'98 Chevy Metro

[Xist]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Separated at birth!

Metro, are you talking to yourself?

[doviatt]

Originally Posted by TooMuchGlass

Filled her up yesterday.
297 miles, nearly allot which we're highway, used up 6.849 gallons, for an average of 43. I can certainly work with that! My SG was about 8% optimistic, but it knows better now.

Nice job! Are you going to start a fuel log? I'd be interested in watching your performance as you learn and improve.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Xist

Metro, are you talking to yourself?

Thanks for the reminder ... must renew my meds.

[TooMuchGlass]

Hey all,

It has been a great 3 years with my Ol' Faithful, with high 40's and the occasional 50+tank. However, now we are having a bit of trouble in Paradise, and I was hoping you all could help me out.

My '98 Chevy Metro 1.0L 5-speed was bucking and having a hard time getting into gear this morning. Some shifts were smooth, but some were all but impossible.

I drove it right back home, and when I got home tonight, I finally was able to loosen the fill plug to check the transmission fluid level. The manual says it should be at the bottom of the plug, but a pizza-sized puddle formed under the car from fluid running out of the fill port. I screwed the plug back in, as some was still running out.

I have maintained this car as well as I know how, including having the local shop drain and fill the transmission again several months ago. He said the fluid looked fine, no cause for alarm as far as he could tell.

I don't really know where to go from here, but I know you guys have a wealth of information. Can you help me out?

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

[redneck]

.

Sounds like time for a clutch.

Make sure to replace the pilot bearing, throw out bearing along with the pressure plate and clutch disk.



>

[TooMuchGlass]

Redneck,

Thanks so much for the quick response!

I have very little car maintenance/repair experience. Is this something you recommend a rookie trying out? I am eager to learn, but without a garage I am hesitant to jump into a project and have my car out of commission for a long time. Is this something a local shop could do quickly and fairly inexpensively? What sort of price are we looking at?

I realize those are more questions, but I am feeling a bit overwhelmed and don't want to hurt the car after it has been so good to me!

[MPGeo]

Around here (right down the street from you)
$300 - $400 is about average labor cost for clutch replacement
You are looking at an extra $80 - $120 for the clutch kit
+ $$ a little extra for some tranny oil as needed.

A clutch replacement will be challenging at best if you have little experience, but definitely not impossible. If you have a second car, and can spare a weekend or two... And if your are as eager to learn as you say... then this clutch job is as easy as they get, so it would be a great choice to get your feet wet.

But someone with the right facilities, tooling, and experience could have this job done in about 4 hrs +/-