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Cruze Eco Clutch Slave Cylinder

21K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  SneakerFix 
#1 ·
Hey Everyone,

The clutch slave cylinder is going out in my 2011 Chevy Cruze Eco. I just got the estimate back from my dealer and they quoted me over $1200 to replace it. The quote does include a new clutch. I have no slipping at all in any gears, but since they have to pull the entire transmission to replace the slave cylinder, it seems like I should get the clutch done while they are in there.

I just wanted to see if there were many others out there that have had to have the slave cylinder replaced while the clutch itself has no issues. This is frustrating, since I bought the ECO to save on gas but now all the money I saved in gas over an automatic will be spent on this job. It is a $100 dollar part that I now have to pay over a grand to get replaced.

Also, has anyone else replaced their clutch themselves? I am pretty handy on cars and have done a full head gasket job on a 3.4L V6 before, but dropping the transmission in my driveway seems like it may be outside my limits. The Sachs clutch kit is only $200 from Rockauto but this is my everyday driver and I need to make sure that I get it done correctly the first time which is why I am leaning towards the dealer.
 
#2 ·
How many miles on your clutch?
 
#3 ·
Any front driver clutch service is a stinker.

You will have to fabricate a fixture to hold the engine in place because to remove the trans requires removing the cradle and all related components.
A $1200.00 price for parts/labor that includes a new clutch (a wise move on your part) is a real good price IMO.

In my neck of the woods, NE Illinois, houly rate at a dealer is averaging $120.00/$140.00 per hour.
Using your part prices in this example, (Obviously G.M. parts will be higher due to low volume) that leaves $900.00 in labor.
So, at $120.00 per thats 7.5 hours......that will include touching up the alignment since to lower control arms are dropped with the cradle.

IMO....A rather decent deal......about 16.5 tanks of fuel since you mentioned economy......maybe a bit less.

Darn shame you're out of powertrain coverage (I assume).....and no extended coverage (I also assume).
The throwout system (slave side) would've been covered and the clutch labor would only be an hour plus parts as I interpet coverage.

Anyways, seems like a fair deal.

Rob
 
#4 ·
If you have relatively high jackstands it won't be too bad. You may need to move them periodically. Make sure you have more clutch/brake fluid on hand as well as transmission fluid. As soon as Andrei (XtremeRevolution) can get Amsoil products again, I recommend going through him. The price is less and I've always had next-day delivery. If you're going to replace the clutch, you may look into an aftermarket one like KY. I would recommend snapping all the bolts loose to make sure you can break them loose, then use an impact to save time, if you don't have one, that's fine. I have a tiny dewalt 12v one I use a lot because it's not really strong enough to break anything but it saves me tons of time because it's very high speed. It's not a bad deal from the dealer, surprisingly, but, it shouldn't be too awful. Grab a buddy to help when you take the transmission out, or, if you have a smooth driveway and a good jack, use that, too. Our trans is probably only 70-80 lbs (I don't really know and that could be way off) but, it's rather small and doesn't hold a lot of fluid. I would budget about 6-8 hours to get everything done. And, you NEED a torque wrench for the pressure plate.
 
#5 ·
I would do it myself or take it somewhere else if your not still under a warranty.



You can rent the tool needed to hold up the engine
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the input everyone. The car has 153,XXX miles on it. I bought it with 65,000 so I figure it is the factory clutch/slave cylinder. I found a shop near me that the can do the job with parts and labor for $897.XX. They are out of the main city in the rural part of the area so their labor fee is only $68 an hour. My dad's friend, who is pretty handy with cars himself, had an engine replaced there so I trust them.

While the transmission is out I am going to have them replace my rear main oil seal on the engine. Is there any other parts I should have proactively replaced while the transmission is out to avoid an expensive repair in the near future?
 
#7 ·
Wow! Have things changed. The clutch slave cylinder lost its seal on my '77 Corolla SR5. $12.50 to have my trusted independent mechanic replace it. No clutch change required. Of course that Corolla was RWD, so not so much an involve R&R. Good luck with the repair.
 
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