Saturn Clutch Question

Hi all,

I have a 95 Saturn Wagon (SW2), manual, with 60k miles. I am the 2nd owner, with the last 15k miles put on by me -- all highway.

I was in San Francisco last week and got stuck in a line of traffic up a couple of the horrendously steep hills. As I was in traffic, I was doing a lot of stopping and starting and "balancing" on the hill using the clutch.

The engine fan came on after a while, and then I smelled some smoke. Finally I could pull over and definitely saw some smoke. Some investigation led me to the clutch hydraulic fluid (rear right, near the coolant). Obviously it had heated up to the point of smoking.

So I let the car cool for about 30 minutes, swore at myself, then proceeded to drive gently. I didn't notice any difference in the feeling of the clutch (wasn't slipping or mushy).

I also checked the level of the hydraulic fluid, which was fine.

So my question is this: Did I do any damage? If so, what should I do? Should I replace the clutch hydraulic fluid, since it got so hot?

Thanks for your help, Matt.

Reply to
Matthew
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Never...ever hold the car on a hill using the clutch...you'll wear the clutch plates out in no time. Brakes are the proper equipment for that job.

Reply to
James C. Reeves

You certainly shortened it's life and probably blued the flywheel from the heat. Don't use your clutch to hold a car on a hill. That's what brakes are for.

Matthew wrote:

Reply to
Jim

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