# cruze 1.8 clutch problem



## brycemcmurter (Jul 6, 2012)

Hey Everyone,

I’m new to this forum and looking for a little guidance. I'm not very technical on the workings of cars but I do have a basic knowledge of the clutch assembly (computers are more my thing).

Anyways, My wife bought a 2011 cruze base model (1.8L) back in December 2010. She learned how to drive standard on her parents car and has been driving standards ever since (10 or so years). Like many topics I have seen in this forum, we have experienced quite a few problems with the clutch and transmission all culminating to two weeks ago when the car was taken in for repair.

We started having problems back in august of 2011 (the car had roughly 20,000KM on it) when we noticed a springy clicking sound when the clutch was pressed. This was reported to our dealer and on further investigation the dealer said they could not reproduce the sound. Around the same time the engine started to make a quick grinding sound in second gear that only seemed to happen if the car sat off for a few hours and would only make the sound on the first time the car was put into second. Again, I took the car to the dealer and they said they could not reproduce the sound so nothing was done. I thought that we were just being too picky and left the problem unresolved. 
A few months ago my wife started to complain that the car was having trouble switching into second gear when the engine was cold but since we were coming up on a service soon we decided to wait to have it looked at.

About a month and a half ago the car started to make a whining noise that seemed to increase with the increase of speed. Again we took the car in to have it checked and was told that the car would have to have the transaxle assembly replaced (which was covered under warranty). While taking the transmission apart the service tech noticed that the transmission was caked with dust from the clutch and also noticed that the flywheel was blue and was full of heat cracks. We were called and told that the part was a wear issue and that we must be riding the clutch and that the replacement would cost $1,100 CAD. Of course we had them replace it.

When we picked up the car tonight we were told that the delay in getting the car back was due to the fact that they changed the part number on the flywheel so they ordered the wrong one. We were also told that the fluid was low and completely burnt.

My problem is that I don’t think this issue was because of us riding the clutch, my wife is an experienced standard driver, and we have had the car in 9 times in the past 18 months or so to have the lube oil and filter as well as all of the inspections you could dream of (were talking over $700 in service charges to have these inspections done) and the car has about 45,000Km on it. We have always been told by the service people that we take excellent care of our car.

Also, driving the car home tonight I have noticed that the clutch feels completely different now. Before we used to have to put quite a bit of pressure on the clutch to put it in but now after all these parts have been changed it is light as a feather. Even new the clutch never felt like this.

I would just like to hear peoples input on this as to whether I should be investigating this further with GM or not. We feel as though we have both been robbed here. I am little hesitant to take this up with GM as I am not 100% car savvy and I am afraid that they will just try to loose me with alot of technical jargon to throw me off the trail.

Thanks,

Bryce


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

I have a 1.8 Manual also and never had any of these problems. I know there is a post about "people who's clutch has failed". I don't know if it would fall under that category or not? Sounds like it might be a problem with the slave cylindar(hydraulic system that makes pressing the clutch easier).


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## Dale_K (Jul 16, 2011)

Some GM cars have an "over center" spring on the clutch. It helps hold the clutch at the bottom of the pedal travel but also helps pull the pedal back up at the top of the travel. It sounds funny that a spring can help in both directions but that's why it's called an over center spring. When it gets past the center it starts working. If the Cruze has such a spring (don't know, but I'll check) and the one on your car was broke it would tend to increase the clutch pedal effort and also tend to prevent it from coming to the top, similar to riding the clutch. That would match the symptoms you've mentioned (stiff, springing noise, damage from "riding" the clutch).

Diagnosing stuff over the internet is hit or miss and I could be off base.


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## Dale_K (Jul 16, 2011)

I looked in the factory service manual and I can't tell whether the clutch return spring is "over center". On page 17-322 they have a diagnotic list if the clutch pedal is hard to push and the 4th item on the list is "Clutch pedal spring worn". It says the fix is to replace the clutch pedal (the clutch pedal is part of an assembly which includes the brake and accelerator pedals and the whole group needs to be replaced as a unit).

If the repair ticket says they replaced the pedal assembly you probably have a justification to claim this is what caused the clutch damage and the whole job ought to be covered under warranty. If they didn't replace the pedal assembly you have a tougher job proving it wasn't improper use, but the bright side is at least they fixed it.


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## brycemcmurter (Jul 6, 2012)

Hey thanks for responding Dale! What your saying makes sence. I have a call into GM now and they are investigating the case. The guy from GM was excellent. I will keep you posted with the results.

Bryce


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## silverls (Nov 12, 2011)

I am not going to say it was your fault or a defect. However i will say that burned clutch, blue spots, and heat cracks is almost 100% always riding the clutch to hard, and these days it isnt hard to do with new clutches. You can destroy a clutch in one bad launch off a hill in these new cars. Now there are certainly exceptions and defects that happen but unless they replaced a slave cylinder or pedal assembly it will be hard to prove.

I have a 1.8 with the manual myself and it has, from the factory, always been very easy to operate. I call it my "Fisher Price My First Manual". And have taught multiple people to drive it and still have a good clutch. So, if the clutch feel totally different now, and they did replace a pedal assembly or cylinder then you might have a case.

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## backofbeyond (Jul 7, 2012)

I have a 1.8 manual ls with 20,000. the clutch is still good. the lack of low end torque and light weight flywheel do make these car a little tricky on take off. Ive been driving manuals for 20 years from unsynchronized Willys Jeeps to modern muscle car.With that said I work for a company that manages a fleet of service vehicles both new and old. I bet 80% of our clutch failures involve failure of another component, like slave or master cylinders, or throwout bearings. Your wife would have to be monumentaly bad with a clutch to rip it out at that mileage, and you would probably get the hint from riding with her the first time?


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## brycemcmurter (Jul 6, 2012)

Hey guys thanks for the replies! This is what they replaced

6- 555559650 - bolt/ screw-flywhl
1 - 9157141- bearing
1- 55584381 - flywheel Asm
1- 55587035 - plate Asm-clu drvn
6- 90470712- bolt/screw, clu press plt
1- 55567326- plate Asm-clu press

im going on the assumption that the transmission had to be replaced because it was faulty. I'm thinking that if the transmission was whining its because there was a vibration in it. Couldn't that vibration be translated into the clutch?


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## brycemcmurter (Jul 6, 2012)

Also I forgot to mention that going through GM customer service was useless. All they did was call the dealer who told them that it was a wear and tear issue. I don't believe there was any investigation at all because I have pissed off the service manager at the dealership. Battle lost!


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## Dale_K (Jul 16, 2011)

Thanks for the update. I don't know what to think. Normally you'd think a clutch issue could ruin a transmission but it's hard to think of a situation where a bad tranny could ruin a clutch.


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## silverls (Nov 12, 2011)

Dale_K said:


> Thanks for the update. I don't know what to think. Normally you'd think a clutch issue could ruin a transmission but it's hard to think of a situation where a bad tranny could ruin a clutch.


Basically the statement that everyone is tiptoeing around is "its a 99% possibility that it was your wifes driving that did this and that is probably what it was." I will just say it to save everyone else the trouble of being the bad guy.

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## S101986 (Jul 21, 2012)

You are going to need to talk to a lawyer. I had the same problem at 7000 miles and they are now replacing it under warranty. But our car is now being bought back after we got a lemon law lawyer involved. However my cruze had a lot more problems than the clutch. See the anyone having the same problems posting.


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## S101986 (Jul 21, 2012)

silverls said:


> Basically the statement that everyone is tiptoeing around is "its a 99% possibility that it was your wifes driving that did this and that is probably what it was." I will just say it to save everyone else the trouble of being the bad guy.
> 
> Sent from my DROID BIONIC using AutoGuide.Com Free App


This is 99.99% bs

Thats bs my wife got the same bs from the dealer and she has never owned an automatic. These cars have multiple reports of the clutch assembly having issues.


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## siskue2005 (Feb 24, 2011)

hello guys
i am from india, i brought my cruze 2010 october, it clocked around 21,000 when the clutch failed 
and GM guys gave me the same BS about "you dont know how to drive BS" ....as this my fourth manual car and i have been driving cars for more than 15 years now.
So what i did was sued them for 2.5 lakh rupees/5000$ loss coz i was stranded in the middle of the forest with my family and i almost crashed into a tree.
We got an order from the judge to GM that they should do all the work under warrenty and an expert engineer to go and inspect my car (bloody good lawyer). As soon as we got the order GM guys called us as said they are ready to repair everything under warrenty and was asking us to drop the case...and so we did and i got the car today after TWO f%$king months!

As the OP said, the new clutch really feels light...i stalled the cars around 10 times on my way back home which was just 5 km away. Is it a problem guys?

i guess you guys should play hard ball with this MoFos.....they did install faulty flywheel and they did know some batches were flawed. Everyone should get it done under warrenty....if this can be done in India, why not in USA and other countries.

please email me at [email protected] for furthur queries


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## vinay1822 (Apr 26, 2013)

Hey Guys,
Im new to this discussion , but unfortunately seems in next few days i would be having similar clutch problem. my car is 2011 1.8 LTZ Cruze , recently i did 1500 KM drive. completed 28000 KM until now.
Before leaving i got my car properly checked at the Chevy service center , the day i started from my home everything was fine. touched the highway in 2 hours but suddenly when the speed exceeded to 125 Km/Hr the whole car started vibrating, so i had to go slow all the way...while my return half way i started hearing strange noise the moment i pressed the clutch to shift gears, it was a noise like the exhaust pipe was leaking from the engine, and as the speed increased the noise increased. i checked the lower part of the engine where the exhaust is connected but there was no sign as there was no carbon deposition or any other sign. 
i dont understand what would be the problem , i called up the service center and they asked me to bring the car but i would like if any one could suggest what could be the possible problem .

thx

vinay


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

brycemcmurter said:


> Around the same time the engine started to make a quick grinding sound in second gear that only seemed to happen if the car sat off for a few hours and would only make the sound on the first time the car was put into second.


This is the ABS self test and has nothing to do with the clutch. It is normal and occurs the first time you hit 12.4 MPH (20 KPH) time after the car has been off for at least 10 minutes. It is unfortunately right where most MT drivers shift from 1 to 2.


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## vinay1822 (Apr 26, 2013)

Hey Friends...

gave my car to the Chevy service center. as per them there is a worn out in the fly wheel ..god only knows how does that happen..ive been driving cars since last 20 years n never had any clutch problem in either automatic or manual transmission ...the GM guys without opening the clutch assembly are saying it will have to be changed. can any one suggest what should i do...

vinay


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## GeneralDriver (Aug 2, 2016)

Dale_K said:


> I looked in the factory service manual and I can't tell whether the clutch return spring is "over center". On page 17-322 they have a diagnotic *list if the clutch pedal is hard to push* and the 4th item on the list is "Clutch pedal spring worn". It says the fix is to replace the clutch pedal (the clutch pedal is part of an assembly which includes the brake and accelerator pedals and the whole group needs to be replaced as a unit).
> 
> If the repair ticket says they replaced the pedal assembly you probably have a justification to claim this is what caused the clutch damage and the whole job ought to be covered under warranty. If they didn't replace the pedal assembly you have a tougher job proving it wasn't improper use, but the bright side is at least they fixed it.


I know I'm resurrecting a very old thread, but that's exactly what is wrong with my clutch in bold.

Crap, I've been looking for this info since July! So I guess the clutch pedal (and possibly the clutch cylinder ) has to be replaced?


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