I just had the manual transmission rebuilt and a new clutch put in my 93 Hyundai Excel 2 months ago. Since then i have had some problems with the clutch or transmission not feeling right and not properly engaging the gears, but i was told by the trannie repair place guy that it will break in and be ok. Now, all of a sudden, i can not press the clutch pedal down. When I press it it doesn't depress and now i can't get it out of gear, therefore i can't start it. Before the clutch pedal stuck permanently (it stuck yesterday but in 3 presses on the pedal it did finally depress, i drove it, and i told him about that), i talked to the repair place guy and he says it sounds like the "hydraulics" and I asked him if that part was replaced with his clutch job and he says it depends on what he wrote on my paperwork. The paperwork says he rebuilt the trannie and replaced the clutch. I want to know if the "hydraulics" are generally replaced with a clutch job? I would have to tow my car there to him and if he doesn't work on it i would have to tow it back home. Or, should i just tow it to the Hyundai dealer if the hydraulics work is not part of what the other shop did? I would like to have it fixed under the 12 month warranty (paid $2,500 for this trannie and clutch job) if it is covered. Otherwise, i would rather not take it to that guy as he sent my trannie to Oregon to be rebuilt by someone else, claiming he could not get the parts, and he charged me for that and it took him 3 weeks to do this whole thingl. I really don't know much about cars. This Hyundai was in great shape before the trannie job. Thanks for any help in advance.

This post has been edited by nasus: Jan 6 2008, 07:42 AM

Dear nasus,

Your mechanic screwed this up. While your hydraulic system would not normally get replaced or serviced during a clutch replacement, the mechanic should have ROAD-TESTED the new transmission and clutch before releasing the car back to you.

Since your mechanic worked with this, you could have a 100 possible causes but your clutch hydraulic system acivates a clutch fork. You could reach down to the clutch fork, and see if if will move by hand. You need to get a helper to sit inside the car, press and slowly release the clutch, and see if the clutch fork is moving back and forth smoothly. If you can see that the clutch slave cylinder piston is trying to move, the clutch hydraulic system is not the problem.

Since you say your transmission will not shift with the engine off, it is likely something is wrong inside the transmission. With the engine off, your transmission should shift through all the gears even if the clutch is not disengaging.

Go ahead and get the car towed after you determine that the clutch hydraulic system is working.

go to hmaservice.com and register. Review the shop manual for your Excel under Clutch to get smarter on your car.


Byron

Wow Byron! You are so right on about this. I already had my Hyundai towed to the Hyundai dealer and they diagnosed it as a clutch fork problem, and the service advisor at the dealer had made a copy of my invoice for the trannie/clutch job and called the trannie guy (I later found out that she used to work with his brother) who is 2 blocks away. She told him that their expert on Master cylinders said that this was an internal problem not hydraulics and it was probably the clutch fork (bingo!!), and that he was responsible for the problem. He came and towed my car to his place of business and he has since shipped my trannie to the Oregon place that originally would not sell him the trannie part he needed but said they would rebuild my trannie, which they did. I had been against that idea but relented when this trannie guy said he would be totally responsible for the work the Oregon place did for 12 months. I am very suspicious about this Oregon place now. Apparently, some part seized up regarding the clutch fork. I don't know what parts they had to put in to rebuild my own trannie, or why this part seized up. I asked for the old parts to be saved but they did not do this. The Oregon place only had my trannie, but the trannie guy here who did the job DID test drive my car and it was okay to him, however the clutch did not operate totally right in my mind and i told him so. I am now waiting for the place in Oregon to ship back my trannie in proper working order, and for the trannie guy to reassemble my car.

Thanks for the suggestion about the hmaservice.com. I did a lot of internet research on hydraulic clutches but did have trouble understanding it all. I am going to try this. Thanks again!

:whistling: Another happy Forum member, thousands served.

byron