Clutch replacement, gear oil change bonus - Smart Car of America Forums : Smart Car Forum

mvaldes · 03-05-2010, 06:33 PM

I went for my 20K service and asked to have the Mobil 1 gear oil changed out for the OEM stuff. The service manager said that since they are going to put in a new clutch the gear oil gets changed anyway so it wouldn't be a separate charge.

Perhaps that means that you have to drain and remove the transmission to access the clutch. Does anyone know if that's true or what other reason there would be that required draining the transmission in order to replace the clutch?

Godfather · 03-05-2010, 07:05 PM

Wow...... I've removed and replaced automatics without draining them....... I suspect that was just another charge they could hit smart with. Dealers lust after recall and warranty work. Guaranteed income.

Padawan · 03-05-2010, 07:08 PM

When All Ball's clutch was replaced, they drained and refilled the fluid as part of the job, all under warranty.

In fact, I had to wait a few days for the clutch replacement to be performed because the fluid was not in stock.

silverbrabus · 03-05-2010, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Godfather

Dealers lust after recall and warranty work.

Wouldn't exactly say LUST after, it's the overpriced scheduled maintenances that get them salivating.

When I was in the industry we used to call warranty work "bread and butter" and maintenances were the "gravy." The Techs used to fight over them.

forestacademy · 03-06-2010, 07:25 AM

They changed my Fluids as well during my clutch replacement.

But I'm quite sure they used Modil one

Old smart · 03-06-2010, 07:50 AM

A few days ago I asked my smart center to order the BOT 328 (p/n A 001 989 51 03 10) for my clutch job in two weeks. The last digits "10" just indicate that it is supplied as a case of ten units; a single 1-liter bottle will end in "01." Good news if the clutch job will include the oil ($30+/liter x 2.3).

There may be a run on it by the dealers, as I hope they nix Roger P.'s Delvac and M1 LS.

Smart Enuf · 03-06-2010, 09:21 AM

Interesting. The dealer replaced my clutch in Feb. '10 due to the "no reverse" issue, but the work order says nothing about replacing the OEM gear oil. At $30 a quart, I doubt they would have neglected to document replacing the gear oil and not getting reimbursed by smart USA. So it looks like I still have the OEM fluid, which is good and bad. Good that they stuck with the Getrag approved fluid, "bad" that it's still in there after 20,000 miles.

Guess I'll be changing it myself at 30K.