Hi there, this post is for after the fact advice and perhaps advice for someone else.
I drive a 95 4 cylinder, bought new, 257k, manual. Original clutch. I don’t drive it hard. Clutch would not release one day, but I pulled it out, pumped it and was good for another 6 weeks. Then, it did it again but would not hold pressure. Did some reading, talked to my friend, and took it in for repair. Everything seemed to indicated slave or master. Agreed to the repair.
Shop did both but not fixed. So agreed to a new clutch. Again, everybody I talked to said if not slave or master, has to be the clutch itself. New clutch, still not fixed.
Then the shop went back to the slave/master theory and concluded the original new part(s) were defective out of the box. But could not or would not tell me which one.
After some negotiations, I paid for the original agreed upon repair and price since the car is now fixed. Ended up with new clutch parts that I may not have needed today, but might would have later. We shared the expense on clutch repair as shop did something with the parts supplier on a warranty and labor claim.
I looked at the clutch parts. Mechanic said were getting worn which I don’t doubt. But I also did not really know what I was looking at. No frame of reference. I believe he was being fair with me.
So, looks like the new clutch was not needed to fix the original problem. In this scenario what would have been fair to parties?
The help for another reader is if in a similar situation, consider asking your mechanic to doublecheck the original work and parts before assuming it must be the next option.
Have a great night.