Need new clutch

[Jayman1967]

Anyone ever do a clutch in a Aveo? Mine is slipping in 4th and 5th gear. Looks like a pretty hard job!

[Daox]

A trans clutch is a clutch like any other really. Nothing special about it. Its a lot of labor and not a ton in parts, so if you can do it yourself you'll save a good chunk of change.

[Jayman1967]

Thanks! Want to do it myself, because the local shop wants $1300 to do it.

[avguy]

Do you race, or otherwise beat on your Aveo? Just curious what it's doing to make you think it's on the way out? I'm under the impression that a bad clutch is usually noticed first in the lower gears. But I've never had one go in 50 years of driving, so just second-hand on that for me.

[Jayman1967]

Nope..I baby the car and been running Amsoil it in since I bought it new in 2008 and does not burn any oil. It now has 250,000 miles on it slips in all the gears which I am assuming is the clutch. The only thing I have done to it is I have been changing the timing belt and water pump every 50,000 miles.

[TurboElk]

I don't mean to hijack the thread but, who makes a clutch that will hold better than stock? I don't need a super performance one, just a bit better than stock... and what all should I replace besides just the clutch and pressure plate? Thanks.

[Jayman1967]

I am not sure, I get all my parts from the local Napa Auto parts store in my small town. I am going to replace the clutch flywheel as well. I live in Minnesota and the car sits outside, so I am waiting a few months to warm up before I rip it apart. Aveo's are hard to find parts for in general and I can't even find a Haynes repair manual for it. You don't see too many on the road anymore, because unless you change the timing belt often, that is the life of the car.
All my driving was 200 miles a day from the city to my farm daily for my job. Since then I now work form home full-time, so the mile usage has really dropped on the car.

[avguy]

.... I now work form home full-time, so the mile usage has really dropped on the car.

If you're not going to be putting big miles on it anymore, here's something for you to consider. One pro who, visits here on and off, once posted that he had experience with multiple slipping manual transmissions which lasted quite a long time. So you might consider taking the wait-and-see approach,

I'll throw out one other thing, based on a personal experience of mine. One morning a few years ago while I was driving to work, I thought there was slip in third. So I started 'looking' for the slip, and 'found' it again. Well, it turned out that during this witch hunt, I was slowing down the clutch pedal release. I had altered my natural shifting habits because I was thinking about it and looking for something going wrong. Once I started letting the clutch out as I had always done in the past, everything was fine.

I'm not writing this trying to give you a driving lesson, or suggest that you're shifting wrong. Only sending it for your consideration, because it happened to me, so I know it's possible.

[Jayman1967]

It currently won't go over 45 without slipping
I am pretty amazed this car has lasted this long! I only paid $8,500 for it new and still runs good after 250,000 miles.
Only odd thing that I have been getting a is "throttle body position sensor" error for the last 200,000 miles! lol! The light comes and goes in the summer and got the throttle body replaced under warranty by the dealer. I am convinced it is some computer error since the new throttle body did not fix it. It is common issue with the 2008-2009, so I just ignore it.

This is my 2008 that needs the clutch. I have a 2005 as well.

[slayerized6]

With you car at a stand still, place the trans in 5th gear and slowly release the clutch. If the engine stalls, your clutch is good. iI the engine keeps going and you can fully release the clutch, your clutch is bad.