Hydraulic or bad clutch ? (Page 1/1) johnt671 JAN 15, 10:07 AM 84 Duke motor and M-19 tranny. I went for a short ride and it harder and harder to shift. The clutch pedal goes half way down and then locks up. It's like rock hard. The car will go into gear with the motor off but not if it is running. The clutch is about 20 years old with around 40,000 miles. It shifted great be this happened. A new master cylinder was installed this spring, and I have Rodney's slave cylinder that two years old. What do you think? Gall757 JAN 17, 03:16 PM I'd guess that a spring broke in the clutch plate.....but only because the car sat for so long and could have a lot of corrosion. johnt671 JAN 19, 01:25 PM Thanks for the reply. That's what happened to the last clutch. I've owned the car for 22 years or so, and since I got it it stays in the garage, and it isn't out in the winter. I drive it a couple times a week in the summer and to shows, so it's in nice shape. I found someone to do the job and he should take it in a week or so. Patrick JAN 19, 05:14 PM quote Originally posted by johnt671: That's what happened to the last clutch. Do you know what brand the previous and current clutch pressure plates were/are? Sounds like they'd best be avoided! johnt671 JAN 20, 08:58 AM Patrick, it was an LUK clutch I got from a Pontiac dealer. The car was in a shop to have some other work done that the shop had to test drive it, and after I got it back and drove it home without a problem. the weather was bad so it sat in my garage for a week or so before I drove it. I got about six miles away when the clutch failed. As it was good before the shop drove it I think they had a hand in it. While the clutch was in there a long time it can't have over 40,000 miles on it. Patrick JAN 20, 02:16 PM quote Originally posted by johnt671: ...it was an LUK clutch I got from a Pontiac dealer. If the previous clutch you had trouble with was also OEM, then I presume it was a LUK clutch as well. Odd that you would have two clutches fail in this manner. Perhaps the LUK clutch for the 2.5 is less rugged, as I installed a LUK clutch kit for the 2.8 in my Formula eight years ago (which included at least three years of autocross), and it's still going strong. johnt671 JAN 22, 01:21 PM Not so odd when you hear the whole story. I bought the car from a local transmission shop who rebuilt the suspension intending to do a rebody. This included a new clutch. It may be safe to assume it was a LUK clutch as that's what he told me to to get from Pontiac. I drove the car for a week or so then took it on a a short trip. As I got off the the exit ramp I heard a ping noise and couldn't shift. I got back home and talked to the seller. He offered to put the clutch back in that was in the car when he bought it. He showed me that it was still good and I went for it. I don't know what brand it was but it again didn't matter. When I picked her up the young guy that that worked at the shop told me he wanted to buy the car. This clutch failed the same way as the first one. I went to the shop again and he said get to get the Pontiac clutch and he'd get the young guy to put it in but I'd have pay him Bells started ringing, and after four months I hadn't heard from the guy so I found some one else to do the work. He found the bearings from the tranny shaft were missing. This clutch is in it now, 20 years or so later. I think the kid screwed the first two clutches on purpose hoping to get me to sell him the car.