northfacer581

administraters: sorry if this belongs in another section, move if needed.

im looking for anyone relatively close to charlotte to replace my clutch and anything else that goes along with it (flywheel resurfacing). im simply looking for someone trustworthy to do the job, and ill pay an appropriate fee. the stock clutch is slipping like crazy, and its only been 5k since the toyota dealership replacement. i dont trust them for this job. if anyone can, or knows someone that can do this, please let me know via this thread or pm. thanks!

keisur

Shouldn't the dealership replace it or adjust it for you since it's only been 5k miles? I've always thought they have a guaranty on their work.

northfacer581

i sure hope so...im going up there tommorrow. its funny, everytime i go up there, they tell me the same reason for why anything is wrong, even if it was their own mistake...

trust worthy toyota mechanic: "well it looks like that leak we fixed last time is back"

me: "o, thats funny, i was in here one week ago, and ive driven to and from school since then"

trust worthy toyota mechanic: "i believe its due to all these modifications you have done to this 4runner, you should really keep this thing modification free, it runs much better that way"

me: "so youre going to make me pay for this, even though im positive theres nothing i could have done to it, and that it was due to your error?"

trust worthy toyota mechanic: "that is correct"

jimbo74

have you thought of attempting it yourself? its not that hard...

i beleive a few members here helped keggo replace his clutch recently

northfacer581

ive thought about it...im just really bad with that kind of do it yourself...im more of an electrical/audio kind of guy. i can wire up anything complete with all doo dads and whatnot, but engine/transmission type of stuff, im about as useful as my girlfriend. i just guess i need more time and practice, im only 17...but i really want it done this week because im going to uwharrie (really the only place in nc to wheel) this weekend.

anyone up for helping/doing most of the work haha?

tc

Never replaced a clutch, but I'll be down there at my folks next week if you need a hand.

northfacer581

preciate it, ill update as soon as i visit dealership tommorrow.

keisur

me and beaux replaced my clutch last march and it's still going strong. I could have done it myself but the extra pair of eyes for aligning the tranny to mate back up to the engine was very helpful. So it's doable. Wild Bill did it himself too.

What kind of leak do you have (reoccuring) northface? I've had real leak problems with my rear wheel seals, both sides I've had replaced 3 or so times at the dealership and finally did it myself and stopped the leaks.

northfacer581

the leaks were coming from the transfer case. the dealership did fix it the second time though.

looks like im going to get the centerforce dual friction clutch. i am going to have 4wheelparts install it.


i would love to hear everyones first thoughts after reading that previous sentence. however the reason i chose this is because they are an authorized dealer and the install comes with a warranty. this is key.

i talked with the toyota place today-basically they said theyll look at it for a fee, and most likely wouldnt replace anything, fix anything, for free, no matter what they see when they open. im not going back there. ever.

keisur

I wouldn't go back there ever either. That is one of the reasons I stopped going to the dealer to have work done after the warranty was up, that and the shoddy workmanship left me with a non-trusting feeling towards toyota "techs" as they claim themselves as.

The dual force is a good choice in my opinion. I went oem from the stealership (parts only) and did the install in my garage. but I only went with the oem because of the money I had at the time. had I had the money for the dual friction centerforce then, I would have gotten it instead. I believe the pedal will be a little, maybe alot, stiffer than it is now so if you have bad knees as I do, be aware. Other than that I think it's a good choice.

PS> for future referrence for my own info for later when I need a new clutch, what did they quote you for the parts and install?

northfacer581

i didnt ask. once he told me they couldnt do anything, i basically hung up. if i remember correctly when they last installed, it was somewhere in the ballpark of 1500. i could be way off. i have yet to call 4wheelparts.

as for the stiffness, i do have one advantage. im 17 and right now it seems whatever i do i still have plenty of energy or whatever. however im a soccer player, so i have targets on my knees. hopefully the stiffness wont bother me too much.

rimpainter.com

Dude, I think you gave up way too early on the dealer. Over the phone they will do anything they can to get out of warranty work. This is just ridiculous. Get an adult, like your dad, to go in there with you and have a constructive discussion with the service manager. Know exactly what you want out of this, and be prepared to demand it. Document everything and take this right up the chain of command. 5K miles, unless you did smokey clutch-burning 1st gear launches all the time, shouldn't be anywhere close to the clutch slipping. Pursue this, seriously.

Glenn

^^^
What he said. My clutch has lasted well over 100K miles. I have seen the stock Toyota clutches go for 200K or more.

northfacer581

will do. ive only had the clutch smoke on me one time, and that was this summer when i was wheeling. other than that, ive never smelled my clutch.

i will try to go in with my dad, but he has a very busy work schedule. i wonder what they did/could have done wrong?

garrett1478

not used a new clutch?? maybe?

northfacer581

haha. if that is true, i dont even know what to say. i hope whenever i can get up there it goes smoothly.

someone mentioned sometimes they dont resurface the flywheel, i wonder if that could be it, and if why after 5k, all of a sudden it would slip like crazy one day.

keisur

I was talking about the 4wheelparts clutch install. let us know the price on that when you get it. I know that when I priced it at the dealership they told me $1200+ and I talked them down to just under $1000. If he'd a told me $1500 I would have hung up too, haha.

I'm a soccer player, er wuz in highschool and college, and my knees are trashed so I don't think they'd like me much if I stepped up to a stiffer clutch. haha.

keisur

For the record, I smoked my clutch really good once pulling a Ford F250 out of the mud when I had 85k miles on it, then I smoked it 2 other times doing some stupid stuff on the trails after 100k miles. I just recently replaced my clutch at about 125k miles but I wheel and have lower gears and bigger tires so mine wasn't going to last to 200k as it started slipping at 120k. But only smoking it once shouldn't have caused it to fail like it has, unless you didn't let it cool after the smoke and just tried to power through it after you saw smoke.

Another thing to consider, unless you checked for oil around the bottom of the bell, is maybe the rear main seal is leaking oil and that somehow got on the clutch and is causing the slippage. Maybe they got grease on it when they installed it. either way, your mods shouldn't have anything to do with the clutch unless you put bigger tires on or lowered your gears so don't let them blame it on that.

northfacer581

i havent changed anything to the 4runner since the clutch was installed, except a rear locker.

the time im talking that i smoked the clutch, first it scared the crap out of me, then i smelled wat it was, i let it sit for over an hour.

keisur

yea, that shouldn't be the cause then.

I'm not saying any changes AFTER the clutch install, I was saying if you are running bigger than stock tires and/or lower than stock gears (whether installed before or after the new clutch) then they could use that as an excuse, but a cheap one. It sounds like you are still running stock sized tires and gears so they really have no basis for saying the mods are the cause since you have changed any driveline stuff besides the locker, which doesn't put any more stress on the clutch than open diff does.