# 2012 chevy cruze failed clutch 2 times now



## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Please contact the Chevrolet Customer Service Representative via private message with your name, car's Vehicle Identification Number found on the windshield on the driver's side, and name of the dealer you took the car to. You can view their profile and contact them via private message here: View Profile: Chevy Customer Service - Chevy Cruze Forum : Chevrolet Cruze Forums


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Now I do see allot of people not break up what they are typing with the enter key every once in awhile, but it appears you copied and pasted the exact same thing twice making your post even longer and even harder to read.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

druann said:


> I had a 2011 cruze and due to relationship changes gave it up but I loved it so much I upgraded to a 2012 exact same. Mind you my parents (who are in there early 70's) nor myself (33 years old) have never owned any other car than a GM car. Dating back to the 1971 chevy monte carlo ss, 1974 chevy luv, 1988 plymouth sundance, oldsmobile cutlas supreme, intrigue, grand am, oldsmobile alero, buick lacrosse and my chevy cruze. Always been a GM family. My parents now has 5 grandchildren and were looking at buying a traverse this spring/summer. Until recently.
> 
> I had 24,000 miles on my cruze and the clutch went out. The dealership I bought it from (after getting it towed 3 hours from out of town thank God my mother had AAA) gave me a rental told me they would look at it and let me know about warranty whatever. They called and said not under warranty $2,200.00 to fix. I am a single mother of three kids no help I can't come up with that kind of money. So now I have missed a day of work have a clutch to fix and I was already out of town (when my clutch went out) because my 5 year old was pushed at recess breaking her humerus bone in her arm looking at surgery and the nearest orthopedic surgeon was that far.
> 
> ...


Broke up your post and removed duplicate to help others with reading.


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## druann (Apr 21, 2013)

Thank you. I edited it too so maybe that will help as well.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

There ought to be some record of the rental at the dealer so GM corporate, above the district level, can look into what's going on for any records of the original diagnosis.

Depending on when your 2012 Cruze was built, there was a batch of clutches known to be subject to early failure. Most of those failed within 12-15,000 miles, though. 

Sounds like it's between you and your mechanic now. A clutch that failed in 4000 miles is either installed incorrectly or driven incorrectly. 

FWIW, I have 56k miles on my clutch that was in the affected date range, and no issues, even with running a performance tune and occasional spirited driving.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

AAA will have a record of where they towed your car. If it went to the Chevy dealership then someone is either misinformed or hasn't received all the paperwork from the dealership. The second clutch was most likely installed incorrectly, but since it wasn't installed by a GM/Chevy dealership there won't be a lot they can do for you.


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## shawn672 (Oct 31, 2010)

Wait wait wait.. you paid $1700 to fix a clutch? Did they install a brand new transmission and bill you for 8 hours of labor? This just isn't adding up...


edit: On top of that, you had someone fix your clutch woes and it failed in 4k miles, why wouldn't there be some kind of short-term warranty on parts and labor from this expert mechanic??


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

Excessive wear in 4000 miles on a clutch does not sound right!!!! There is no excessive wear that can happen on a clutch in 4000 miles. Even if you have no clue of how to start out on a steep hill and that is the only place you drive! I typically get @ 80000 out of my clutches and I typically pay @ $1600. As sciphi says please contact the Chevrolet Customer Service Representative via private message. This should be taken care of! If you have onstar active, it will tell you everything done to the car service wise. Sounds like someone is trying to cover up a crappy repair job! Good luck and let us know how it turns out.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

Since the OP did not allow a dealer to disassemble, there is no way of knowing what the original failure was.
Had the dealer pulled it down and found the pressure plate springs had failed (broken coils) then the rapair would have fallen under a powertrain claim......this because the failed springs would have provided inadequate clamping force on the disc, causing the material to burn off.
Since the OP chose to go to a independent shop, the pressure plate was sent back to the rebuilder.....part is gone, any chance of warranty is gone.
Chevy isn't going to warranty anything without a failed part.

So, now the OP has a aftermarket clutch, installed by a independent shop.......where does Chevrolet fit in the discussion?
Poor quality parts may have been used, or there is a throwout bearing problem not allowing full clutch engagement.....or, dare I say it, the OP is using the clutch pedal as a footrest.

Regardless, Chevrolet is off the hook.....the only direction the OP has is back to the independent shop......any warranty possibilities are lost.

Rob


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## druann (Apr 21, 2013)

There was a leak near the slave cylinder that caused damage to everything. My flywheel was warped clutch burnt and I had to have a new pressure plate as well. No one had the parts other than the factory either. It shouldn't have that much damage even if I drove like crazy and rode the clutch and feathered it whatever the case. I had 3 shops look at it and none of them could believe it. 

AAA did have record and when I offered to fax all that information to the district manager she said no need to she finaly talked to someone in the service department and I did have my car there but they never diagnosed it. Therefore I was out of luck. 

I have had 3 stick shifts and not one of them have ever gone out. At 90, 000 miles I had an 88 pontiac grand am start slipping a bit but there were other things wrong with it... it had been worn tough. My older brother learned to drive stick on it and was his first car. I learned to drive it as well. 

Also there has been no warning with the clutch burning either it is almost automatic the clutch pops out some and the gear shifter is really lose. Wondering if maybe it could be something else causing the damage to the clutch? Engine or something? Thanks.


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## druann (Apr 21, 2013)

It was the slave cylinder. I didn't use it as a foot rest and I never rested my hand on the gear shift while driving either. I'm not perfect but especially after the first clutch went out I was really careful with it the second go round


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

If the failure was caused by the slave, a part covered under the 3/36 base warranty, then the clutch would have become a resultant failure......ie, it failed as a result of a failure of a covered part.
This would then have been a 100% covered under warranty repair.

However, you chose to not allow the dealer to diagnose, (as in disassemble for diagnostics) for what appears to be your decision to not expose yourself to the potental higher costs.

In so doing, as I said before, you took Chevy off the hook.
All that being said, what has caused the failure this time or has the independent shop not looked yet?

Rob


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## shawn672 (Oct 31, 2010)

I'm totally with Robby here, sorry OP. Best advice thus far though


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## Beaker (Mar 21, 2012)

Best you can do is go back to the mechanic. But since you only paid him to change out the clutch, he's likely off the hook for not changing out the slave. Just a bad mechanic for not catching that the slave was going bad as well.


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## druann (Apr 21, 2013)

The shop told me they did diagnose the car. They even gave me a price of $2,200.00 to fix it. They told the dm they did not. And the mechanic did change out the slave cylinder. He is the one who caught that was the issue.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Have you contacted the Customer Service representative on here to take a second look at things?


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## iKermit (Dec 13, 2010)

My heart sunk. $2200? You know i hate to say this, but this is a classic case of a dealer taking advantage of a misinformed person. 

Druann, please be wary of where you go. Besides the dealer, i only ever go to one other person for repairs, and it was an ex-employee of my dads when he had his mechanic shop open. Find a good repair shop, and get this fixed, but go to a reputable place. Even if lets say it wasn't a major place like Pepboys (yuck) or Midas, you did this outside of GM.

But please let this be a lesson to you, when a dealer tells you it isn't covered, ask why and ask for it in written. Speak to GM District Manager and fax them over the sheets. If anything else happens to the car, by the way, DON'T TAKE IT TO THAT DEALER. Please... But do take it to a GM place, where warranty work can happen if something happens after..


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## druann (Apr 21, 2013)

Ya I have but for the past 2 days unable to reach her because their mailbox is full. 

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

So you sent this to a GM dealer for diagnosis, they told you the warranty wouldn't cover the repair, you took your car back, and now the dealer is claiming they never dealt with you at all? Something seems REALLY fishy... For them to properly diagnose a clutch failure would take some shop time, unless the car was dropped there and someone just sat in the car and tried unsuccessfully to get it moving under it's own power and dismissed it as a worn clutch disc. If a fluid leak from the slave was the culprit you would think that a quick peek under the car would reveal the bottom of the transmission wet with fluid, no?

Even so, up to this point the story seems pretty reasonable. Dealer rushes the diagnosis and dismisses the problem simply as excessive clutch wear not covered under warranty while possibly overlooking the real cause.

What doesn't make sense is the next part where the new clutch fails in 4k miles. The shop claimed a leaky slave put fluid on the clutch, ruining the pressure plate, clutch disc (wear from slipping) and flywheel. Aftermarket parts not being available the shop installs new GM parts so now the clutch is 100% brand new, 100% OEM parts, and in 4k miles it's dead again. Something points away from the clutch as the cause of the problem.

Did you ever notice fluid in your garage/driveway suggesting a leak? Were there any odors ahead of the failure? Was the clutch fluid ever low?

I'm thinking the input shaft seal on your transmission may be leaking. The only problem I have saying that is that any decent mechanic should be able to tell the difference between a clutch fluid leak and a transmission fluid leak... clutch fluid is actually brake fluid and is very thin and runny, transmission fluid is thicker oil. The chances of two new OEM slave cylinder failures that quickly are pretty slim, and the issue reeks of something unrelated to the clutch system being the cause.

*Robby*, if this were to be the case do you have any advice on how to proceed? I would imagine the first step would be to talk to the GM district rep but I have no idea what the outcome would be since the car has been under the knife in a non GM facility. Could GM deny a warranty claim on the transmission if only the clutch was replaced? I'm not even sure what would be required to properly diagnose the cause and prove it to GM if my theory is correct... ?!?


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

Only the parts replaced by the independent, plus any labor involved in that service, would be denied any further warranty coverage.
If the trans had a internal failure of some sort....bearings, syncronizers, other internal, it would still be under the powertrain coverage.
With exception......say the syncro's were damaged due to incorrect cable adjustment (I'm making this failure up BTW).....Due to the fact there has been a independent shop involved with the installation and subsequent cable install, it can be said the failure was caused by that service.
This then, allows a warranty denial.

In this case though, as you say, something is being left out of the story.
The dealer may have said clutches aren't covered......that is correct...a clutch is a wear item, just like brake pads.
Since the dealer was not allowed a true diagnosis, we'll never know.....but evidently the independent got it wrong and they did get to diagnose.

Rob


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

Robby said:


> Since the dealer was not allowed a true diagnosis, we'll never know.....but evidently *the independent got it wrong* and they did get to diagnose.


I agree with that. It seems the fault would lie with them.

Just another thought... if the dealer is denying any involvement with the car in the past and the car has nothing but OEM parts installed, they could just take it to the dealer (perhaps a different dealer?) and pretend it was the first time having the issue. If it is then determined that a leak somewhere else is the cause of the problem any repairs could be covered under warranty. Though not the straightest path to a resolution, I consider the dealer at fault here until proven otherwise. If the work is covered under warranty GM is no worse off then they would have been before. The owner is, however, and then needs to fight with the independant shop for a refund for the work performed.

*druann*, please note the above is based on lots of assumptions and surely incoplete information. All we can do here is give you advice, it is you that needs to make a decision.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

Yes, the OP could start over at another dealer....with the complaint of 'car won't move'....and leave it at that.

And, if G.M. parts were used and assembly was by the book, the dealer could warranty the failed part and consequental damage.
Trick is, minimum info by the OP and correct reassembly by the independent......the possibility exists that the slave has failed again.....if a G.M. part, dealer could push it through.

Sticky, customer induced, situation this one is.

Rob


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## 99_XC600 (Feb 24, 2013)

Assuming the independant used all GM parts in the replacement of the clutch. Last thing you want is to have another dealer open it up and discover what's already happened.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

99_XC600 said:


> Assuming the independant used all GM parts in the replacement of the clutch. Last thing you want is to have another dealer open it up and discover what's already happened.





druann said:


> No one had the parts other than the factory either.


I'm assuming based on this comment that the independant mechanic had to order all the parts from the dealership. Before taking it into a GM dealer for warranty work I would double check all the invoices from the mechanic as to PROVE there is nothing but OEM parts in there.

Then tell the mechanic you will be requesting a refund if GM finds a leaky transmission seal that HE should have seen before replacing the parts and sending you merrily on your way, $1700 poorer. According to gmpartsdepartment-dot-com, the clutch parts are worth roughly $367 assuming your car is an LS (flywheel, pressure plate, disc and slave cylinder):

2012 CHEVROLET CRUZE Parts - GM Parts Department: Buy genuine GM auto parts & aftermarket accessories at wholesale prices.

He may have paid slightly more from the dealer, but at the very least you could go after him for the labor. This is all assuming there's a leaky transmission that caused all of this in the first place, as he should have caught that and informed you berfore repairing anything.


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## Morty (Aug 30, 2014)

*Clutch Failues*

Re: "Depending on when your 2012 Cruze was built, there was a batch of clutches known to be subject to early failure. Most of those failed within 12-15,000 miles" . 

I have a similar problem. My clutch failed at 10,000 Miles. The dealers says it because I wore it out. Don't see how this I possible. What is the source for the above?


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## grs1961 (Oct 23, 2012)

The easiest and commonest way to wear out a clutch is to simply rest your foot on or against the pedal.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

grs1961 said:


> The easiest and commonest way to wear out a clutch is to simply rest your foot on or against the pedal.


That's a great way to wear out a throw out bearing. In order to wear out the clutch, as in actually WEAR it out, it needs to be slipping.


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