GM doesn't care about my clutch issues

[radz28]

Originally Posted by rawj7

I just had knee surgury, when I recover enough in a week or two I plane on takeing it in, I'll post what happens, I love the car and allways had my clutches last longer than 100k, but on this one, as much as it burns, I dont see it last more than 30k and I'll be forced to replace it.

What kind of driving do you do most? Are you on the freeway; in the city; go to the track much?

[rawj7]

Originally Posted by radz282003

What kind of driving do you do most? Are you on the freeway; in the city; go to the track much?

I live on a Military Base the speed limits are anywhere from 10 mph to 40mph. It gets 95% of its miles on base. I only leave base on weekends and its not far, I've never been to a track, though I did have soom fun with a GTO one day, but we werent that agressive. I currently have 1100 miles on my car and it burns and smokes and stinks now as much as when it did it going off the dealer lot. I did have it checked out when I had just 350 miles on it and they said the clutch just needs to break in. Will I get rid of the car for it? NO WAY, I LOVE THIS CAR TO MUCH. Even with the clutch problem, I just realise I MAY have to deal till 100,000 miles and then an after market, though I'm going to do everything I can to get GM to fix first. In the mean time Becuase of this Site I just because a First time member of any car club the east coast region of C5 and I'm going to my first meet in YorkTown VA on Fathers day. I'm bringing the Beans

[vuduman67]

Isnt this a issue with the hydraulics and not the clutch disc itself? I recall reading somthing about the fluid being the issue?

[radz28]

Originally Posted by rawj7

I live on a Military Base the speed limits are anywhere from 10 mph to 40mph. It gets 95% of its miles on base. I only leave base on weekends and its not far, I've never been to a track, though I did have soom fun with a GTO one day, but we werent that agressive. I currently have 1100 miles on my car and it burns and smokes and stinks now as much as when it did it going off the dealer lot. I did have it checked out when I had just 350 miles on it and they said the clutch just needs to break in. Will I get rid of the car for it? NO WAY, I LOVE THIS CAR TO MUCH. Even with the clutch problem, I just realise I MAY have to deal till 100,000 miles and then an after market, though I'm going to do everything I can to get GM to fix first. In the mean time Becuase of this Site I just because a First time member of any car club the east coast region of C5 and I'm going to my first meet in YorkTown VA on Fathers day. I'm bringing the Beans

Well - that doesn't make too much sense then... It's one thing if you live in like San Francisco with all those crazy hills and crap, but I imagine your base it probably relatively flat. Unless a person is really messing around on the street a lot and just riding that clutch, I just can't really see it being a problem with the car itself. The only times I've had problems were really induced by myself. It does just seem really hard to imagine this problem is that big and GM wouldn't or didn't see it coming. However, that's why there are TSBs and recalls, so there goes that theory. I see your concern though, because going completely off what you're saying, your right; there's no reason for it...

[radz28]

Originally Posted by vuduman67

Isnt this a issue with the hydraulics and not the clutch disc itself? I recall reading somthing about the fluid being the issue?

Maybe the fluid boiling and then the pedal crashing or something?

[HIGHOCTANE]

Originally Posted by Milk 1027

Why? Because everyone that claims a clutch issue also agrees to have been driving aggressively?

Sorry but you sound like a GM fanboy in this thread...short of seriously slipping the clutch it should not stink or stick just from aggressive driving...now if ride the clutch while beating on it yes...but you should be able to throw every bit of HP the car has at the clutch if operating it properly. That includes occasional 6000 RPM launches. Yes that may shorten the life some...but it should not cause the pedal to stick to the floor on a stock car. If you can't drive the car aggressively using the clutch properly(ie not letting it slip) then something is wrong. I have beat on mine pretty hard and have had no issues...so the OPs problem is not normal. Period end of story.

[Milk 1027]

Originally Posted by HIGHOCTANE

Sorry but you sound like a GM fanboy in this thread...short of seriously slipping the clutch it should not stink or stick just from aggressive driving...now if ride the clutch while beating on it yes...but you should be able to throw every bit of HP the car has at the clutch if operating it properly. That includes occasional 6000 RPM launches. Yes that may shorten the life some...but it should not cause the pedal to stick to the floor on a stock car. If you can't drive the car aggressively using the clutch properly(ie not letting it slip) then something is wrong. I have beat on mine pretty hard and have had no issues...so the OPs problem is not normal. Period end of story.

Hardly......
Thanks for taking everything I've had to say the wrong way though.

[ron10]

[HIGHOCTANE]

Originally Posted by Milk 1027

Hardly......
Thanks for taking everything I've had to say the wrong way though.

How did I take it wrong? From multiple posts in this thread it seems like you are implying it is normal for the clutch to stick from "agressive drving"...if that is not what you were implying then I apologize about the fanboy comment...
In any case you offered no solution and neither did I...so we are even lol.

Bottom line is it is not normal...
It seems as though some people think that since it has 426HP stock that the consumer should be willing to sacrafice some durability...I disagree...the clutch in the LS3 Camaro should be able to take the same abuse as the clutch in a 200 HP Honda. In other words it should be able to be driven as hard respectively and in 99.9% of stock cars on the road you would have to purposely try to over heat the clutch to get it to stick and even then you likely get tired of slipping it and smelling it before it stuck. It should be engineered to handle the power with a margin of safety/reliability built in..and it may very well be....maybe there are some cars with defective clutch components...or maybe all those threads are guys who can't drive..

[Krieger]

Had this happen to my '99 Trans Am a lot, replaced the entire clutch slave cylinder and res. with the '01 vette one (a common practice for older LS1's that didn't get this from the factory), usually only happened when the clutch was heated up tremendously.

Perhaps there is a TSB about loose pressure plate bolts or some other drivetrain issue that could be causing slippage/heating of entire assy. including the hydraulic clutch fluid which translates to poor line pressure/pedal on the floor.

Being told "if you don't like our decision you can call the BBB" sucks, but depending on your state's lemon law could get you a check and a new car fast, even the license plate envelopes in California mention this.

[Q-ship]

I see 3 possible things goin on here.

1. The clutch plates that are out today are not what they were 10 years ago. Asbestos has been replaced with an organic material that just isn't as good. This is the smell IMHO.

2. This is in reguards to the smell, I bet that just like brake pads nowadays that have to go through a degassing cycling, the clutch does too (remember a clutch is a brake in reverse)

3. The sticking pedal, how high is the engine speed when you are making the shift? There is a reason why I ask, in the late 1960 GM had a big problem with the high RPM Big Blocks (like 375hp 396 and 450hp 454 LS-6) and diaphram clutch sticking to the floor on a higher RPM shift. It is called overcentering.

[Milk 1027]

I guess I have to explain myself again.
NO I don't think that the clutch sticking is normal.
YES I believe that if this is an issue, GM should fix it.

However, all the cases I have seen have been from people "abusing" their clutch. And yes, believe it or not, when you take the case to GM they will take into account that you have done hard accelerations or used the clutch under heavy load. Whether you know what you are doing or think you know what you are doing, it doesn't matter. If we want GM to take this issue into account we need to have people who have not abused their cars have these problems. So far I have not met an LS3 owner that didn't have some "fun" with their car.
So we (or GM) don't know if this is an issue of faulty clutch or user error.

[HIGHOCTANE]

Originally Posted by Milk 1027

I guess I have to explain myself again.
NO I don't think that the clutch sticking is normal.
YES I believe that if this is an issue, GM should fix it.

However, all the cases I have seen have been from people "abusing" their clutch. And yes, believe it or not, when you take the case to GM they will take into account that you have done hard accelerations or used the clutch under heavy load. Whether you know what you are doing or think you know what you are doing, it doesn't matter. If we want GM to take this issue into account we need to have people who have not abused their cars have these problems. So far I have not met an LS3 owner that didn't have some "fun" with their car.
So we (or GM) don't know if this is an issue of faulty clutch or user error.

What do you consider abuse? Hard acceleration is not abuse...the clutch should be able to handle WOT from the stock engine all day long.
Using the clutch under heavy load...exactly what do you mean? Are people towing heavy loads with their Camaros?

[mhood]

Milk, are you saying owners of SS Camaros shouldn't do hard accelerations? I've been told over and over again to break it in "under load". I've heard again and again, "it's built to be driven hard". I can't imagine that GM would build a muscle car with 426hp and tell owners a defective clutch was the fault of aggressive driving.