Ok - Here goes my problem / Question...

I have a 2006 Hyundai Accent. About 3 months old, less than 4000 miles
on it.

This week, I pulled up to a stop sign, and when I went to go again, the
clutch didn't engage - i.e. when I lifted it up, absolutely NOTHING
happened other than the pedal lifting up - no indication that it did a
thing....

Fast forward through towing etc... Now, the dealer says that the
clutch was burned out completely "to the metal" - i.e. worn out like it
had been ridden from here to heck and back again. Problem is, I've
never had this problem before (I've had three manual transmisisons
before, last clutch lasted 185k miles before replacement in my old car
if that says anything) so I think I know how to drive a stick shift.
Dealer is confident that there was not a defect in the clutch etc...
(Granted, I'm not the only driver - but my same folks drove the old car
too so same applies there)

Anyone have any ideas here? What could possibly cause this? I did NOT
notice any slipping prior to the total failure of the clutch - which in
itself seems really odd as I really would have thought that it would be
hard to have missed and for it to go so completely gone as it did so
quickly ?

Please - if anyone has had a similar experience or has any suggestions
on where to go with this I'd appreciate some feedback here.

Thanks.

 

Have you seen the clutch? Lots of things cause clutch wear or failure, but
without seeing the clutch, it'd be difficult to offer an opinion as to the
cause of failure.

Of particular interest is the friction material. If it's been turned into
fuzz, then we have a severe slippage issue. Similarly, if the flywheel is
burned, then we have a slippage issue. It's important to know whether all
the clutch damper springs and washers are in place, and whether the
throwout bearing is functioning correctly.

The warranty materials seem to imply that Hyundai will cover clutch wear
for 1 year/12k miles (barring abusive driving). If the dealer is refusing
warranty service, call Hyundai customer assistance. I can't say what'll
happen, but it can't be worse than "no, we think you abused it."

 

Have you seen the clutch? Lots of things cause clutch wear or failure, but
without seeing the clutch, it'd be difficult to offer an opinion as to the
cause of failure.

Of particular interest is the friction material. If it's been turned into
fuzz, then we have a severe slippage issue. Similarly, if the flywheel is
burned, then we have a slippage issue. It's important to know whether all
the clutch damper springs and washers are in place, and whether the
throwout bearing is functioning correctly.

The warranty materials seem to imply that Hyundai will cover clutch wear
for 1 year/12k miles (barring abusive driving). If the dealer is refusing
warranty service, call Hyundai customer assistance. I can't say what'll
happen, but it can't be worse than "no, we think you abused it."

 

Have you seen the clutch? Lots of things cause clutch wear or failure, but
without seeing the clutch, it'd be difficult to offer an opinion as to the
cause of failure.

Of particular interest is the friction material. If it's been turned into
fuzz, then we have a severe slippage issue. Similarly, if the flywheel is
burned, then we have a slippage issue. It's important to know whether all
the clutch damper springs and washers are in place, and whether the
throwout bearing is functioning correctly.

The warranty materials seem to imply that Hyundai will cover clutch wear
for 1 year/12k miles (barring abusive driving). If the dealer is refusing
warranty service, call Hyundai customer assistance. I can't say what'll
happen, but it can't be worse than "no, we think you abused it."

 

> Have you seen the clutch? Lots of things cause clutch wear or failure, but
> without seeing the clutch, it'd be difficult to offer an opinion as to the
> cause of failure.

I have not - I've only spoken with the mechanic. He descibed it as
"worn completely away down to the metal." In addition, he stated that
had the material had a failure he would ahve expected to find "chunks"
of material in the case, but only found "clutch dust" in there. I'm
not a very auto-mechanically knowledgable person so didn't know what to
ask and perhaps missed out on the right key words too...

> Of particular interest is the friction material. If it's been turned into
> fuzz, then we have a severe slippage issue. Similarly, if the flywheel is

I now have more questions to ask it seems... Thank you!

> for 1 year/12k miles (barring abusive driving). If the dealer is refusing
> warranty service, call Hyundai customer assistance. I can't say what'll

Dealer is covering under warranty - however is presenting it as though
doing me a major favor... i.e. the unsaid thing seems to be "you did
this to yourself but I'm letting this slip".

The reason I'm not satisfied with this is that I don't believe that I
did this to the car - quite honestly I tend to think one would have to
be pretty darn abusive to wear out a clutch this fast wouldn't you?
(perhaps it's easier than I think?). Thus, I'm left with two options -
either it's easier to burn out the clutch than I thought and I may need
to re-evaluate my driving habits to avoid a recurrance OR there may be
another defect or issue here that, unless corrected, will cause another
problem down the line... I suppose the third option is that this was
a fluke problem that is somehow going to be fixed when they re-build
the clutch in the course of fixing this one...

Whatever the cause - I just don't want it to happen again. If it IS my
(or my wiffe's) driving then I need to fix that, but is that really
likely here?

They are waiting for parts - due in on Wednesday. I will ask them to
save all the old parts and perhaps take pictures for review if any
knowledgeable person is interested (my regular non-dealer mechanic
asked to look at them) in case they may yield some clues...

I appreciate your taking the time to read, consider, and reply to my
post!

 

> Have you seen the clutch? Lots of things cause clutch wear or failure, but
> without seeing the clutch, it'd be difficult to offer an opinion as to the
> cause of failure.

I have not - I've only spoken with the mechanic. He descibed it as
"worn completely away down to the metal." In addition, he stated that
had the material had a failure he would ahve expected to find "chunks"
of material in the case, but only found "clutch dust" in there. I'm
not a very auto-mechanically knowledgable person so didn't know what to
ask and perhaps missed out on the right key words too...

> Of particular interest is the friction material. If it's been turned into
> fuzz, then we have a severe slippage issue. Similarly, if the flywheel is

I now have more questions to ask it seems... Thank you!

> for 1 year/12k miles (barring abusive driving). If the dealer is refusing
> warranty service, call Hyundai customer assistance. I can't say what'll

Dealer is covering under warranty - however is presenting it as though
doing me a major favor... i.e. the unsaid thing seems to be "you did
this to yourself but I'm letting this slip".

The reason I'm not satisfied with this is that I don't believe that I
did this to the car - quite honestly I tend to think one would have to
be pretty darn abusive to wear out a clutch this fast wouldn't you?
(perhaps it's easier than I think?). Thus, I'm left with two options -
either it's easier to burn out the clutch than I thought and I may need
to re-evaluate my driving habits to avoid a recurrance OR there may be
another defect or issue here that, unless corrected, will cause another
problem down the line... I suppose the third option is that this was
a fluke problem that is somehow going to be fixed when they re-build
the clutch in the course of fixing this one...

Whatever the cause - I just don't want it to happen again. If it IS my
(or my wiffe's) driving then I need to fix that, but is that really
likely here?

They are waiting for parts - due in on Wednesday. I will ask them to
save all the old parts and perhaps take pictures for review if any
knowledgeable person is interested (my regular non-dealer mechanic
asked to look at them) in case they may yield some clues...

I appreciate your taking the time to read, consider, and reply to my
post!

 

> Have you seen the clutch? Lots of things cause clutch wear or failure, but
> without seeing the clutch, it'd be difficult to offer an opinion as to the
> cause of failure.

I have not - I've only spoken with the mechanic. He descibed it as
"worn completely away down to the metal." In addition, he stated that
had the material had a failure he would ahve expected to find "chunks"
of material in the case, but only found "clutch dust" in there. I'm
not a very auto-mechanically knowledgable person so didn't know what to
ask and perhaps missed out on the right key words too...

> Of particular interest is the friction material. If it's been turned into
> fuzz, then we have a severe slippage issue. Similarly, if the flywheel is

I now have more questions to ask it seems... Thank you!

> for 1 year/12k miles (barring abusive driving). If the dealer is refusing
> warranty service, call Hyundai customer assistance. I can't say what'll

Dealer is covering under warranty - however is presenting it as though
doing me a major favor... i.e. the unsaid thing seems to be "you did
this to yourself but I'm letting this slip".

The reason I'm not satisfied with this is that I don't believe that I
did this to the car - quite honestly I tend to think one would have to
be pretty darn abusive to wear out a clutch this fast wouldn't you?
(perhaps it's easier than I think?). Thus, I'm left with two options -
either it's easier to burn out the clutch than I thought and I may need
to re-evaluate my driving habits to avoid a recurrance OR there may be
another defect or issue here that, unless corrected, will cause another
problem down the line... I suppose the third option is that this was
a fluke problem that is somehow going to be fixed when they re-build
the clutch in the course of fixing this one...

Whatever the cause - I just don't want it to happen again. If it IS my
(or my wiffe's) driving then I need to fix that, but is that really
likely here?

They are waiting for parts - due in on Wednesday. I will ask them to
save all the old parts and perhaps take pictures for review if any
knowledgeable person is interested (my regular non-dealer mechanic
asked to look at them) in case they may yield some clues...

I appreciate your taking the time to read, consider, and reply to my
post!

 

Is it even possible to wear out a clutch in 4000 miles? Sounds crazy to me.

-B

 

Is it even possible to wear out a clutch in 4000 miles? Sounds crazy to me.

-B

 

Is it even possible to wear out a clutch in 4000 miles? Sounds crazy to me.

-B

 

Blair wrote:

>
>
> Is it even possible to wear out a clutch in 4000 miles? Sounds crazy to me.

Yes, sounds hard to believe to me also, even if you were trying to do so!

Question for the OP, did you ever smell anything. I warmed up my Sonata
clutch a little getting it up on the ramps to change the oil (1st gear
is just too tall), and it stunk pretty good. To wear out a clutch in
4,000 miles I'd think you'd have to slip it so much that you couldn't
help but raise quite a stink.

Matt

 

Blair wrote:

>
>
> Is it even possible to wear out a clutch in 4000 miles? Sounds crazy to me.

Yes, sounds hard to believe to me also, even if you were trying to do so!

Question for the OP, did you ever smell anything. I warmed up my Sonata
clutch a little getting it up on the ramps to change the oil (1st gear
is just too tall), and it stunk pretty good. To wear out a clutch in
4,000 miles I'd think you'd have to slip it so much that you couldn't
help but raise quite a stink.

Matt

 

Blair wrote:

>
>
> Is it even possible to wear out a clutch in 4000 miles? Sounds crazy to me.

Yes, sounds hard to believe to me also, even if you were trying to do so!

Question for the OP, did you ever smell anything. I warmed up my Sonata
clutch a little getting it up on the ramps to change the oil (1st gear
is just too tall), and it stunk pretty good. To wear out a clutch in
4,000 miles I'd think you'd have to slip it so much that you couldn't
help but raise quite a stink.

Matt

 

Matt Whiting wrote:
> Question for the OP, did you ever smell anything. I warmed up my Sonata
> clutch a little getting it up on the ramps to change the oil (1st gear
> is just too tall), and it stunk pretty good. To wear out a clutch in
> 4,000 miles I'd think you'd have to slip it so much that you couldn't
> help but raise quite a stink.

Never noticed any funny smells driving the car (at least not that could
be blamed on the car - we do have small children though...)

 

Matt Whiting wrote:
> Question for the OP, did you ever smell anything. I warmed up my Sonata
> clutch a little getting it up on the ramps to change the oil (1st gear
> is just too tall), and it stunk pretty good. To wear out a clutch in
> 4,000 miles I'd think you'd have to slip it so much that you couldn't
> help but raise quite a stink.

Never noticed any funny smells driving the car (at least not that could
be blamed on the car - we do have small children though...)