Visionary Vectors

So I just bought a 2008 LS the other day with 38k miles on it and I have a concern about the clutch. In the morning it seems to take a bit to get it into 4th gear. Then when power shifting from 3rd to 4th it grinds before finding its way into the gate. Being 3rd gear is the power band I try and get going to about 40-45 then shift into 4th quickly without losing speed especially when getting on the highway. I have never had a problem with doing this in any other car I owned but a friend told me the HHR has cables and is not like older transmissions that go directly in the transmission and when I asked his opinion he said "well, don't do that anymore", lol. I took it to the dealer I bought it from and was told they only check it for normal driving conditions (ie; drive like grandma)...so of course they told me it was fine.

Anyone have any opinions or ideas as to if the clutch is on it's way out? If it is I want to get it done before the lemon law warranty runs out since there is no warranty that covers the clutch.

solman98

Mine had just turned 3 and I have 41K on it. I've never had any of the issues you've described above. It's a normal hydralic clutch to the best of my knowledge. Even the little tank under the hood to check the fluid level.

Laco

My 2007 behaves as I would expect. I find the clutch smooth and easy to use, nor have I ever had the gear grinding experience you describe, and there are times I drive it pretty hard and throw quick shifts. Are you talking about cables in place of shift linkage, or a clutch cable?

Kinison_fan

Grinding doesn't sound right at all-as others have said,... "mine doesn't do that".

HHorange

Ok a couple of things to think about............

If you have never driven a car/truck with a hydraulic clutch you may find that you need to push the clutch peddle farther than your used to with a linkage clutch.
Second a cable shifter will not shift as fast as a direct linkage shifter (like an old fashioned 4 speed) it takes a little more "touch". This is really fairly typical with transaxles.

If you still have issues my bet would be that the shift/selector cables need to be adjusted.

Visionary Vectors

Well I've driven 2 others and neither one of them did this either. I went to leave work yesterday and it did it again. It's been fairly cold each time it has done it so I gathered that had something to do with it along with condensation. I took it immediately to the dealer I bought it from and had to wait for a mechanic to come back from lunch to go for a ride with me so it got a chance to cool down from the ride over. We no more then left the lot got to 3rd and I asked him if he was ready to listen, I put the clutch completely to the floor and held it there and shifted and it grinded and let me in. I was doing about 45 so I kept the clutch pushed in and just kept going from 3rd to 4th and it would do it every other shift. Eventually we got around the block and it was fine. My thought is that the clutch is slipping or the pressure plate isn't working correctly intil heats up and expands more.

I asked the mechanic about the cable adjustment you mentioned because my friend said the same thing. He said there wasn't any such adjustment....

Anyway they are dropping the transmission and by law if they don't correct it this time around either they have to refund my money or give me another one since it was purchased used. I really don't want to give it up since I really like the imperial blue and black interior and the night I bought it ordered a bunch of mods that are actually showing up here today!

RaineMan

Check your fluid level. It may be low enough when cold that the clutch isn't engaging properly.

Laco

Interesting it only does it between 3rd and 4th. If it was a clutch problem, it seems to me you would have problems not only on every shift, but it would be difficult to get it into 1st when you were stopped. Mine was sometimes difficult to get into 2nd when it was new, but seemed to loosen up as I got some miles on it. With 18K on it, its fine now. It could be bad syncro's on 4th, but why only when its cold. Let us know what it turns out to be.

Visionary Vectors

So I talked to the service department at my dealer yesterday and come to find out there was a service bulletin that was just released to them this week. It seems others are having the same problem but not enough are having the problem to warrant a recall. I didn't catch most of what he said since he rattled off a list of parts they had to replace but the jist of it is that there is grinding on quick or steady shifting from 3rd to 4th or 4th to 3rd. They have to replace some of the syncros and forks in the transmission along with various other pieces to correct the problem.

I'm glad I caught the problem before the lemon law warranty ran out and had to pay for such a repair. Thankfully while their bed side manner sucks at this dealership the customer service is up to par and they are going beyond fixing the problem and giving me a new clutch set as well.