clutch wont release

[Foamy]

I am not sure how much of an emergency issue this is but it is a help issue.

I am looking at buying a 1995 mtx sho within a few days for a a reasonable $800. The catch to the deal is the clutch is acting up. I have not been to look at the car yet as it is an hour out of town and the guy selling has a very limited availability.

From talking to him I have found out that the clutch peddle wont release. Apparently the problem happened while driving and he was able to limp it home without using the clutch to shift and using the starter to get it moving. So how I understand it the clutch peddle needs to be down to activate the switch to start the car, and if the peddle is down it should not be able to move the car? He mentioned replacing the cable once he got it home and my initial thought is that the cable is just out of adjustment or something small is broken. The car was driving fine with no clutch slippage before this. I am hoping you guys can help me out and see if it is worth it. I asked around and was quoted around $900+parts for a garage to replace the clutch as a worst case scenario.

Thanks in advance for your help and if things go right I will be owing my second sho soon.

 

[Bob Gervais]

It needs a clutch. The release bearing has worn through he pressure plate fingers.

 

[Foamy]

Well dang, I was hoping it would have been an easy fix. Well assuming the clutch is the only thing wrong would it be worth it for $800 and put like $1200 into it? Cause if I am going to spend $2000+ I might as well get a 1998 contour svt that I was looking at for a little more.

 

[Bob Gervais]

It all depends on the shape of the rest of the car. Rust, interior, general shape of the body, if it's had service on time, etc. It's very easy to sink over $3k into one of these cars for regular service upon buying something that wasn't serviced or kept up properly.

 

[shospeed]

We drive rolling money pits....

 

[Bob Gervais]

Kinda. Once the general maintenance stuff is done, they're a damned reliable car.

 

[Foamy]

The body has very little rust and the interior is very clean. I am not too sure on the regular maintenance stuff, but I am not looking to spend a whole lot of money. My 99 sho was a bit of a money pit so I am trying to stay away from that. I do have my truck in my sig for a driver, just I would rather not use it as a daily driver. From the sounds of it the sho might be a bit of a crap shoot. I guess that the contour would be a better choice..or is there any other decent cars that you might have thoughts on? Want something sporty with a manual but not overly expensive.

 

[Bob Gervais]

The SHO is a great DD once the maintenance is done, especially the MTX versions. I would either find another SHO that's had better maintenance, or possibly make a lower offer on this one. Knowing that it's not a simple problem, you have ammo to get the price down with.

 

[Foamy]

I will try to low ball him, but with an asking price of $800(I know the ad is $850, but he told me 800 on the phone) there isn't a lot of room left. I posted a link to the ad. Yes I know it is a rebuilt status but the inspection process for the status is really in depth so I am not afraid of that. It will be my winter car and hopefully my driver to work, and with a 650km one way drive(200 of which has no service for anything), I want something reliable and better on fuel than my truck which gets 16mpg
AD here

 

[Bob Gervais]

Wow, that actually does look very clean! See if he'll take 600 or so. Tell him you know the clutch is bad, and it's gonna cost you 900 to repair.

If everything else seems OK, suspension, brakes, body, it may be worth it.

Common areas of rust that will do the car in are the doglegs (rear door jambs), rocker panels, and the subframe mounting area.

And holy cow, I just converted km to miles... you drive 400 miles to work??

For reference, I consistently get about 29-30 MPG in my 92, cruising at about 75 MPH.

 

[Foamy]

Sadly yes I drive around 400 miles one way to work. The only good thing is that I make the trip every 20 days..Yay for a 20/10 shift! I will be going to take a look at the car in person on Friday so I will have my game face on and see what I can get the price down to.

 

[Bob Gervais]

Oh OK, I get the work shift now. I thought maybe it was a typo at first!

Let us know how you make out with the car!

 

[sperold]

RockAuto still has that $116.00 clutch kit for this model which seems to be working out (see other threads on this topic). I just did my clutch at a garage, and count on 10 hours of labour for the clutch install. Then get ready for resurfacing the flywheel and tightening up or replacing the rear main seal. While they are lowering the subframe you will probably need a repair kit for the rear mounts (where the body meets the puck). You will have to replace your exhaust studs as they will either break off or there will only be a thread or two left that still look like threads. While it is out and accessable, everyone will notice you need a new front motor mount and possibly a tranny mount, both of which you can't buy new. You will be tempted to get the ceramic throw out bearing (or release bearing) as they are reputed to last longer.
Would I do this again knowing all this. Absolutely!
Get some posts out to get the used mounts, go to RockAuto and get the clutch kit, rear main seal, generation 3 rear subframe mounts and repair kits. Look into getting the studs that attach the Y-pipe to the manifolds. Don't start until you have everything. Give that ceramic bearing some thought too. You can get a flywheel that is already resurfaced for about $50.00 exchange. Maybe get a lower rad hose and think about getting a block heater installed while it is wide open (Alberta).
Hold the guy to his $900.00 quote, but think about giving him a tip if he does it successfully.
When you are done, you will have the last year of the standard transmissions, and one of only about 1000 made for the world. Have the shop keep all the old parts and put them in your trunk as you will be rebuilding your old mounts in the future with Devcon Flexthane 93.
Enjoy the ride.

 

[Foamy]

well I went and took at a look at it. had him down to $700 then I looked under the hood and seen a hack job of a repair on the core support and the right strut tower. Guess the guy was not 100% accurate with the reason it was wrote off before. Yes it was stolen but it was also crashed. Had a mechanical/safety inspection done and with the amount of money needed to get to on the road I would be in for at least $4k. I know this is blasphemy on this forum but while looking I came across a 2000 Grand Prix GTP for $2900. I would have loved the SHO but the gf was worried about her driving a standard and "convinced(nagged)" me to go for the gtp because it is an auto.

 

[sperold]

Find an automatic 95 SHO and buy this one for as low as you can. Rationalize it by the fact it is worth $300.00 to send it to the crusher (but don't do it). If it is like Ontario, you can't transfer it to anyone else unless it passes an E-test (and I doubt this one has a valid E-test), so for now, the best the guy can do is sell it as a parts car. So bid low and look for storage.

 

[Bob Gervais]

well I went and took at a look at it. had him down to $700 then I looked under the hood and seen a hack job of a repair on the core support and the right strut tower. Guess the guy was not 100% accurate with the reason it was wrote off before. Yes it was stolen but it was also crashed. Had a mechanical/safety inspection done and with the amount of money needed to get to on the road I would be in for at least $4k. I know this is blasphemy on this forum but while looking I came across a 2000 Grand Prix GTP for $2900. I would have loved the SHO but the gf was worried about her driving a standard and "convinced(nagged)" me to go for the gtp because it is an auto.

Too bad he wasn't completely honest. In the end, we're all car people, brand doesn't matter! Well, not to me anyway. GTP's kick ass, good luck with it!