My daughter lost the clutch in her '97 Z28 the other day. It cost $815 because the dealer said they had to replace the hydraulic unit. which supposedly is clutch and brake. Does this sound right?

jim

 

should be the clutch master and slave cylinders. one is under the hood and one is on the trans under the car.

 

Thanks Craby, but I was more interested in if the price and diagnoses was in the ball park. It seems excessive to me.

 

5 sp or 6. check you local parts store and see what the cost is in your area for parts. im seeing master slave kits for a couple hundred at ricks camaro, probly less at rock auto. im sure if its dealer there 350. 800 does sound a few hundred high but in line if your using a dealer.

 

the items would be the master and slave cylinders and that may be why you thought it had something to with the brakes.

$815 might be in line because you are paying top dollar for the parts and then flat rate plus I'm sure the hydraulic fluid was also top dollar

Between my kids and myself I have a lot of cars in the stable. I don't take kindly to paying others to perform repairs because money is tough to earn but easy to spend. So, despite not relishing getting under the hood except during planned projects, the parts you needed would be about $120 at ADV Auto so I grin and bear it to save $600

If you don't like paying the $815 then get the tools and accessories and stop paying people. If I only had 1 child then maybe I'd pay for others to do things but I have way too many vehicles. I'm like a fleet mechanic for the family and I don't even do that for a living.

 

The hydraulic system has to be replaced every 80,000 or so miles because it wears. An old hydraulic master/slave system would be too weak for a fresh pressure plate.

I spent $185 at my local Chevy dealer for a brand new sealed system (they aren't meant to be bled) when installing my $200 OEM clutch kit because the old system would drag with the new PP.

You're paying for labor because dropping the trans is no easy task. If you disregard the new master/slave system that's needed with these cars you're paying roughly $600 for a clutch swap which seems about right.

 

Thanks guys. Just for the record: this was my brothers car, then I bought it from him, and gave it to my daughter when her car went south, and I got myself an '02 Z06. The Z28 has quite a bit over a hundred thousand miles, and little things keep going out on it. Usually this happens someplace where I can't help her and so far it hasn't been too bad money wise. In this case, while she was at the dentist I had lined up a tow truck and was going to have her towed here, since she was 70 miles away. I have a four post lift in my shop behind the house and was going to fix it for her ( I had already replaced the water pump). When she finished at the dentist, she called her insurance company, and they got her towed to the dealer all before I had a chance to go the other way, so I was stuck. Never again.

Thanks again

jim

 

it hurts to shell out money for something you could have done. With high miles you'll need to prepare yourself for ripping out the engine

The 95 i gave to my son is in great shape all around and the engine/tranny has been rebuilt. It just makes sense to keep taking care of little things as they crop up. I'd drive the car cross country as it is that good. But, it's paint time for it and I need to get a new gun for my turbine so I'll be dropping $300 for a gun before buying paint/supplies. In the end, I'll save more than $1,000. Junior's car will be good as new and i can focus on the Dodge Pickup with 4.7 which was dropped in my lap and has either valve or lower end noise...........it never ends