Premature Clutch Failure / ToyotaCare

I have a clutch failing at 38k miles. RPMs speed up on hill climbs as if the clutch is slipping. It is a 2021, I've driven manual transmissions my entire life, do very little towing and almost no off roading.

The Toyota dealer is claiming that it is a wear item and isn't covered. It seems like premature failure. A photo through the bell housing inspection hole shows chunks and bits of material. I would expect dust for normal wear, not bits and chunks.

The Toyota dealer wants to charge me $2,600 for a new clutch. I'm a DIY guy and that seems outrageous. They said they'll cover it under my extended ToyotaCare extended warranty if they find that it's a mechanical failure, but if they tear into it and find that it is just normal wear then it'll be on my dime. I told them it looks pretty obvious that it's premature failure, but I feel like I'm being set up for a fight. I've never had a clutch fail before 150k miles, so this seems like a real outlier.

Looking at this photo, does this look like premature wear or abuse to you?

 

Bullshit!! The clutch is covered under powertrain 5yr/60miles. It’s considered part of the transmission.

 

Have a more in-depth conversation with the shop foreman & service manager...
Are going to have them tear it down or not???
Meaning if they tell you teardown or not, no coverage, would you you really DIY it?
Not calling you out, assuming you need your truck...

Generally clutches are 12/12, at least fords...
pressure plate is generally covered, the disc is a wear item 12/12...
If they find a defective pressure plate, or slave, etc & theyre covered components & you play nice, they can write a nice story & make it fly....
They may even send pics to toyota & have them make the call, which toyota may just bounce it back to dealer discretion....

Its a crap shoot, dealer doesnt want to eat it....
Sometimes its obvious, something failed, or they may gut & not know wtf happened......

 

Clutch wear generally isn't covered by warranty, just like tires & brake pads.
It the clutch fails due to a defect of it or a related part then it should be covered.

 

I requested that they send the picture above to Toyota, and they said that they don’t know if it will be covered until it’s torn into. If they tear into it and find that it is due to a mechanical failure, they will cover it. If not, they will charge the teardown and everything to me.

I am not bluffing on doing a DIY clutch. It’s well within my skillset.

 

I wouldn't trust the dealer either way. If you have the skills to do it yourself you'll know it was done right.
My 1992 Toyota Pickup Truck had 199,999 miles on the clutch when I sold it.

 

We rarely warranty clutches, typically the only time we do is when its very early in the life of the vehicle.

The early Pro's had clutch issues, but they developed right away.

Toyota considers clutches to be a wear item and there's not much you can do if the dealer isn't already pushing for a sneaky way to get it covered.

I've driven with customers that are life long manual owners that are oblivious to their clutch use. I once drove with a 50 year old man that shifted at 1800rpm because it was more efficient, but complained about driveline vibrations.

 

Those pictures aren't enough to determine squat, zilch, nada.....
Yes it shows a failure, but they know its failed...
Determining why is what may or may not get you coverage...
They need the cause...
a defective pressure plate would caused the disc to not fully disengage & overheat the disc, etc...
Its not straight forward, sometimes is CSI type shit & after teardown you still dont know really...

 

If it’s me, I’m buying the clutch parts for $1200 and doing it myself. The risk of paying more than double the parts cost total is too high for me when it feels like they’d probably blame me anyways. But, I have all the tools and I can find the time. Not everybody does. And I don’t exactly love clutch jobs, but I hate paying excess labor and I know I’ll care more. Don’t get stranded by continuing to drive it and smoking it down to nothing in the process. I’d make a plan quick.

 

$1,200 for clutch parts? Sheesh. Pretty sure you could find a LUK clutch kit and flywheel for less than half of that.

 

I tend to only use OEM from the dealer.

 

LUK makes a good clutch kit. LUK and AISIN are the supplier for Toyota. Depending on the year and model. I would get either of them from RockAuto and save a truckload of money.

 

I've run luk in the past and recommend it over oem, oem is wildy too expensive.

For the hydraulics? Sure oem. But as mentioned the price is bonkers for the mechanical parts.

 

yup...

 

The 2 mechanics in the thread that have personally installed a bunch of clutches, are saying otherwise. But ok.

 

I’ve had bad experiences with Luk in other applications. I considered Aisin because they are the manufacturer for OEM stuff, but I wasn’t sold that the stuff on rockauto was actually identical to stock.

And while stock isn’t the pinnacle of absolutely drop dead amazing performance, it is consistent enough in reliability for me to trust it over most all aftermarket stuff.

I have nothing against the opinion of mechanics, but I doubt pretty much any clutch you could install would have any noticeable amount of consistent bring backs for issues. Most of them will make it at least a few years and 30k+ miles. Doubt many will feel inclined to return for a problem a year or two and some miles later.

The reality is, the stock clutch at about $4-500 isn’t too overpriced IMO. The flywheel at $545 is up there. I also got 25% off at Black Friday which made it more reasonable.

 

Also, keep in mind that my comparison is comparing to what he would pay for the same parts at the dealer during a dealer job. If he’s going to the dealer, he’s paying for the same parts I went with, except he’s paying even more.

 

Theres some good after-market clutches...
But OEM at least when it comes to ford is REALLY high quality & hard to beat!!!!
Im not going to pretend to know every aftermarket toyota clutch manufacturer but if you find a quality manufacturer & thats all the do, fine, Im sure it would be a great option.....
But knowing what's good & what's garbage can be challenging especially in todays world where eyerone is cutting corners & cheating out on quality parts & raw materials...
DONT go to your local auto parts store & just source an aftermarket brand clutch that fits your budget. That you have no idea what youre getting, youre just doing it cuz its readily available.
You dont want to just try to save a few bucks on an extensive job like a trans pull, especially on a 4x4....
Youre not replacing a radiator cap here.....
You have no idea how many garbage waterpumps, coils, clutches, VCT solenoids, cam gears, in-tank fuel pumps, plastic stat housings, various gaskets we've had to replace over the years due to customers went aftermarket....
Another scenario is a mustang ford clutch is $600, & you install a $500 center force to save $100, youre not doing yourself any favors, that ford clutch even if self installed has a hands down far superior warranty window & will perform just as good as the CF...

Just giving my 2 cents as a 32 year ford master certified tech, rebuilding only manual transmissions, clutch work, all aspects of engine work, is what I did...
I didnt replace cup holder, lightbulbs, & weatherstrip for a living....
Ive actually had to go to court numerous times for ford, interviewed by various attorneys, etc, consumers trying to sue due to clutch failures....

Ive seen everything, at least a few times.....