Hello,
So my Christmas vacation sucked.

Went to go replace tires - only to see the last place I went didnt give me back my wheel lock. So I they told me come back and they'll give me a new set. On the way back my car rev's high but doesnt go faster.

Gets locked down in 6th gear and pull over. Have the car towed to Aamco - because I thought it would be a transmission thing.

Get a diagnostic done and low and behold I need a new clutch. (Acura TL 2005 77k miles)
1600 for a clutch replacement w/o the flywheel.
Granted I know that I can order the parts from acuraoemparts.com - which would probably save me 300 more. But I need this car fixed before the weekend.

Is it just me or is that kind of high?

 

My Haynes manual says that to do the clutch on these cars you need to pull the motor out just to be able to disconnect the tranny housing. I have done many clutches from corollas to Ford Probes to old mustangs and never had to pull a motor to do it. That being said, looking at the underside of the tl, I think you have to pull it and the manual is correct.

So the labor to pull the engine, no I don't think 1600 is that abnormal.

 

You have to drop the lower sub-frame and then remove the transmission. There is a whole how-to thread in one of these sub-forums.

The main problem is that the new pressure plate requires several special tools assembled together to compress the diaphragm some specific amount before the bolts get tightened down. The manual says that if you don't do this, it could irreversibly damage the "auto adjusting" components of the pressure plate. You can bet that any shop other than Honda/Acura will simply bolt the new plate on and send you on your way.

I have no idea how big a concern this really is.

BTW: LUK makes the Acura clutch. You can find the same replacment set 08-047 for as little as $160 if you trust the lowest google price seller (partsgeek.com). They sell on ebay for $200.

 

That is interesting. I think I will have a look through the forums to see if there is any truth in what they say about that "auto adjustment". Would be good to know for when I have to replace my clutch.

 

Yes we have auto-adjusting pressure plates along with a dual-mass fjlywheel. And you'll note that the friction disk is of the solid hub variety, i.e. no torque dissipation springs aligned around the hub.

Also 77,000 miles out a clutch is far too little. If you are not the original owner, chances are the clutch was abused.

 

Your not really gonna find too much other than what I just told you. Acura doesn't even explain it in their service manual. They just have this huge long process for removing and installing the pressure plate with 4 or 5 separate specialized tools.

 

Argg I'm the original owner - but learned how to drive a manual on this car
Plus I downshifted a lottttttttttt. No more though cause I never knew a clutch would go out this quickly.

Anyways is 1600 a good price?

 

1600 is on the high side. I'd expect somewhere near 1k flat at most from an indy shop. Where did you get your quote from, Aamco?

Also when you downshift you gotta at least rev match if not rev-match double clutch to reduce wear, and dont shift unnecessarily like downshifting towards a red light. Just use your brakes, I'm sure you realize now they're a LOT cheaper to replace.

 

I thought so - I hate Connecticut shops. Always tries to rip off people.

Yes the quote was from AAmco. This other place said "wow 1600 is a really really good price too"

 

look up a japanese specialist shop or call up a local honda dealer for a quote. They wont waste time and your money studying manuals.

 

Downshifting, if done correctly causes significantly less wear than a normal start from a dead stop on level ground. If this is how you're downshifting, you are not doing it correctly;

• Remove foot from throttle while depressing clutch pedal.
• Move shifter into selected lower gear.
• Slowly release clutch pedal.

There are many threads with numerous posts on the proper way to downshift and upshift, and a bunch of other tips and helpful info. Some are quite recent so after you replace your clutch, you might want to check them out. We're here to help you so please do feel free to ask away.