this doesnt sound right - somebody help me out

[kunar]

so i just sold my truck (i still have my daily driver) and the guy had to drive ~75 miles home. i told him i didnt think he would have any issues, i have been driving it 300 miles a week without problem. i just drove it to work today with no issues (30 miles each way), anyways, i sold it and he left. then i get a phone call like 2 hours later, he says that he went to shift from 3 to 4 and the clutch went out. now ive never had an issue with it, its never slipped. i didnt put it in, the previous owner did, he said they did it shortly before i bought it. ive put 20k miles on it since ive had it, so i figure the clutch has around 30-40k miles. i cant imagine a clutch only lasting 40k miles, ive got a feeling that they guy has burned it up or glazed it over by letting it slip too much. anybody have any opinions?

 

[177CIOfPureLove]

How does it not work anymore? Any chance of the slave/master cylinder breaking? The line inbetween? Under such hydrolic pressures they would be garbage upon breaking. I dont think that even if someone wanted to declare war on your clutch could kill it that bad in 2 hours, within reason. In my experience when i did my slave cylinder i tried to reuse the old line from the master cylinder, i reused it despit being pitted and it shot out about 200 miles in because the little clip could not hold it back anymore. New line and lots of bleeding fixed that. But see how it broke. And whatever ever happened to buying something As Is?

 

[kunar]

And whatever ever happened to buying something As Is?

hahaha, yeah i know it. well they got about ahlf way home. they are gonna tow the truck to her dads house or something. i had no idea that this would be an issue, i dont know what happened, ive never had a problem. i told them to diagnose the problem and let me know, i may be willing to help them out on parts, especially if its something i already have in the garage. he said its gonna be a few days, so we will wait and see

btw, they said it will go into gear, but when they let off the clutch, it wont move. so the clutch is slipping, its not hydraulics.

 

[crbnunit]

No warrenty implied or expressed. Them's the breaks. Hilly area? There are a lot of folks who prefer using the clutch to using the brakes at a light.

 

[Shoeboy]

In any case, unless you specified that there was some sort of warranty, he really can't come after you for anything. Any (used) Vehicle sold (in Alberta, at least) is sold "As Is" unless otherwise specified. There is absolutely no way of knowing when something is going to break or completely wear out. My guess is that he's either riding the clutch or was doing something that he wasn't supposed to be doing and is trying to get you to pay for it, or part of it. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[metalmacguyver]

Ask him exactly what his prior experiance was with driving a manual transmission.

 

[Capt Jay]

If you want to help them out that's great. I wouldn't go to any Herculean efforts though, IT`S NO LONGER YOUR TRUCK.

 

[MAKG]

You can burn out a clutch in 10 miles.

Upon disassembly, it will be obvious if this has happened -- the flywheel will be blue and probably cracked.

You're doing the right thing being concerned, but reserve judgement. It sure sounds on its surface like some numbnuts riding the clutch for 30 miles and trying to blame you for it.

WORN clutches give substantial warning before stranding you. The first symptom is that it will be difficult to get it to engage at heavy throttle - the clutch will slip even with your foot off the pedal, until you let up on the throttle. And then it will be fine until the next shift. If you didn't notice this, it isn't likely to be a worn clutch.