New Pics of Clutch on Page 5

Alright, So as the title says. I was driving home the other night just cruising at 40mph in 4th gear on flat ground, when all the sudden my car starts hitting the rev limiter. I push the clutch in and pull it out of gear and was like WTF. So I then tried putting it in 5th gear to see if I just happened to of lost 4th gear. Nope same thing in 5th, absolutely nothing. I proceed to pull over and my buddy that was following behind me informed me that tons of smoke started pouring out from my car and that he saw sparks and flames. Which the smoke was obviously from the clutch and i'm assuming the sparks/flames or whatever was from the exhaust when it was hitting the rev limiter.

My clutch has never slipped even the tiniest bit before this happened. I have drove standards for 10 years now so none of this you were riding the clutch BS. So my question is has anyone ever see a clutch shred like in the picture below or is this a result from a defective clutch? And by the way that was what hanging out by the flywheel. We haven't actually tore it apart yet to see the real damage. They are waiting a week for a factory clutch to come in before tearing it all the way apart. And damn its an expensive repair.

 

holy crap, never seen a clutch gone that bad. sorry to hear that man, hope you get it fixed. btw this was a stock clutch?

 

Yes, Stock clutch with 34,550 miles on it, factory tune. Oh and 80% of those miles are highway. Like I said above.. this thing never even slipped a bit before doing this.

 

Did you let anyone borrow it recently? Bc that's rediculous. I would fight gm on that.

 

Nope, I don't let anyone drive my car. I only let one of my friends work on it at the dealer and they know not to let anyone else touch it. And same at Tire and Alignment shops lol... If the car needs to be driven to test it.. I'm the driver.

 

I mean my Buddy works for the dealer and they are cutting me a hell of a deal for a clutch and replacement. They say clutch is only warrantied for 12k miles.. but is that for it slipping or blowing apart like mine did? I mean I'll will obviously pay to fix it that's not a problem, but if this is clearly a defective item GM should cover I'd also like to know. I have just never seen a clutch do this before. Any input is greatly appreciated.

 

Defective clutch for sure, looks like the friction material separated from the disc.

 

id call gm and complain to try to get it free that's messed up haha

 

Well I just sent an email to GM to see what they have to say. Below is what I put in the Comment Box they supply for you. I mean it can't hurt to try right?

I Own a 08 Cobalt SS\TC 5-speed Manual with 34,550 Miles on it. I was just recently driving down the road at 40mph in 4th gear when my car instantly felt like it was in neutral. I instantly pushed the clutch in and put the car in neutral and then proceeded to put it in 5th and had the same results. Nothing just acted as if it was in neutral. This clutch has never slipped on me at all in the past. I took it to the Local dealer and the mechanic who is a friend of mine walked out and showed me parts of the clutch he was able to pull out from next to the flywheel. It looked as if the clutches material just separated and exploded, almost like hairs or fibers everywhere. I have a picture I would like to email if possible. I am well aware the clutches are normal wear items and are not covered under warranty cause of normal wear and tear. But this appears to obviously have been a defective clutch in order for it to blow apart like it did. The mechanic talked to the service managers and all they would say to him was that this was a clutch and it was out of warranty, and didn't seam to care that the clutch was clearly a defective item. Any help or information on possibly getting this covered due to it being a defective item would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time on this matter.

 

i think you are taking the correct approach, nicely written email. i hope they will take care of you or atleast help you out in the matter. maybe they will cover the parts and not the labor or vise versa. either way goodluck!

 

need to call email prob wont get you anywhere lol

 

WOW! Ya either defective disc, or a 14 year old stole your car!
Good luck man. Hope GM doesnt try to give you the run around.

 

They probably will. The new GM's customer care sucks.

 

They close at 9pm eastern... plus I figured an email would be on record as well as my phone call tomorrow. Just in case they try and give me the run around.

 

Thanks man, My buddy that works there already got me a decent deal but i still feel that if its a defective item i shouldn't have to pay anything... Me being without a car for a week and a half is enough punishment.

 

True haha

 

Good luck getting it covered with so many miles.

Always email and call. That way if nothing happens you have a record of when this all happened. It's too easy to say yeah never got a call.

 

Got a call from GM this morning and after reviewing my case he assured me that everything would be covered under the power train warranty and had already spoke to the dealership. I proceeded to let my buddy know that is working on my car at the dealer that I called GM and they are taking care of it under warranty, mainly just so he could make sure everything flowed smoothly. Apparently his boss at the dealership is saying its a normal wear and tear item still so it won't be covered under warranty. So I proceeded to call my contact back at GM and he then assured me that he would be in contact with the regional general manager and have this issue resolved for me and not to worry about a thing.

 

Sorry for the loss, OP. no input, i call faulty clutch.

how much is it for a replacement

 

Without friendly contacts at the dealer it was said to normally cost around 2k for it replaced and out the door. SO... Explains why I was expressing my concerns on if it was indeed faulty before contacting GM.. always nice to have more than one or two opinions before asking to get your case reviewed.

 

Look @ that thing!... n 2G's!?! Holy smokes Batman!! Hope you get it covered under warranty man.

 

Haha Nice... now its time for the run around.. after I already was told that it was going to be covered under warranty they are reviewing the case once again. I'm assuming all calls are recorded so I may be having them pull a call or two where I was told everything was going to be covered and taken care of. Lovely....

 

Gotta love GM service. They tried to blame my aftermarket exhaust for causing the control arm bushing failure.

 

HAHAHAHA.... I'm waiting for them to say my catless dp, charge pipe and intake caused my clutch to go out.. cause if so... i'm going to tell them they may want to research there car a little bit more before trying to blame all the bolt ons. Seeing how the computer limits the hp and tq at 260.

 

yeah i had to literally show them on the car that the exhaust had nothing to do with the bushing. They kept saying something like the exhaust is making the noise you are hearing. i went out and moved the exhaust around, no noise, put the car on a lift and showed them the destroyed bushing. Some techs will try anything to get out of warranty coverage.