Within the past month I have noticed that my car seems to slip out of gear slightly when accelerating a little faster than normal. It seems like I have to accelerate quite slow in order to keep my engine from revving up. The engine sounds like it revs up but it doesn't seem to pick up.

I have a feeling that I need to change my clutch, however this doesn't seem to happen every time. It was happening more frequently but this past weekend I noticed that the Brake/Clutch Fluid Reservoir was kinda low so I topped it up. Now it seems to be alright but when I have a little more weight (ie. 4 passengers) it seems to hesitate in the acceleration again.

Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated.

PS. If it is the clutch, how hard is it to do it in my garage or should I get a mechanic. I would like to know from someone with a Protege cause everyone I've talked to doesn't have one. Thanks.

 

yup... sure does sound like the clutch is getting towards then end of it's life and is beggining to slip.

I have not replaced one myself so I can not comment on the cost/work of doing it yourself ... when I had it done last (a whole bunch of years ago) the cost was $400 (USD) for the parts and labor.

 

Thanks for your opinion. I had someone check out the car and he told me that it is the clutch that has to be changed. I'm going to see if I can change it this weekend. It doesn't seem to be too bad of a job per my repair manual. Some people tell me to take it to the shop and get the mechanic to do it, but I want to learn how to do it myself. Anyways, thanks again!

 

Replacing the clutch in our cars is cake. Now replacing the bearings in the tranny not so easy. But my car is back on the road as of tonight!!!! wooohoooo!!!!

 

The clutch itself proved not to be too difficult. However getting some of the bolts off required a little more effort. Not to mention the fact that I broke some of them. Anyways, my car is back on the road and the clutch is awesome now!

 

good to hear