This story is pretty insane, and I pray to god someone here can offer some advice or tell me what I might be able to do here.

I bought the car (2005 Honda Civic DX 4 door) used about 2 years ago. Everything was great for about 18 months, no problems whatsoever. Then about 4 months ago the clutch failed.

Hard to say exactly what happened, but in retrospect I do remember that when I first got the car the clutch felt "soft." I'm not too mechanically minded (although I have a rough idea of how things work.) One day it just started slipping, and a few days later is was totally fried (nasty smell, no torque with high revs.)

Ok, so I take it into Canadian Tire to replace the clutch. They replace it with a Fenco clutch ($850 for everything, including re-surfacing the fly-wheel.) They tell me there's some vibration with the input shaft bearing of the transmission, but it will cost $750 to fix, so I pass.

A few days after they replaced the clutch I'm driving in stop-and-go traffic, and after about 30 min the clutch starts slipping again. Burnt clutch smell and everything. I pull over, call them to let them know and sit there for a bit. After about 20 min I try the car again and the clutch is fine now (I guess it cooled down?) So I think to myself, maybe I imagined it and keep driving the car.

A few weeks later I'm in stop-and-go traffic and the same thing happens. Burnt clutch, slipping, bad smell etc. So I'm definitely not imagining it, and I take it in. They replace the clutch again. This time I tell them to fix that input shaft bearing (I'm thinking, maybe that's the cause?,) so they get that taken care of.

A month later, same f*cking thing. Stop-and-go traffic = burnt clutch.

Take it in, they try to blame me and tell me that I suddenly forgot how to drive and damaged the clutch. I've never owned an automatic transmission car in my life. Never had to replace a clutch before. Anyway, so I argue with them, and they take another look and figure out that they put in the clutch part for a 2-door Civic instead of the clutch for the 4-door (twice.)

So they put in the correct clutch, and after a week I get my car back.

60km later, stop-and-go traffic, same god damn thing. Burnt clutch. I don't care how badly you drive, there is no damn way to destroy a new clutch in 60km.

I'm taking the car in to them on Monday. What the hell do I do???

Has anyone seen anything like this? what else could it be?

 

What all did they replace? Did they replace the flywheel? Is there any sign of a fluid leak between the transmission and engine?

 

An improperly adjusted or faulty clutch master cylinder can let pressure build up until the clutch doesn't engage fully (slips). In other words, even though you're not pressing the clutch pedal, there is still pressure in the line and it is pressing toward disengaging the clutch as if someone were holding the pedal part way down. After driving until it acts up, get under the hood and crack open the bleeder valve on the slave cylinder. If pressure comes out and the clutch arm moves back to its proper resting position, that was the problem.

 

They just replaced the clutch. They re-surfaced the flywheel (only on the first replacement I believe.) I believe the shop foreman checked the master cylinder pressure and the clearances on everything.

 

It's an intermittent problem that only happens to you occasionally in stop and go traffic. No matter how good they are (and they're probably not very good anyway), checking the car when it is working normally is of little use to diagnose an intermittent problem. You have to go out and test it yourself during a time when it is not working properly.

Also you should check that the pedal comes all the way up to the stop when it is not pressed. With your hand try to lift it up, it shouldn't move. If it does, the return spring is broken and will cause the problem you describe.

 

I think the shop that replaced the clutch botched the job. With all the clutch problems experienced by your car, the flywheel should have been replaced. It may be warped, grooved, or worn too thin. Mk's point about an improperly adjusted clutch pedal is also worth considering.

Any visible fluid leaks?

 

Haven't noticed anything with the pedal, it seems pretty springy.

They found a leak in the transmission, and fixed it (for free) but I don't think that could have caused any issues.

Next step is I'm going for a drive with the shop foreman and show him how to reproduce the problem.

I just don't know how to prove to them that I'm not breaking these clutches. Is it even possible to destroy a clutch in 60km? I mean even if you literally ride the clutch pedal half way all the way through, would that cause it to fail that quickly?

 

If it were worn out, it wouldn't have started working again after you parked for a while.

 

Oil on the clutch and flywheel can cause slippage and chattering.

Pedal adjustment:

 

So you guys would suggest to tell them to replace the flywheel? and then insist on going on a road test with me after?