Driving on the highway, pressed in the clutch to go to neutral before downshifting and the clutch did not return. I got the car home by starting the car with the car in first gear... used the starter motor to get me moving. I rev-matched to shift to second and third.
I looked under the car, and saw fluid dripping from underneath the transmission, directly below where the bleeder screw is. I knew that it was the clutch slave cylinder right away, but sadly I didn't realize that GM made the cylinder a direct part of the transmission.
I took it to a shop, and it is in the process of being fixed. Estimated cost is $820 total, with parts being $330.
If I did not know how to drive without the clutch, or if I wasn't in the process of exiting off the highway already, this could have been a lot worse, and could have potentially caused a collision.
We are getting our cavalier towed today to a garage. We believe after reading this site that it is the clutch line. We were very lucky not to be in an accident. We traveled across the mountains and back from Elkins, WV. It happened after we got home and in our driveway. If it would have happened when changing gears on the mountain, who knows what would have happened. The clutch goes down and stays down. We could not drive the car. 67,000 miles I consider low mileage. GM should fix this problem. Hopefully it will not cost us alot.
Was driving in heavy traffic, went to shift, depressed the clutch and the pedal stuck on the floor. Had I not have been an experienced driver this incident could have had a much different ending. Managed to get the car to the dealer's garage...They repaired it at my cost of course. i called General Motors and their response was pretty much tough luck. They claimed they have never heard of this problem happening and didn't think it worthy of persuing.
I stopped at a stop sign today and went to shift gears only to find out the clutch sank and did not bounce back up with no indications it was going out! The car ran fine for 6 years and I bought it straight off the lot with 0 miles on it! Luckily, I was able to get it into 2nd gear and coasted to the side of the road and it killed the engine when I pressed on the brakes.
I see there have been many who have had the same car inconvenience. I agree it should have been a factory recall and am surprised no one has had any fatal accidents due to this manufacturing default! GMC was a pain in the ass over the years with other minor defaults of the car with dashboard mileage lights faulty and other minor repairs that went downhill after the warranty was gone and it was paid off! Sadly enough once this vehicle was driven off the lot it was considered "In upside down over your head", meaning your car had 95% depreciated value before you even got your money's worth! I wished I would've known that before I even bought the car even-though it was great on mileage. Now I have the luxury of trying to get it fixed on a fixed income due to being laid off and am close to depleting my unemployment benefits.
What to do? The transit system here is VERY limited. X( Argghhh!
Was at a small stop sign intersection in Philadelphia in my 2005 cavalier when my clutch pedal all of a sudden stuck to the floor. I had to hit the break so I didn't roll through the intersection thus killing the engine. I'm in the midst of figuring out how to get repairs on this. Seems like this is happening repeatedly to people it should be a recall! I need my car for a wedding next week and I probably cannot get it repaired by then and will have to spend more money and rent a car... Thanks a lot GM
- Chad L.,
Philadelphia, PA, US
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this problem happened to me 3 f!!king times! first time i was driving on suitland parkway. i was shifting into second and the pedal didn't follow my foot i was like oh f!!k! so i drove until traffic was stopped and got into a shoulder i waited there for 4 hours! until gm roadside finally sent a truck. i had no idea what had went wrong so i had it towed to gm because i had an extended warranty. they fixed the car and beefed with my warranty company to get the rest of there money. after i paid my 100 dollar deductible. so i got my car back no sweat had no idea what happened they never told me. this was at ourisman in marlow heights. so anyway i entered the nopi car show at mir. with nothing better to do i looked my car over i noticed that there was wear on the top of the shifter on the trans itself i said hmm what is rubbing against? ha! low and behold ! it was the clutch line!!! so i drove my car the next day to oursiman and told them they had better put anther one on and it better not be able to hit anything. after a 2 day argument and bitching out peoples bosses my car was fixed for free so no big deal cars fixed im cruising 36000 more miles later it happened again! i was like wth!! this time i used my friends connection to get cheap parts from the dealer to pay 80 dollars for a new line and i installed it myself in 20 minutes!! bleeding the line and all so no matter where u put this line it will break. either the shifter will get it or the brake lines will or other wise my next step is making a new line out of brake line that is out of the way. as for gm they can suck on a big fat limp dick! and they better give me back my money.
The problem began when The pedal started not returning all the way back to its original position. Two weeks before this has happened I have actually just had my transmission replaced. I'm actually really glad I found this website, because all along I was thinking that the clutch went out ( a part that wasn't replaced when my transmission was installed ) I called GM and told them what had happened, and while they are aware of the problem, there is no recall out for the part, and they were asking 90 dollars just to diagnose the problem. I am currently having the car towed to a local auto service company, who is willing to work with me on the repairs, and being able to tell them a little more about the problem was incredibly helpful.
Having an auto manufacture who is fully aware of an engineering flaw, and the fact that they will not put out a recall for that problem is despicable. I also own another GM vehicle, a 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix, and while I do love the car, and I don't I will continue to purchase vehicles from a company that doesn't care that you have to spend 300-500 dollars for a problem that always seems to happen only 40-60,000 miles down the road.
clutch pedal failed to return Dealer charged to diagnose $75 (I took your posting on clutch line failure to dealer ) got an estimate $1000 for all new clutch assembly they claimed was required. NOT A WARRANTY SITUATION!!!! Took to local mechanic after reading your postings about failed line and was fixed for $375 Reported to national highway safety council and have not had a reply Still have line that was replaced. 10,000 miles later original clutch assembly still working fine. I now check line monthly for wear, Agree with other posts CHEVROLET GM should have recall before serious event. I would have paid dealer $1100 for clutch and still the probem would not have been fixed. Not a happy camper
Like the rest of you, the clutch on my 2005 Cavalier got stuck this past Saturday while driving up a hill. I'm super annoyed to login here to find that this is a recurring problem with the 2005 Cavalier and that GM has done nothing to recall this dangerous defect!
My warranty is expired, but I hardly drive the car - there's only 47,000 kms on it! I called GM head office, the said to tow it to the dealership I bought it from and if the problem was diagnosed as a defect, they'd reimburse me. I did as they asked and towed the car, and now the serviceman is asking me to sign for a MINIMUM $100 diagnosis charge that would not be reimbursed if the problem is a defect. The head office did not inform me of this charge and what they definitely don't need any money to determine what the problem is - they can login to this site to find out!
Looks like I'm stuck paying the charge plus the towing fee - I'll update when I find out whether they determine it's a defect or not. Either way, I'm outraged that we're bailing out a company that can't produce or back-up decent vehicles! I'm never buying GM again!
Clutch went out after owning the 2 months but dealer paid for the tow, rental car and fixed it pretty fast so I'm not to upset about the whole thing. It could have caused an accident if I was on the highway.
Clutch went out again after getting it fixed in 2005. GM says since my car is out of warranty that I'll have to pay to get it replaced. I'm not to upset since this is the first repair I've done on the car since the clutch first went out. The could cause an accident if i was in traffic.
I've read several complaints about this here, seems there is a defect in design that allows a piece of metal to rub against the hydraulic clutch line, eventually cutting it.
Will have towed to the dealer later today. I'm very lucky this happened at home and not in traffic.
I see other complaints that are exactly the same as mine and wonder why there has not been a recall. If I had been in traffic, which i was 5 minutes before the clutch failed there could have been a serious accident. The clutch pedal stuck in the down position. the cable line snapped due to it being next to a piece of metal. No need to go into detail because it appears this is a well known problem. I have an extended warranty that of course does not cover this. It is going to cost me $326 to be repaired. I am going to call GM and I'm sure they are going to say it is not a defect.....but when there are numerous complaints about the same thing it makes you wonder. If they do not take care of this I will never do business with them. In today's economy you wonder why these sort of things happen...you think they would want the business.
The peddle stuck to the floor when the clutch line failed. The peddle could be returned to the up position with careful use of my toes and it gave one more shift before it was done. Luckily I can drive a manual transmission without using the clutch and it happened on a quiet highway not too far from a GM dealer.
The clutch line failed because it was routed in such a manner that it chafed on another fixture under the hood. The GM dealer acknowledged (1) that this problem was known to them, and (2) that the part could not help but fail due to the way GM engineers had routed the line. The had been neither service bulletin nor recall issued by GM on this matter.
GM tacitly acknowledged the problem by having redesigned a previous clutch linkage system and putting an anti-chafe sleeve over the hydraulic hose in the new design. The anti-chafe sleeve seems to be intended to delay line failure, at least until the car is off warranty -- it failed in both aims. The car was covered by extended GM warranty which, like other cases in which something has gone wrong with the vehicle, did not pay for it to be fixed.
When the new line was installed on my vehicle the mechanic added additional chafe protection and told me "It is going to happen again. This will delay it a little more." The clutch system needed careful and extensive bleeding after reassembly as the master cylinder had sucked air inside of itself when the failure occurred.
My solution to the problem is simple and I have informed the dealer of it. If GM wants the $313 dollars they can have it, I just won't buy another GM vehicle -- ever. The Cavalier was #14 in a long line. I await the dealer's reply.
well clutch hydraulic line was cut by small piece of meal that was riding on line,, clutch pedal wouldn't return called Chevy home office,, they said if garage found a factory defect they would pay for it and the towing,, still waiting to be fixed,, it is a factory defect.. had to order part..will let u all know if Chevy kept their word..will fine out aug,25 2008 ,,
i was left sitting with car that wouldn't move,,happened in seconds.. i think Chevy needs to do a recall.. the line was cut by a sharp piece of metal that laids right on the line.. i could have been killed if this happened in high speed traffic instead of in a parking lot..the clutch pedal went to the floor and stayed there..no warning..no warning lights,,just dead,,i love my car and almost have it paid for,, thinking of using Pa's lemon law if Chevy won't fix this,, its a manufacture fault and i,ve seem more on here that happened the same way...of course my warrant is over,,, but i think Chevy should correct this before someone gets killed,, so Chevy stand up and be accountable,,
chevy did fix clutch line after i proved it was factory defect,,but really had to fight with them.. the mechic that fixed mine rerouted entire line so it won't happen again,,, keep fighting them,,
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Driving on the highway, pressed in the clutch to go to neutral before downshifting and the clutch did not return. I got the car home by starting the car with the car in first gear... used the starter motor to get me moving. I rev-matched to shift to second and third.
I looked under the car, and saw fluid dripping from underneath the transmission, directly below where the bleeder screw is. I knew that it was the clutch slave cylinder right away, but sadly I didn't realize that GM made the cylinder a direct part of the transmission.
I took it to a shop, and it is in the process of being fixed. Estimated cost is $820 total, with parts being $330.
If I did not know how to drive without the clutch, or if I wasn't in the process of exiting off the highway already, this could have been a lot worse, and could have potentially caused a collision.
Horrible.
- Abhay F., London, Ontario, Canada