Price for 1996 Ford Probe clutch replacement.

Thank you for your time and reply! I picked up my car today and had a long talk with my mechanic. This is basically what he stated:

"The reason why your clutch went out so suddenly was because the "throw out bearings finally went bad, sometimes within a snap of the finger! But there was nothing wrong with your clutch at the time.

The longer you drove it to our repair shop, the more these bad bearings were eating into the clutch pressure plate, which finally caused the "rattling sound" you were hearing in the end. Your hydraulics and slave drives checked out fine and did not have to be replaced.

He said even after I drove for approx. 12-15 miles mostly in first and second gear to their shop, the clutch itself was still working and NOT slipping, which I did notice was working properly.

He also told me that, even if I had NOT driven the vehicle, the entire clutch assembly would still have to be replaced, simply because it would be "stupid" to ONLY replace these particular bearings inside the clutch.

Stating that once you have the clutch out of the vehicle, 'it's foolish to only replace one or two parts, which would have only saved me roughly about $80.00 or less, versus the high cost of labor which he charged me $460.00, including the cost of re-surfacing the flywheel.

I purchased this clutch assembly kit from Advanced Auto Parts for$138.00 and gave it to him to try to save money on repairs, although I DO understand, if this part goes bad, there is NO warranty on labor, whenever customers provide their very own parts. Hopefully, I will not have any problems.

He also stated that unfortunately because I continued to drive the vehicle, it looks like I may have "scared the HUB" which is a part of the clutch and transmission on this particular vehicle. He said they sanded down the HUB and replaced the clutch assembly, and everything seems to be fine at the time.

My mechanic also showed me that the clutch on this 1996 Ford Probe (4 cylinder----2.0) is what they call "Hydraulic and NOT a cable" Apparently the clutch fluid runs from the BRAKE master cylinder, which I could Not find at the time, whenever it broke down.

So far, the vehicle is changing gears "GREAT!" Without any problems. Even the clutch pedal is easier to press or push down during gear shifting. However, the more I think about recently during gear shifting, SOMETIMES it was tough to get into gear?

"I just thought it was the extreme summer heat here in the south!" Whereas, certain auto parts seem to expand causing more vehicle problems." I guess I was wrong?"

Do you think this mechanic was telling me the truth? Yes or NO? Please elaborate on your answer. My family and I have many used cars that always need repair and are always looking for professional and expert advice.

Sincerely,
Phillip Chambley.