2009 Dodge Challenger R/T: Replacing the Clutch

Isn't it funny that IL editors like to say 'We' and 'Us' when they do eff up rather than the usual 'I' and 'Me'??

And besides, my boss would be mightily pissed if I gave the company car to a dimwitted brother-in-law.

Why would anyone think that riding the cluch is a good idea. I don't drive stick, and even I know that's bad.

I for one would really like to know what happens/happened with this brother-in-law.

A new clutch at 10,000 miles is ridiculous.

Did he pay for it?????

"Why would anyone think that riding the cluch is a good idea. I don't drive stick, and even I know that's bad."

I'm never shocked to discover new depths of automotive clueless-ness. People just don't stop to think. "Oh hey, see that place that looks like it is designed to rest my left foot on? Yeah, I'm going to ignore that and rest it on this pedal here. Clearly, the automaker didn't know as much as me when they designed this car."

Ouch on the costs. That is not a cheap service visit.

1487 is going to hate me, I am going to say it. Most drivers in US do dumb things because they drive automatics. Drivers in Europe, atleast according to my observations, are better drivers & respectful towards other drivers on the road.

I bet this wouldn't have happened if the 'bro-in-law' had learned to drive a standard the right way & not from watching Transformers.

Make him pay for repairs.

@wobbly ears:
+1

Mike, I didn't realize Scott O. was your brother in law!

Awful abuse of the car.

And I agree with wobbly. I feel dirty now.

My sister blew out the 1 year old clutch in my high school car, a Mitsubishi Starion in less than a mile. I hope this won't count against the Challenger for reliability?

I'd brake my "brother-in-law's" knee caps for riding the clutch on my brand new car. Then I'd staple the bill to his forehead and ask for my money. (Stewie from Family Guy style)

I bet 10% of drivers here would pass the DMV licensing test if the test was held to the same standard as the German test. Studying for a licensing test is like preparing for GRE/GMAT combined!

I believe this is what the kids call and EPIC FAIL.

Having seen (heard and smelled, really) how my brother in law abuses his clutches, he's forbidden from driving my WRX.

$1100 in parts for a clutch on a non-German car seems really expensive. I'd expect it to be more like half of that.

"$1100 in parts for a clutch on a non-German car seems really expensive. I'd expect it to be more like half of that."

Not when the car has to handle almost 400 hp, also that's with the flywheel. I paid more than than for a clutch and flywheel for my '92 vette.

Expensive.

That flywheel looks heavy as hell. I mean, I know it has to smooth out a big V8 but wow...

What an idiot...killing a clutch for no good reason.

How do you explain to your boss that your in law burned the clutch?

Hope the in law pays in full the cost of the clutch and the oil change just for good measure.

Idiot. Make the imbecile pay for it. My Jeep is the only vehicle I let anyone else drive.

@Wobbly_ears: I remember in one of the first columns that Jamie Kitman ever wrote for Automobile Mag, he told a funny anecdote about his first trip to Europe, and how shocked and disappointed he was at the driving (specifically the shifting).

He said something like, "Everybody in Europe buys a stick shift. Here's the problem: Nobody knows how to use one." His evidence was the constant sound of grinding gears and premature upshifts that he heard in the traffic around him. It was funny how shattered he was by the experience. :P

Misterfusion - I won't disagree about pre-mature upshifts; them people like to lug their engines sometimes.

But alot of the grinding gears I've heard was on engines that have by driven for short trips with questionable maintenance schedules all their lives, and had 100,000s of kilometers logged on them.

Also, my recently rented Fiat Panda with 9k kilometers on it ground reverse frequently, and occasionally 2nd. Maybe the cheaper cars just don't work out the syncros as well? :)

Joe

OK as long as we are talking about clutches I have a question. I had a friend who insisted that you never leave the clutch in at stoplights. He would always pull up to the light and take the car out of gear let the clutch out and then when the light turned green but it back in gear and let the clutch out again.
He said he was saving his clutch. I told him as long as the clutch was all the way in or all the way out - its fine. You only wear the clutch as you let it out.
I had a Talon that I put quite a few miles on my way and never had a single clutch problem.

Plumcrazy2; you're right about the clutches in that situation. It's the throwout bearings that take the heat when the clutch pedal is held down.

plumcrazy2,
Like prdm said, the practice you described will save wear and tear on the T/O bearing. I started putting the car in neutral at lights back when I bought my Bavaria 3.0, and I still follow the practice.

3rd vote - In Subaru turbo cars and other applications, worn out throwout bearings have been known to grenade and take out serious pieces of transmission with them.

By the way, Edmunds: if I reading (and seeing) this right, the guy basically warped the flywheel and pressure plate, but the clutch was ok?

Or was the clutch showing signs that it couldn't handle much more heat?

Joe

i sometimes put my car in neutral at red lights to save wear and tear on my left leg...

good to know about the throwout bearing.

I didn't know about the throwout bearing part either. Is leaving pressure on the throwout bearing necessarily a bad thing? From what I understand, the wear on the throwout bearing is caused when it first encounters the pressure plate assembly, as the clutch is engaged, so the pressure plate is rotating and the throwout bearing is not. Mindlessly pushing the clutch in and out while in gear should cause lots of wear. Once the clutch is disengaged and the throwout bearing and pressure plate are synchronized, though, there are only compression forces on the throwout bearing and it shouldn't put too much wear on it. I don't have any long term experience with this though, only technical experience. Here's a good reference to help: http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/techcenter/articles/43837/article.html

On a side note, when one of my friends moved from Texas (land of flat, open roads) to California, he bought himself a manual BMW. Apparently he was so unused to hill starts that he actually fused the clutch plate and the flywheel together because they got so hot. He couldn't even start the car because he couldn't disengage 1st gear. Owned!

"i sometimes put my car in neutral at red lights to save wear and tear on my left leg..."

lol

Thanks everyone. I never thought about the throwout bearing.

Not only do you put pressure on the throwout bearing, but that bearing is pushing on the clutch cover, which pushes on the flywheel, which pushes on the crank, which pushes against the thrust bearings inside the engine. I'm not saying that the thrust bearings inside the engine can't handle the stress, but I would rather not stress them at a red light if I don't have to.