I've had my car for about 6 months now...just over 10K miles on it. I had to take the car to the dealer because of a bad smell comming from under the hood. The dealer tells me that my clutch is burned out!! WTF?!?! I've been driving manuals for 10 years now and have never had a clutch go out this soon!! I am really starting to lose confidence in Honda vehicles....has anyone else had this happen? Any suggestions?

 

if the stupid dealer told you that the clutch is burned out. tell them to get you a new one then (under warranty of course)

 

Since we know nothing about the way everyone drives the car, I can only assume that you are driving it like the average S2000 owner (like you just stole it! ) Given that there have not been that many reports of premature wear on the clutch, I think you should be able to request that Honda consider replacing the clutch because such wear is unacceptable.

Have the dealership contact AHM and request that the clucth be replaced due to premature wear. Explain to them that while you understand that the clucth is a wear item, you have driven manual cars a long time and this is the first time your experienced such wear and that something must be wrong. Usually, AHM is really good about trying to take care of you.

I would not, however, lose confidence in your Honda (or Honda vehicles in general) just because of this, as there are so many other things that they have done right that hopefully you will remember after all this is taken care of. Good luck!

 

I'm getting a little bit leery of Honda clutches now too, with my recent experience with my '97 Integra really getting my attention. Had an idiot technician at my dealership install a new clutch master cylinder on my car and then not adjust the pedal action properly, resulting in three more visits to the dealership before I fixed the problem myself, with help from some folks here.

Anyway, as the moron at the dealership kept replacing part after part in an attempt to fix the problem, he replaced my clutch friction disk and even though my car has only 60,000 miles, they said the disk was badly worn and wouldn't have lasted much longer. Now contrast this with my previous Integra, a 1987 model, that had 150,000 miles on the original clutch and lots more miles to go when I sold it.

Sounds to me like Honda/Acura is cutting costs on parts. I fully plan to make use of the extended warranty on my S2K!

 

I doubt the extended warranty would cover a worn out clutch, just like it wouldn't cover worn out tires. Maybe I'm wrong. I hope so. I have the 7 year warranty.

Barry

 

I dunno, 45,000 miles in 2 1/2 years on a leased 99 Prelude SH and the clutch was as good as new. I have no complaints about Honda clutches..and, yes, I drove it like I stole it. (love that line)

 

The extended warranty will definitely NOT cover the clutch. The clutch is considred a wear item (just like brakes).

I think Honda purposely put in a weak clutch to preserve the rest of the drivetrain components. unfortunately for us, that means they will probably wear out faster.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Barry WY Silver/Black '01
[B]I doubt the extended warranty would cover a worn out clutch, just like it wouldn't cover worn out tires.