Trying to screw over LITHIA TOYOTA Redding, Ca...won't work on my URD clutch...NEED ADVICE

Excellent question.

 

I'm not a lawyer but I've hired lots of them.....

I have modified vehicles as a hobby for 25+ years. My other car is a 500hp, 13 Mustang GT. Until recently it had a warranty too. It is tuned, has a roll cage, etc. If something goes wrong I wouldn't even consider screwing Ford with the bill. Bad ju-ju all around. When you play with cars as a hobby (especially F/I power adders), especially on Toyota's with locked ECU's (I come from a land where guys run 1500hp cars with stock ECU's, LOL), YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN.

Maybe take it to the shop that did the mods and see what they say. However imho it is NEITHER Toyotas's OR the shops problem- it is YOURS. don't like that? Sell your truck and start collecting stamps or something?

 

Why wouldn't you have Toyota correct the shifting problem instead of having an aftermarket clutch installed by others? Superchargers don't require a beefier clutch.

I highly doubt you'll win this battle to have Toyota fix this for free. It would be nice on you if they did, but don't hold your breath..... Good luck bro.

 

I post 1 it is the clutch. Later on it isn't the clutch. Hard to follow.

I wish you luck on the repairs, let us know how it turns out.

What did Corporate say when you were on the phone?

You never said.

 

I'm surprised they replaced the throw out bearing with an aftermarket clutch, normally the dealer doesn't get anywhere near anything modified with warranty claims.

I'm still curious how far you can get them to go on correcting the issue at hand.

When it comes down to it the dealer did replace the TOB to begin with, and if it fails at this point it's their problem, regardless of the aftermarket clutch.

 

I'm curious, just how important is it that the clutch be an OEM part vs. aftermarket?.... is the TOB failure a direct result of the aftermarket clutch?

 

If new TO bearing is the issue, shouldn't that (only) be covered for 12mo/12K as it was Toyota installed? Aren't they obligated to cover their parts & workmanship regardless whether the clutch is OEM or not?

 

that's where I'm at now, I feel since they already worked on it, and it's still having problems they need to fix it...I originally replaced the clutch because it was very hard to get into second gear unless I was very slow and deliberate. While the clutch was on order from URD I noticed the OEM clutch was just starting to slip a little. The new clutch made no difference in the shifting gears and after about 5k miles the release bearing went out.LITHIA replaced and a week later it is acting the same way...not fully disengaging when I romp on, very knotchy shifting...have to wrestle it into neutral sometimes at a stoplight, sometimes (not always) is very difficult to get into first gear..sometimes I have to rev truck a bit release clutch a bit and get it to go into gear....Corp told me to deal with the dealer, dealer told me to deal with corporate..I picked it up the other day from Lithia and told them I was gonna park it in front of their shop next week with AVOID LITHIA signs plastered all over it...

 

Are you going to?

 

I sure will if I don't get a resolution in the beginning of the week...Service manager told me he was trying to get Toyota to put in an OEM clutch (goodwill) but they got back to him and declined the issue...he acknowledges there is a problem...I even offered to pay for an OEM clutch install and if that wasn't the problem I wanted to be reimbursed..he said no

 

Seems like the dealer is doing alright by you then.

Consider having the signs say "avoid Toyota" instead?

 

no, they are stroking me along...thinking I will just go quietly...I bet I'm gonna have to end up authorizing them to tear the tranny out again to see the release bearing is bad again, then they will cover it under warranty like last time.....I'm going to buy the upgrade kit from URD so this doesn't happen again...

 

Why do you think the throw out bearing is damaged again? The only time it is doing anything is when the clutch pedal is pressed in.

Is the clutch not disengaging when the pedal is pressed?

 

squealing like a Banshee again...it stops when you depress clutch pedal even an inch...when I get on it hard, it feels like clutch is slipping although it isn't..pedal will stick to floor if I race it into second gear...at dealer now, they are gonna replace again and fix an oil leak.....keeping my fingers crossed...then when it fails a third time I will invoke the lemon law..

 

You may want to read up on the actual "Lemon Law" for your state.

You may be surprised.

From the California Lemon Law:

 

bullshit.

they are not obligated to look at or diagnose anything unless it is an OEM factory part.

period.

end of whining, but this is excellent comedy right here

ya I am being a complete dingledorf with my own post here. but damn son

 

Here is the problem with what you are going at... the aftermarket pressure plate has much stronger springs than the factory pressure plate. That places a direct and much increased load on the release bearing. Your aftermarket clutch may also operate at a higher temperature than stock, or possibly you are just generating more heat due to the way you are using or abusing it, especially given the extra load of a supercharger.

My suggestion is that you bite the bullet and install the URD bearing and sleeve kit that matches your fancy clutch: http://urdusa.com/store/Trans,-Clut....html?osCsid=3e7d2af2b330d5133b74385efc7ae2fd

 

You are actually describing problems with the clutch master or slave cylinders. If pressing the clutch pedal in all the way doesn't actually cause the clutch to fully release, it will result in difficult shifts, and dramatically increased temperatures (for example, when you are stopped at a red light, it will be dragging the whole time while sitting there stopped). The increased temperatures can lead to clutch *AND* release bearing failures.

You *might* be able to convince them to deal with the cylinders, if you can properly convince them that it was going bad BEFORE you swapped in the new clutch. However, since it sounds like you had them warranty the release bearing AFTER the new clutch was installed, they may attribute cylinder failures to the additional pressure caused by the aftermarket clutch. While it isn't a "direct" cause, the extra pressure will contribute to a premature failure in the clutch master or slave cylinders.

 

You have a tough case here. If I was a dealer, it would be hard for me to justify fixing anything that wasn't all OEM without charging.