I'm posting this in S2000 Talk (and not Under The Hood) in hopes of getting more responses.

Last Friday, while shifting from 2nd to 3rd, my clutch pedal stuck to the floor. I finally managed to pry it up, but after that, I could barely change gears.
I drove back home in 2nd gear and had the car flatbedded to the dealer.

Diagnosis: blown out release bearing. The bearing, clutch disc, and pressure plate were replaced under warranty, but not being an expert, I'm wondering why this happened.

My car is an '02 w/14,850 miles. I've never dumped the clutch at high RPMs. I don't ride the clutch and try to rev match while downshifting. The car has never been tracked. My mileage is 50/50 weekend backroad drives and suburban stop-and-go, but I truly try to take it easy on the clutch.

Now I'm wondering just how long the new clutch will last. Any advice?

 

Have you read the service advisories? My guess is that's what it was. S2000s 00-02 have a service advisory (not a recall) on the tranny because of the throwout bearings.

Just a guess....

 

There has been talk here about poor T.O. bearing to spindle greasing from the factory. I think once they replace that T.O. and grease it properly, your clutch should continue to serve you well and last its normal lifespan.

ps. Did I actually say that business about eating a live toad?

 

Helios,

I think you'll be fine. Sounds like you just got a bad piece from the factory. A lot of people have '02 clutches that are lasting a while. My car is a '02 with 48k miles, I learned stick on it and the clutch is still fine (knock on wood).

 

Slightly OT but...
What is the life expectancy of the stock clutch?

 

This is a very tough question to answer. I don't think even Honda would venture a guess. It all depends on how you drive your car. We've seen people who get slipping clutches before 10K miles. Then we've seen those who are at 50K, 60K and still on their original clutches.

 

Thanks for the replies, everybody. I've seen plenty of threads about slipping clutches, but a blown-out T.O. bearing was new to me.

ThaWyze1, thanks for the heads-up about the service advisory. We don't have a list in our S2K library, do we? I didn't see it when I was searching for service bulletins.

Xviper, come to think of it, my new clutch action is MUCH smoother than the old one, which leads me to believe it's now properly lubed. Here's hoping for the best.
...and you know, I ate a live toad the very morning my clutch went, and you were right -- it WAS worse!

 

Any stick cars I've had in the past had clutches that lasted about 80,000 miles (without a lot of abuse).

 

[QUOTE][ Originally posted by HI SPEEDR