After 27,021 miles, my 2003 Hyundai Accent became immobile. The dealer told me I had to replace the clutch pad, disc, and bearing. This cost me $1071. None of the parts were covered under the Hyundai warranty. Four days later, after 114 miles of mostly highway driving, the gears would not shift once again. This time, the dealer replaced the slave cylinder and did not charge me anything for it, saying this was covered by Hyundai’s warranty. Could you please tell me (a) if it is the new clutch system that put pressure on the slave cylinder causing it to leak air and eventually stop functioning (b) if it was a poorly made cylinder that in the first place caused damage to the clutch system © if the dealer is liable for not checking the slave cylinder the first time I took the vehicle and for giving me an incomplete, if not faulty, diagnosis and (d) if Hyundai is in anyway liable for my clutch problems. I have for years driven a manual transmission vehicle; the Accent is not a sports car and I am middle-aged.
When you say immobile, do you mean no drive or you couldn’t shift ?
Couldn’t shift at all.
© the dealer is liable for not having done a proper diagnosis in the first place, and
(d) Hyundae is liable because the slave cylinder was defective.
Petition Hyundae for a refund. Good luck.
Thanks a lot. But do you have any ideas on the cause-effect relationship between the clutch pad and slave cylinder malfunctions?
Well I’d be surprised at clutch failure at 27,000 miles for a start. If you are an experienced stick driver that clutch should last you 80,000 - 100,000 miles easily.
The symptoms of a failed clutch are usually no drive not inability to shift, unless the throwout bearing or pressure plate suffered catastrophic failure.
Inability to shift gears would have me looking at the slave cylinder first, I don’t suppose they gave you the old parts or let you inspect them did they ?
I’m not one to cast espersions but I can’t help feeling a little suspicious of the dealers actions. Or perhaps they just misdiagnozed.
Thank you. This helps some.
First of all… the clutch failing at 27000 miles doesn’t surprise me at all. When I worked at a Hyundai dealer there were a few times where we replaced a clutch assembly and it failed on the test drive. A brand new Hyundai clutch, out of the box, fails before we could get it around the block on a test drive.
What’s the warranty on this vehicle? 3 years/36000 miles? If you read the owners manual it will tell you that the clutch is a wear item and has a limited warranty.
If their diagnosis was wrong then they could be liable but that could be hard to prove.
Thank you for your note. The warranty on my vehicle is 10yrs/100,000 miles, but the clutch only had a 12,000 mile warranty. From what you say, the situation doesn’t look too encouraging for me. I can only hope that this new clutch and cylinder last me a few years. Thanks again.