My sister has a Base coupe, which has the 6-speed, the same as the one I had before the accident. When she went back to school last week, the car sat in her dorm parking lot a little over 7 days, without being driven. The weather has been extremely cold the last week here in detroit, so the car was subjected to constant below freezeing wind chill temperatures. Finally on sunday she was leaving her school and made it just outside of the parking lots, and the clutch blew out on her car. The car couldn't be moved under its own power, and had to be towed. The car has less than 2,000 miles on it, and it my sister has only driven manual cars, and is well trained in the art of driving with three pedals. Has anyone had any problems with the cars being subjected to prolonged freezing temperatures? I realize these cars are not really designed for cold weather driving, but have to assume it was some kind of mechanical failure because of the weather. Any other similar experiences?


DavesX-fire

 

The tranny does seem to run like crap the past few days and we've been having temperatures between 10-15 during the day! It really has to warm up, this morning I had to get in and go, and it felt like the tranny was actually frozen at first. Rough going into first, didn't want to go into second. Once it warms up it's fine.

The problem I've had is my headlights misted up, I guess the night that this cold snap started, and now it's all frozen inside my headlights. Even driving around with my highbeams on at all times has barely alleviated this problem.

Sucks about the clutch though, I wouldn't doubt that story at all. The 6-speed transmission blows, I have one too, and theres definately major issues with it. I just hope when mine goes, it will be under warranty. What about your sister, is hers being covered? Seems like it obviously should, but clutches are iffy. I'd hate if they gave you that whole "Its the clutch so its your fault" rap.

 

I doubt they will cover the clutch. You may get lucky though. And what NJ said I have had the same problem here its been in the single digits all week, when I started the crossfire it sounded like it had a knock.

 

When it goes into the shop, they can tell if you have abused the clutch. But have a look yourself and make them prove that it was abused, if it wasnt they should replace if under warranty. How many miles are one the car and what kind of Warranty does Chrysler give?

 

The lease is through the chrysler employee leasing system, so the clutch will be replaced even if it was her fault. The fact that car has less than 2,500 miles makes me think that even if it was clutch abuse there would still have to be some mechanical failure to cause a significant problem.


DavesX-fire

 

Dave:
As you can see I live in central Canada and it is bloody cold, ie: -33 and -47 during the day with wind chill. I drive my car every day except when the two storms dumped 2 ft. of snow. At night it sits in the unheated garage with outside temps close to -40. The last few weeks, daytime highs in the -25 range. When I 1st start in the AM the clutch is very very stiff and takes about 15 minutes of driving to loosen up, however, it works without a hitch. Sure, I double clutch for the 1st 10 minutes but I have over 11,000 klms and no clutch issues. So, there you are, I've been in a deep freeze for 2 months. Sounds to me you have a mechanical failure and if the dealer blames it on cold weather, tell them to talk to me!

 

My clutch gets really, really stiff in this cold weather as well. I wouldn't, however, expect it to break. It's possible that with the cold-induced thickening of the hydraulic fluid something in the clutch master cylinder, or perhaps even a hydraulic line, gave out.

 

Yeah, I agree, and that's a mechanical failure and should not happen, cold or not. Why would the clutch or presure plate break because of cold? He said that the clutch blew out of her car, what does he mean by that? Was there pieces of clutch and or presure plate sticking out of the bell housing or does he mean it just didn't work when she pushed the clutch in? or did a hydralic line just break? Again, this is warranty. Sorry, but I need more information before I can say what I think about her clutch problem.

 

because the dealer was dealing with my sister, and not through me, he simply told her that the clutch had failed, my sister in her defense knows what a clutch is, and how to work it, but pretty much anything beyond that is above her head, so I wouldn't expect her to enter into a detailed discussion of what had happened. To my knowledge the repair is (was?) being made under warrenty because she didn't have to file any type of work order for the lease vechicle. I doubt the morning she drove the car it had a chance to warm up to a running temperature, being that she made it just outside of her campus makes me think it was due to the cold, and she was just going out to run a couple errands. Nothing ever just happens once to a production car, so I was just interested if anyone has had problems with cold weather driving. When it is cold, I always let my car heat up before I take off mainly because I cannot fit in the car with a coat on, and am not a cold-weather person.

To answer Bob's question, she just said the motor was running, but she couldn't get it out of gear, and the car woudn't move under its own power. When I had a wrangler a burned out a clutch while offroading (using the clutch to control vechicle speed instead of the throttle, I was 16 and didn't know any better). The clutch pedal just went limp and the jeep would just move when you really reved the hell out of it while emiting a sulfar smell, but I was able to limp home at 7mph in 5th gear. Her car on the other hand just stopped dead, and wouldn't move, so I have to believe something must have broken. When she gets it back, I will have the work order from the dealer and will know for sure.


DavesX-fire