2008 tc clutch problem

[Redneck4csa]

Nathan, what did they give you?

[Nathanr.6168]

Half the cost, about $750

[Redneck4csa]

That's not too bad, I guess.

[navylife59]

We ended up paying for a new clutch since a person from the clutch manufacutrer "happened to be visiting" the dealership the next day and would look at it. He said my son obviously was driving it too hard to be shredded like that. So we ended up paying for it!

Sounds like a load of Grade A BS. The same BS was fed me about the constant pull to the left in my Camry, "Oh, the Toyota Regional Tech happened to come by. He said that it was normal.".

[2009tc]

My 2009tC clutch went out at under 10K miles and the car was not abused. Here is what I did:

If Scion/Toyota will not honor your clutch warranty on a low mileage car, call 1-866-70-Scion (1-866-707-2466) and open a case. If the dealership makes you pay for the repairs and you have not abused the car, then call back Scion Customer Experience, tell them you are still dissatisfied and ask for them to send you the paperwork for arbitration. Fill it out and send any documentation you have, especially if you can prove you have not abused the car.

When you speak with the arbitration company (will be National Center for Dispute Settlement - NCDS) and they give you an option, ask for a "documents only" review. They will appoint a 3 person panel to examine your claim. This is what happened to me and I got the full amount of the clutch replacement back from Toyota!

Shame on Toyota/Scion for making (formerly) loyal customers go through all this to get satisfaction!

Will be shopping for Hyundais and Kias in the future!

[2009tc]

In light of the way Toyota has been ignoring defects, I think it is time to let our government know. Right now there is an inquiry on Toyota in the United States House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce.

If you've had frustrating problems with Scion tC clutches, you can go to the House's Tipline at https://forms.house.gov/sites/comms/...orms/form.html
or write to Rep. Bart Stupak at Write to Representative Bart Stupak
or Rep. Betty Sutton at U.S. Representative Betty Sutton :: Representing Ohio's 13th District

You can also write to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood at Ask a Librarian

[navylife59]

Good info. We should make use of it.

[Nathanr.6168]

I made use of it =)

[mannysgeek]

I would like to thank the other writers and and "2009tc"..I am currently have a clutch issue with my 2008 tc that has only 21,000 miles. I have always own manual trans vehicles and this is my 2nd TC, but dealership is claiming "aggressive driving" of course. I called Scion Customer line and they said they will probably be able to reimburse me the total for repairs because they want to keep a happy Scion customer. =) Thank you again for all the advice! I've been scourging this thread since I found out about my clutch.

[navylife59]

You are welcome. We all do our best to help each other out.

It appears that I am having an issue with my clutch as well. It appears that it can't handle a 15PSI S/C. It only has 50K miles on it.

[HPSCIONtc]

We ended up paying for a new clutch since a person from the clutch manufacutrer "happened to be visiting" the dealership the next day and would look at it. He said my son obviously was driving it too hard to be shredded like that. So we ended up paying for it!

All I can say is the tires would have been badly worn in relationship with the cluth if someone were to be driving it abbusively.

[navylife59]

True but if the person was not taught how to engage/disengage a clutch (aka riding the clutch), the tires would be wearing normally. If this were the case, the clutch face and the flywheel would have a "glassed over" look.

[HPSCIONtc]

True but if the person was not taught how to engage/disengage a clutch (aka riding the clutch), the tires would be wearing normally. If this were the case, the clutch face and the flywheel would have a "glassed over" look.

You mean like hot spots or checkpoints from riding the clutch right? Yea the surface of the flywheel would give a lot of history too.

[navylife59]

Yes. That is why it is hard to diagnose from just descriptions. Riding the clutch, however, should not make the clutch material crumple to dust. That would indicate either defective material or the engine is making more torque than the clutch is clamp load rated for. The slipping, under heavy acceleration, would cause the clutch material to overheat. There is only a certain amount of this friction generated heat that the OEM material can handle before it begins crumple to pieces.

[Pureblood]

I have an 08 scion tc. 1st manual car ever owned. I find sometimes when I shift It catches I get allot of burning smells coming from the clutch and the transmission drags. You Guys/Girls ever heard of anything like that.

[navylife59]

Was the car bought used? It's powertrain warranty should still be in effect (mileage is the question) so take it to a Dealership to have it checked out. It is possible that there is an issue with the slave cylinder (bleeding), clutch pedal adjustment, smoke/glazed clutch. It could also be your clutching technique. Have someone that drives a standard take yours around the block and see what they think about it.

[Maureen9330]

Hi all,


My dad just came across this forum and thought I'd be interested in taking a look. I brought my 2009 tC in yesterday to my local dealership in MD outside of DC. I was having some serious issues that truly popped up out of the blue. I could not accelerate properly after shifting gears, which was causing the engine to rev and really overwork the transmission (at least, that's my perception). I got a call from the dealership today saying I needed a new clutch - that was it, no details on the matter as I didn't know what to ask. This procedure has been quoted at $1513.00 for a new clutch.

The car, again, is a 2009, purchased Dec. 1, 2008, and has less than 35,000 miles on it. I thought it was weird that I needed a new clutch, but certainly don't know enough about cars to be too concerned... until I read this forum and spoke to some other auto shops. Most people are pretty surprised that I am having issues. The car is still under warranty (barely) even though the part is not, so if they can determine there was oil on the plate or during installation, wasn't set properly, I could be covered.

I understand now that the clutch has a lot of components to it, with plates and springs and cylinders and probably a lot more. My concern is now stemming from what I have read: that parts may have been outsourced to non-regular Toyota vendors and that I may have gotten a sub-par part, that the mechanic may just chalk it up to a bad clutch and call it a day, that this could lead to worse, more costly issues down the line.

I have already called Scion - thank you so much to all of you who encouraged that - and they are having a regional Custom Experience rep contact the dealership about my case. The gentleman I spoke to at Scion, Sean, was great and was very informative and understanding. I don't doubt Toyota/Scion has great customer service reps and mechanics, but does anyone think I could come out on top in this case? I hate to sound so cynical and distrusting, but the last thing I can afford right now (just had a costly surgery) is $1500 towards my 2 and a half year old vehicle.

Any suggestions, words of wisdom or over all encouragement? Again, I've tried to do what everyone suggested above, but I am tempted to bring my car to a regular, general auto body shop to be fix simple because of the cost difference.


Thanks!

Maureen

[navylife59]

Sorry for your bad luck on the clutch. You hit the nail on the head at a defective clutch and it is just that, defective. I even heard of a brand new car with only 6K miles had a clutch go bad. Stay your course with the Scion Customer Care Representative. The car is still under full warranty and the clutch is probably a defect. The Dealership would have to provide evidence that it was abnormal wear from improper clutching or spirited driving. You can ask the Scion Rep about the defects and have the Dealership show you the clutch they pull out for a visual inspection. Stick to your guns.

[Maureen9330]

Thanks Navy, I was hoping you'd reply. Is there anything in particular you think I should ask or look for to determine if it really is a defective clutch? I am a female in my mid-twenties and definitely could see these guys maybe trying to see how much they could push me. Additionally, if the clutch is deemed defective, is that on Scion/Toyota, or is that just a misfortune? They did inform me that if there was something wrong with the clutch, like slippage or oil on the plate, it would be covered - I want to be sure that a defective clutch would also fall under that category. I mean, if it's defective, it clearly wasn't made to withstand in a vehicle for a proper amount of time and that is on Scion/Toyota for installing it - from my perspective.

I brought my car in last week, but asked them to wait until today to work on it as the Scion Customer Rep said someone should be able to get out there Monday (yesterday). I haven't heard from anyone and intend to follow-up momentarily with my case number.

[navylife59]

Maureen, you sound like a very intelligent woman as you have done your homework well on this matter. Toyota may have once been known for high-quality and Service, but since the Big 3 car company bail-outs, Toyota's Service acumen has degenerated below that of a Dodge Dealership and that is low. There product quality began suffering in 2007 when they began to build there cars over hear. I sold my Fiancée onto the Toyota Brand based off the quality of my 100% Japanese made Scion tC. That being the entry-level brand, a full-blown Toyota model should be better, right? That holds true to the models still made in Japan, but the American made models like our 2007 Camry and 2007 Tundra is several lacking when compared to my tC. Let's face it, our American Autoworkers may make Union sponsored commercials stating that they take pride in the quality of their work, but in reality, that does not show up on the vehicles they sell. I can point out so many things wrong on both those vehicles it's upsetting and she never let's me forget it. You can see that quality difference between an American made Toyota and that of one from Japan.

Off that soap box but not until I tie it together with your clutch issue. As you Scion Rep may or may not be willing to divulge is the fact that there has been too many clutches prematurely failing with low mileage and predominately in the 2009 year model. As you have already figured out, Toyota was feeling the automaker fallout and started to trim the budget with their parts suppliers. Until that point, the only parts on the tC not manufactured in Japan (that I know of) is the Pioneer supplied speakers. I do not know whether the clutch was outsourced to another supplier or the supplier tried to save money by making it in China or not. I am not certain either, as Toyota has been tight lipped about this problem, as to what is actually causing the failures. My educated guess and from what I have heard of the problem, has three possible sources. The rivets that holds the hold the clutch hub together and for mounting the clutch friction materials failed. Another could be that of a common ailment of the center hub springs unseating or ejecting. This would through the clutch out-of-balance and cause material damage. Yet another could be the clutch facing (friction) material disintegrating. One last possible issue is that the clutch was installed backwards. The clutch is actually offset from the centerline so if installed backwards, it would operate poorly, if at all. I know the clutch can be installed on the input shaft backwards but not sure if the pressure plate will install on top of it in that orientation. All of these could have been an issue of worker error or material quality.

A burnished clutch and flywheel is easy to detect. The surfaces of the clutch face material and the flywheel will have tell-tale signs like heat stress cracks, glossy (polished) like surfaces, and discoloration to the flywheel friction surface. There would also be a build up of fine clutch friction material at the bottom of the bell housing. There are several ways that clutches can be damaged. This can be by resting the foot on the clutch pedal while driving or riding the clutch when taking off in 1st gear. This can be driver error or the clutch pedal is not adjusted properly or the clutch slave/fork is bad or needs to be bled. You can also damage it by overloading your car or pulling a trailer. Lastly, the good ole Lead Foot Syndrome could be the cause of the ailment and/or by a large increase in HP and torque.

I have provided a few links of discussions with the OEM clutch.
http://www.club-tc.com/forums/drive-...-slippage.html
http://www.club-tc.com/forums/drive-...57-clutch.html
http://www.club-tc.com/forums/drive-...ems-08-tc.html
http://www.club-tc.com/forums/engine...h-i-think.html


PS. Sorry that it took so long for my response. As of late, it has been difficult for me to find the time or deal with the pain of sitting with my laptop since my injury 6 months ago.