WickedSS2005

iTrader: (1)

Just out of curiosity, what is the normal life of a clutch? I know factors make a diff, but 1yr, 2yr? 5yr? 20,000mi? 50,000mi? I'm new to driving manual and I know I'm a lil rough on the clutch since I'm new to it. Just curious about how long before I need to worry about replacing. I'm not taking it to drag races, or launching it at all. Just normal driving around the area. FYI, I have the SS/SC.

MarcS

I know people who have had the stock clutch for 100,000+ miles, but not a good idea IMO.

Not sure how long you can expect the clutch to last on the SS, I would say a few years at least if you don't beat on it.

alleycat58

Yeah I was wondering the same thing, LOL. I have no idea how long they last or how to tell when they need replaced. I'm guessing gear changes get a little hairy when they're going bad

Marc, good to know. I was guessing somewhere around 3 years, but I wasn't sure.

BullDog71ss

Yeah, gear changes will start to get really rough and reverse will be damn near impossible to get into. Hell, reverse already grinds for me sometimes and my clutch is 500 miles old!

alleycat58

I was gonna say wait a minute! My car is already hard to get into reverse!

swatthefly

yeah, im definitely having the same problem. i think the muscles that i have to use to get that gear are going to be huge.

MarcS

What I normally do when I want to go into reverse from a stop I shift into first, then reverse.

It won't grind then.

This is pretty cool: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/transmission5.htm

Nightcrawler

The clutch on my Z24 lasted for 136,000miles before I got rid of the car. It was starting to slip a bit, but was otherwise still driveable.

Your clutch life is severley dependent on your driving habits.

I'd expect you'll get AT LEAST 60,000 out of it unless you're a real tard and beat the **** out of it. Then you deserve to have to replace it then anyway.

Rally_Yellow_SS/SC

I'm glad to see that somebody started a thread on this topic because I have some of the same questions/worries. I purchased a 2005 Cobalt SS/SC NOT knowing how to drive a manual transmission. I've put over 2,300 miles on the car and I'm still in the learning process, which is totally frustrating. I think I can pinpoint my problems to starting from a dead stop (I have to get the car rolling ONLY using the clutch and then try and give it enough gas to keep it from stalling which causes the car to "chug-a-lug") and letting out the clutch too quickly. I try and put total concentration on these two areas when I'm driving but it seems the more and more I concentrate on correctly these flaws, I'm even worse at it then if I'm not paying any attention to it at all. Anyways, getting to my question/worry, how will I know if my clutch is going bad? After driving, I'll usually smell around the front of the car because I know that when it gives out, there is a terrible burning smell. Also, it seems that on a more than regular basis, I have trouble getting the car into first gear when I'm stopped, would this be related to a clutch going bad? I know nothing about how manual transmissions work so any help on these concerns would be appreciated.

WSFrazier

I bought my SS not knowing to drive stick, but before I did do the purchase, my friend let me learn on his car to drive stick so I wouldn't F*** up mine too much.

wesmanw02

Most cars are tough to get into 1st gear while the car is still moving, but it should go in pretty easily from a stop. If you are completely stopped and it still doesn't want to go it, do this:

Put the shifter in Neutral, clutch in
Let clutch out in Neutral
Put clutch back in and shift to 1st

If it still won't go after that, then there's something wrong with your transmission, in which case you should take it in.

As for clutch life, most clutches should last at least 100,000 miles under normal/aggressive driving. My family's 1990 Honda Accord went for 200,000 on the original clutch, and not all of those miles were easy either.

I have heard, however, that the SS S/C's clutch isn't always up to the par with the power of the engine, so we'll just have to wait and see how people make out as the miles rack up on members cars.