well, I've been hanging on, dreading the first major catastrophe

[leftofthedial]

knowing I have no financial cushion to fall back on

and the clutch went out on my 93 Saturn wagon . . . can't shift, barely got home.

What am I looking at? $500? $750? Might as well be a million . . .

Class starts Tuesday . . .

Might as well drink heavily tonight.

[SPKrazy]

1. Sorry LOD!

hang in there dude

if it makes you feel better, drink?

Maybe the tranny fluid is low

[leftofthedial]

2. I don't know from cars

but I'm pretty sure it's clutch time

160K miles . . .

I can't complain, but I hoped I'd make it another month.

[SPKrazy]

3. ...

well, good luck my friend!

maybe it will snow and they'll cancel classes!

:pals:

[Tess49]

4. Maybe it's just the clutch cable. Cheap to fix. Do it yourself. n/t

[leftofthedial]

5. I'll see what I can figure out

I'm no kind of mechanic

I wish I was . . .

[Tess49]

7. I actually figured this out on my own car. I'm definitely not a

mechanic. I was driving along, the clutch pedal went to the floor and didn't come back up as I recall. A friend told me to check the cable. It was easy to find on my car. A chevy at the time. The cable just screws in to the pedal and clutch.

[leftofthedial]

9. I can tell this isn't the linkage

the clutch pedal engages, but the car just won't go into gear

I'm almost certain it's the clutch . . .

[hijinx87]

6. I was googling for info on your clutch . . .

and I actually found a usenet post that says you need to
pull the motor to change the clutch! :wow:

that can't be right.

[leftofthedial]

8. I can't imagine that's true

man, I hope not

but I'm no mechanic. they could tell me they had to use space shuttle parts . . .

[hijinx87]

11. there is actually a surprising amount of info out there on saturn clutches

I wonder if it's "an issue" with that model.

someone said they had theirs replaced for $850 at the saturn
dealer, which I assume would be the worst-case price. someone
else said they got an estimate for $1100.

I know this probably isn't good news.:(

[leftofthedial]

12. it's a pretty well-designed car from what I can tell

it has been amazingly dependable and has required very little work over the years (I am the original owner, although it was my ex's car during our marriage for most of that time)

I found the clutch kit for my model for about $180, but I can't find a price for the whole job.

I should have learned something useful somewhere along the way

oh well. bite the bullet. I definitely can't afford a new car. I can sell plasma and some books and stuff and find a little money I guess.

I did find a family member's car I can borrow temporarily.

[hijinx87]

13. they certainly have a great reputation

and like I said, I found that on usenet. take it with a grain
of salt.

[Tsiyu]

10. oh, man that sucks

Do some research online and maybe you can find out more info. I guess it's a manual tranny, so it may just be your cable.

Maybe the school has mechanic classes and a student could do the work?

[leftofthedial]

14. I'm taking a program in web design and development

at an art and design school, but I'll bet some student is a shadetree mechanic . . .

It's the manual transmission. I found the clutch kit several places for about $180.

I wish I could do the work, but I have this way of making mechanical projects worse rather than better, which is odd, since my old man's family business (grandpa and all my uncles) was an auto repair garage.

[hijinx87]

15. if there is a vo-tech in your area

with an auto repair department, they may fix it for free if you
provide the parts. I have a Friend who has done that before.

[greatauntoftriplets]

16. Are you talking stick shift or automatic?

If stick, you are lucky the clutch has lasted this long. A friend who works for GMIC has told me never to buy a stick shift car, because the clutches wear out easily. I drive automatic.

[hijinx87]

17. manual transmissions are the only way to drive.

anything else is an inferior experience. ;)

[greatauntoftriplets]

19. Not if you drive in city traffic.....

and want that extra repair bill.

[hijinx87]

21. stop lights were made with manual transmissions in mind.

I guess it's a guy thing. ;)

[leftofthedial]

18. manual

I just looked through repair records and this is indeed the first clutch

(if the clutch is, in fact, the problem)

amazing.

[Maestro]

20. My clutch went out on my truck a while back

and it cost me close to $500.00. Sorry LOD. I hope a solution can be found for you.

[leftofthedial]

24. I'll figure out something

maybe I can barter with a mechanic

:shrug:


thanks, everyone for commiseration and good advice!

[Connonym]

22. Ouch

Hopefully the clutch won't be that much. I know how it goes, I rob Peter to pay Paul every month and sometimes the whole thing just falls down. :hug:

[leftofthedial]

23. Peter and Paul are both gonna kick my ass

any day now

[Nicole]

25. I hope you can find a cheap fix

The Vo-Tech suggestion above was a good one. My cousin had a window AC unit repaired for cost of materials a couple of years ago by Vo-Tech students.