Am I getting screwed by my local mechanic? Clutch issues.?

Question

I took my car in two months ago to have the clutch replaced. They did the work and everything has been fine. Today, I couldn't get my car into gear, but after messing with it I finally got it to go.

I then took it back into the same shop, and they told me that the slave cylinder and master cylinder will need to be replaced for about $500.

After talking to a mechanic friend of mine, he said it was his shop's policy to check or at least suggest that the slave cylinder be replaced when replacing a clutch due to the stresses it is under from poor pressure to a whole new clutch kit.

Am I on good ground to be pissed that they didn't check or offer to have that replaced when I had my clutch replaced for $1000? Now I'm going to have to pay about $2-300 in labor extra. I don't mind paying for parts, but I already paid for them to take the transmission and get down to the clutch once.

Thanks for any and all help!

Edit: I have a 95 Ford Escort with an internal clutch.

Thanks for all the advice, I really appreciate it.

Oops... :) I meant internal slave cylinder.

Answer 1

The chances of a clutch, slave cylinder and master cylinder going bad at the same time is pretty slim. There isn't that much time involved in dropping the drive shaft, the transmission and replacing the clutch. So the price seems about double what it should have been.

The slave cylinders I have worked on were external and VERY easy to change out. Someone mentioned that some are internal. Yes, they would cost more to replace.

The master cylinder. Did they NOT check it out BEFORE changing the clutch? That could have been the problem all along.

Mark up your "trip" with that mechanic as "experience" and find yourself another mechanic. He evidently is a "parts" changer and does not check a system out before jumping to conclusions. Dump him.

In days gone by, people didn't worry about working for their money. They would do quality and quantity work for so much money. Now, people want to do as little as they can for as much money as they can. Good luck. Pops

Answer 2

They should have checked both the slave cylinder and the clutch master cylinder with the origional job. The chances of those parts going bad when the clutch is being worked is 1 in 100 chances, but it can happen. Normally a clutch job is replacement of the clutch disc, pressure plate, throwout bearing, and, if the mechanic cares about doing the job right, have the flywheel resurfaced. answer to your question, no you are not getting screwed, but I say again, they should have checked it at the time the clutch job was being done.

Answer 3

Well it is usually the case that we do replace the slave cylinder to be replaced as they are right there when replacing the clutch and worth the money in parts and little extra labour compared to taking out the transmission and replacing the slave. Same goes for timing belt jobs we usually replace the water pump, but some customer opt not to as they don't see the value that we're giving them. So i don't think you are being screwed, just inept mechanic who don't understand the value of preventive work. I would go to a new shop or ask them to review thier policy on those kind of work.

Answer 4

What type of slave is it ? internal or external ? If it was Internal they should have replaced it with the clutch . They should offer to do the job now with you paying only for parts . Their mistake for not selling the whole job. Master cyl is a separate job and you would have to pay for that and if slave is external you should pay for job too.
A shop trying to please it cust and not have come backs should have offered an est with the slave added on and let you make the call. If the slave on and internal system fails you have to put the trans again costing you re and re time again. For a $100 part is it worth the roll of the dice as they would more than likely put it in for free at that point.
good luck

Answer 5

When you took the car to the first mechanic, did you tell him what problems you were having with the car, and have him diagnose the cause, or did you come in and ask for him to "replace the clutch". Did you call him on the phone and pick him based on his low price?

Many times a customer will come into a shop and ask for certain work to be done. If the customer asks for the front brakes to be replaced, you can be sure the shop will replace the front brakes, even if they do not need it!

Do you go to the doctor and tell him you have an ear infection? Of do you go to the doctor and tell him the symptoms (pain, fever, etc)? You have to do the same thing with a mechanic. If you want them to diagnose the problem and repair it, you have to tell them the symptoms, not the repair!!

Answer 6

Your first clue should have been the clutch for a overheating problem but that's water under the bridge. Did you get a written estimate or do anything you would normally do when getting work done on a car. If not, the BBB is the only thing you can do but you're out the money.

Answer 7

in a way u did get taken by the mechanics but yet you usaully shouldn't have to replace a slave cylinder very often but they were supposed to check that when the clucth was removed. mechanics often take advantage of people over this same subject so don't feel too bad but do learn from your mistakes if you have any questions just ask me. im very good in this line of work.
-mike

Answer 8

i used to work at a shop and ive had some things come up like this before.. 1st was the tech a ASC certified tech? if not they might not of known that is a recmended procedure to replace those parts.. i would see if i could work a deal out with them about this and see if they can at least make the labor alittle cheaper just for the simple fact that you just spent $1000 there.. if they care about you business they will do something... if not then find out if they are corp owned and call higher power or consumer affairs..they get the job done

Answer 9

the clutch is the clutch & thrust bearing, thats it,garages that tell you you need your slave cylinder doing are just touting for work,

you just un luky that slave cylinder gone it happens had clutch done in loads of cars & slave cylinder has not been replaced no problems for thousands of miles,

Answer 10

For some reason you won't tell us what kind of car it is, so this may be wrong.

If it is a Ford with the hydraulic clutch, and you have more than 75,000 or so miles, they suggest you replace the whole thing while they have it apart.