Proton Persona clutch burned and replacement

 Disaster! My clutch is totally destroyed and this is not my mistakes

Lending help to my friend. He were having transportation problem as his old car was sold while waiting for new car to arrive and his courtesy car from his family was met with an accident. So he needed to borrow my car for a few weeks. Initially he wanted to borrow my sport bike but I declined as that bike was too fast and furious and I worry the most if he knock my bike to a total lost. So, I decided to lend him my Proton Persona with 3 pedals.

"Manual is the best!"

Bad news comes. Barely a week later he called me and said my car is having problem on the journey going to work as the car is moving very slow and reluctant to move when giving rev. He is able to limping the car and successfully reaching his working place. He mention everything happened and I told him that he had burned my clutch which is a hard job to get to replaced. He didn't believe me and called to a few of his friends and relatives asking for solution. They promised to repair my car as this is just only a small issues where the clutch pump problem or the gear cable problem or oil leaks. What is the clutch really damaged? They also said if it is really clutch then his friend was able to repair it with cost of RM1000.

"WTF! RM1000 just for a clutch replacement?"

They think that I am a noob with zero knowledge on automotive. After that, I plan everything myself by querying my mechanic for the spare part purchasing, final cost agreement and appoint a date to repair as I need to call car towing service which is covered under my car insurance premium. Lucky for me as the car towing is totally free of charge for under 100km coverage and that day has come on 19th October 2022.

Car towing reach the workshop and I manage to take a video on my car where it doesn't move after engaging gear.

The mechanic immediately move in my car and start repairing process by removing the front wheel.

Removing air intake and battery with the base holding plate.

Detaching everything out from the gearbox housing including sensors, clutch pump, gear linkage arm, starter motor and wire harness.

Jacking up gearbox.

Uninstall engine mounting for the gearbox side.

Draining out manual transmission oil.

Removing both left and right drive shaft.

Taking out lower engine mounting.

Finally, dismantling the entire gearbox.

This is how Proton manual gearbox looks like and it is very bulky and heavy.

See how my clutch has become now...

The fibers split all over the area inside the transmission coupling.

Seems like some animal fur after trimming their hair. Hahahaha!

Blowing out those remaining dust and particles from the burned clutch and the mechanic told me not to get in contact with the fibers.

"Your skin will get itchy when the fibers stick on your skin. Very gatal eh!"

Dismantling the damaged clutch set now and I am very eager to see how it has become.

This is the flywheel attached to the engine output shaft and thank god it is fine. Pheeew!

As expected, friction portion close to the pressure plate was gone.

Friction plate clamp to the flywheel was still good.

See the scratches of rivet from the clutch friction plate against the pressure plate marking.

Removing screws at the flywheel.

The flywheel and it is quite heavy weight around 5-6kg.

The mechanic also suggest to change the oil seal together which is not included for this repair cost which I plan to do so in the beginning and all 3 seals cost RM100.

They taking some rest for about an hour and this is how it looks like at the workshop.

New clutch set with clutch bearing and I don't know coz it is included all with the repair cost. Initially, I am requesting for Exedy but they said it is not available and only Aisin brand which I said also OK.

New clutch friction plate single.

New pressure plate.

Clutch housing.

Installing new clutch bearing

It just fixed on with only using a clip.

This is the how the whole unit clutch assembly looks like from side.

Doing alignment for the clutch plate so the spline for the gearbox will slide in perfectly.

Torque back the clutch.

At last, re-install gearbox.

Re-assemble drive shaft together with oil seal.

Putting back lower engine mouting.

Re-assemble wheel hub and the wheel.

The repair cost agreed is RM600 which I paid and they just utilised 4 hours from 10am until 2pm to finished it all and their workmanship is pretty good when I observed from the beginning until end.

One thing I have learned from this lesson is manual car is not for everyone. After this I think I will never lend my car to anyone be it an expensive or an old car because we never know they are taking care of our car like the owner.

Few tips just for sharing:

1) Before repair, ask the mechanics for information about the problem on your car as many mechanics will repair beyond the damaged item and charge more

2) Know the actual problem and agree upon the repair cost for the repairing item

3) If possible, be there for the entire duration when repairing to see their activity and what happened.

4) The most important thing, do not let towing guy alone during the entire period towing your car as they drive like a maniac hitting your car everywhere. Sit beside them and guide them when they drive.