# On the Verge



## SilveradoWTRT (May 10, 2020)

Hey all, I have a 2018 Cruze manual and think I may be on the verge of a failed slave cylinder. The problem is that it just won’t seem to fully fail. A week ago when I went to shift into second gear, the clutch halfway stuck to the floor and did the same going into third. After that it would not do it again, but the clutch does feel funny to me and makes it hard to shift smooth. If you pump the clutch 5 or 6 times it will work perfectly smooth for a little while then go back to the same as before. I have not contacted a dealer yet because I don’t want them to say they could not find a problem and give me a charge just to look at it. I am still under power train warranty. Like I said, it’s been a week since sticking and from others experience it normal fails right after. Should I continue to drive or take a chance with the dealer?


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## JLL (Sep 12, 2017)

IMO, If you have to ask that question, you should always have it looked at.


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## KyleC1982 (Jul 1, 2021)

Do you have aftermarket floor mats? Mine gets stuck if the floor mat is just rite.


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## SilveradoWTRT (May 10, 2020)

No, GM floor liners.


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## 6Speed2016LT (Jun 14, 2016)

Try doing a clutch bleed and refill. I have a 2016 Gen 2 and so far, I have not had an issue. I have got in to the habit of hooking up my vacuum bleeder a few times a year and circulate the fluid out. I still have a hard time believing that every single manual cruze will have this problem. I have heard it only affects manual diesels, the next week it affects gas cars etc etc etc. To this day, there is no concise time as to when it will fail... 5 years and going strong here.

Jason


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

6Speed2016LT said:


> I have heard it only affects manual diesels, the next week it affects gas cars etc etc etc.


Per the TSB, all 2016-2018 gen2 Cruze vehicles with the 6MT are affected.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

6Speed2016LT said:


> I still have a hard time believing that every single manual cruze will have this problem.


The most alarming part to me is the safety recall of Opel/Vauxhall vehicles in the EU and UK. The clutch shares the same hydraulic circuit as the brakes and the recall across the pond is open-ended without limits on mileage or age, is not limited to original owners, and is done to cars that don't show any symptoms. To me, all that translates to a dangerous condition that is being repaired because Europe takes safety seriously.

Obviously the USA doesn't give a hoot so all you losers here can go pound sand.


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## 17Hatch6MT (Dec 28, 2015)

I've had my slave cylinder changed & they didn't do anything to the brakes. Brakes are behaving OK so far though I've never had to activate ABS since then.

What I want to know is, will this replacement slave cylinder also only last 20,000 miles? I should dump this thing if so.


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## 6Speed2016LT (Jun 14, 2016)

17Hatch6MT said:


> I've had my slave cylinder changed & they didn't do anything to the brakes. Brakes are behaving OK so far though I've never had to activate ABS since then.
> 
> What I want to know is, will this replacement slave cylinder also only last 20,000 miles? I should dump this thing if so.


I am still trying to figure out if the failures occur over a certain length of time.....or miles...........At this point I have had my 6MT for 5 1/2 years and absolutely no signs of clutch/slave failure yet.....Either I am **** lucky or it will hit suddenly....RIght now I have 60,000 kms on the car (around 37,000 miles)
The only thing I have been doing that others have not is pro-actively flush my clutch fluid a few times a year. Loosen bleeder, vacuum old fluid, keep reservoir filled so no air gets in system. Simple as that,
Good Hi-test gas, good oil and fresh fluid go a long way. I am sure some will agree....

Jason


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

6Speed2016LT said:


> I am still trying to figure out if the failures occur over a certain length of time.....or miles...........


It could be a certain amount of use of the clutch pedal. The European recall says debris is shed into the clutch/brake fluid from the slave cylinder seals. I'm sure that every time you use the clutch puts some wear on the seals affected by hydraulic pressure. Every time you actuate the clutch, it puts wear on what is a fragile seal prone to disintegration.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

6Speed2016LT said:


> it will hit suddenly....


Mine was one day. 

I was on vacation and parked the car at my Aunt's house in Rochester. The next morning I started the car and was on my way to Vermont and the clutch was obviously not functioning in the morning. The pressure was light and the takeup point of the clutch was very close to the floor instead of being "average" of what I was used to. I thought "Great, now I have to find a Chevy dealership tomorrow." The next morning in Vermont, the pedal went to the floor, wouldn't return on it's own, and it wouldn't actuate the clutch (would not go into gear when the engine was running). It straight-up broke that morning.

Chevy dealership in Vermont didn't have parts to do the TSB so the rest of my vacation (including driving in NYC) was on a marginally functional clutch. It finally completely failed in Indiana and I had to float gear shifts without a clutch until I was back in Central Illinois.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

6Speed2016LT said:


> The only thing I have been doing that others have not is pro-actively flush my clutch fluid a few times a year.


That's a definite maybe. It's possible the debris in the fluid acts as an abrasive where it further damages the hydraulic seal, causing more and more failure until it is entirely non-functional. The recall in Europe involves replacing brake parts, and I believe the contamination in the fluid is an abrasive that can do bad things to the brake system. It can cause the brake master cylinder to fail (that's a part of the recall), it can cause the clutch master cylinder to fail (that's a part of the recall), and apparently it can cause the ABS controller module to fail (that's a part of the recall). Does having fresh fluid entirely put off these failures? Or does it just delay them?

I'm a skeptic from what I've experienced and what I've seen in the recall in Europe. This is a situation in these cars that is obviously a potential for danger, and GM is ignoring it in the USA.


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## SilveradoWTRT (May 10, 2020)

Update to my problem. I finally took it into the Chevy dealer after dealing with random clutch issues and they said they found the TSB on the car. Not sure if they drove it and had issues or not. Seems GM approved of repairs, but unsure of what all is being done. They have had the car for 2 weeks with minimal info. I have never liked this dealer but didn’t have a choice. I do have a loaner equinox at the moment. Will update when everything is done.


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## 17Hatch6MT (Dec 28, 2015)

Huh... they charged me $1000 for some parts that weren't under warranty... crooks


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

17Hatch6MT said:


> Huh... they charged me $1000 for some parts that weren't under warranty... crooks


It's always a constantly shifting explanation of why a job can be covered under warranty but some parts required to do the job are not covered. It's always some horse manure excuse - every time.

When my car was broken and needed the slave cylinder replaced, I told them what the problem was and I was ignored. I got billed $500 for a job that I told them would not fix the problem and it did not fix the problem. Then, the repair to fix the problem was under warranty. I asked why I couldn't have just paid for the minimal part cost (maybe $50 out of my pocket) to do the job on the TSB at the same time they were taking the transmission out of the car to do the slave cylinder, and I got told they were absolutely required to do the TSB job first (and bill me for it!) before they could even think about fixing the actual problem.


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## SilveradoWTRT (May 10, 2020)

Got the car back after a little more than two weeks. Everything was covered under warranty. They actually brought up the TSB and said that was why it was covered under warranty.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

SilveradoWTRT said:


> Got the car back after a little more than two weeks. Everything was covered under warranty. They actually brought up the TSB and said that was why it was covered under warranty.


Gasoline car? Yes, you are one of the blessed owners where the TSB covers you under the powertrain warranty.

Diesel owners get screwed. If we are past the B2B warranty, the TSB is not a covered repair _AND_ we don't get the slave cylinder automatically replaced - unless it fails later as it is most likely to do.


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## 6speedTi (May 18, 2018)

When my clutch failed they replaced everything. Clutch pack, flywheel and slave cylinder. My dealer knew about the slave cylinder issues and didn't want to take chances on another failure and tear down of the transmission. 
My clutch failure was unique. It totally failed and chewed up the flywheel.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

6speedTi said:


> When my clutch failed they replaced everything. Clutch pack, flywheel and slave cylinder. My dealer knew about the slave cylinder issues and didn't want to take chances on another failure and tear down of the transmission.
> My clutch failure was unique. It totally failed and chewed up the flywheel.


Sounds like you had a failure unrelated to the slave cylinder. If the clutch catastrophically failed like you describe, it's going to mandate replacing lots of parts as you describe. And while they are in there they might as well install all of the updated hardware to avoid future problems.

I'm surprised they didn't try to blame you for operating it wrong. Most clutch failures are blamed on the driver.


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## 6speedTi (May 18, 2018)

Barry Allen said:


> Sounds like you had a failure unrelated to the slave cylinder. If the clutch catastrophically failed like you describe, it's going to mandate replacing lots of parts as you describe. And while they are in there they might as well install all of the updated hardware to avoid future problems.
> 
> I'm surprised they didn't try to blame you for operating it wrong. Most clutch failures are blamed on the driver.


15,000 highway miles and the clutch assembly let's go. I gave them details on the failure when it happened. I also told them I've owned more vehicles with manual transmissions than automatic ones. I also have a motorcycle with 90,000 plus miles with a dry clutch configuration. They didn't give me a hard time before I explained it to them and they told me that the slave cylinder was replaced without me asking. The slave cylinder had a new part number and he explained to me all about the failures under the service bulletin. New number was the new improved slave cylinder. My dealership knows what is going on with the diesels. Unfortunately the last time I called them my service guy said they currently don't have any diesel technicians employed.


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