500km ? i should be glad mine lasted 30000km. yes i can drive a manual.

[VXSS]

My clutch release point was so high when I first bought it. I asked the dealer whats the go they said its normal.

It was bascially at the release of the clutch completely, I got a mate to drive it he said this is a joke, anyway took a while to get use too, but I still was not happy with it.

So I asked if they could adjust the pedal, one dealer told me that the clutch pedal should b inline with the brake pedal.

I had a look and it was like 2-3cm higher so I asked how do I adjust it, they said with 2 x 10mm's spanners I think from memory and go to the pedal and you'll c the nuts to adjust, so anyway unscrewed the nuts and saw that the pedal was coming up and then got it going down.

Got it back inline with the braked pedal and took it for a drive unreal it gripped at a quarter from the clutch fully pressued in, what a difference.

Have not had a problem since and it has done 47000 plus kays, and alot of stop starts city m5 driving.

[Roger]

Hmmm, I've been noticing a burning smell lately after giving the car a run. Been trying to work out what it is, now you've got me thinking it might be the clutch...

Or perhaps the torque overload on a clutch that wasn't designed to take a standard LS1, let alone what you have ?????

:)

[SSbaby]

Or perhaps the torque overload on a clutch that wasn't designed to take a standard LS1, let alone what you have ?????

:)

Yeah, I think you're absolutley right there, Roger. Aussie manufacturers (in particular Ford and Holden) have a habit of taking shortcuts here 'n' there.

As I've already stated in another post, whenever you buy a Holden (or Ford), set aside $10K for aftermarket mods so that you get maximum enjoyment from your vehicle.

[Hutto]

My tonner is carrying around 300 kilo's of trade gear daily and i am on my third clutch after doing 20k's. The GVM of these things is sposed to be 2800 and i weigh in fully loaded at 2300. I can just imagine trying to tow something with these things.
The first one failed at 5 000 k's and due to availability problems (funny that) they put a "heavy duty" one in for me.
15 000 k's later i was driving in fifth on a highway and went to change gear when bang. Could not select a gear. Eventually jammed it in second and drove the thing to my dealer. Boy did they whinge when they saw the clutch. They reckon it looked like a 100k clutch not 15. After a big shite fight i finally decide to buy an extreme clutch and they put it in under warranty. My cost 1500 bucks, ringing holden they wanted to charge me 1200 for their crap genuine one.
No decision really.
Also had a new gear box installed after the first clutch.
Diff is in now as i type getting done with better gears which i am sure is a lot of the problem. LSD has gone but being replaced and getting 4.1 gears .....yeah baby

[SSbaby]

My clutch finally got replaced at 30K but not without getting Holden Customer Assist involved as the dealer was about as useful as pockets on a singlet...

At 52K, I had had enough of the Holden clutches (still under warranty) and decided to go aftermarket... got myself a Higgins clutch...haven't looked back. :D

It's unfortunate that Holden aren't in any hurry to rectify the clutch issues affecting LS1 owners - I wished they'd opt for a good clutch, there'd be that much fewer complaints from owners. :rolleyes:

[muzza]

A couple of things have got me thinking my clutch is not all it should be.

First I notice driving that it takes up a long way from the floor and conversely disengages with only 2-3cm of push from the top - like it's worn out - and I have only done 12 000 klicks - and I dont hard launch, normal driving is to slip it in at 1000rpm or so then go from there. I never thought it particularly "high" until lately.

Second, I got a courtesy call the other day from the service manager where I have had the car serviced about how it's going since I had the welsh plugs in the heads replaced. I say good - no leaks, long trip to NSW/QLD no drama etc.
Then he asks if the clutch has been OK - I go yeah, he asks if there's been any slipping, I go no, but it's got me thinking they may be on a quiet alert about a batch of clutches that are possibly an issue.

Anyway, I think it's becoming something that they need to look at at the next service. Seems there's VY's with issues, but not many VY II's, but I'd be interested to hear of other owners with a similar issue.

Cheers,
Muzza