I have a 1998 honda accord ex 4 cylinder coupe with 155,000 miles on it. I had a guy replace the clutch last weekend, clutch, throw-out bearing and pressure plate(99.00 clutch kit from autozone) Prior to this work, I have never had a problem with the car until clutch starting slipping, other than check engine light on because o2 sensor. I had him replace the clutch and sensor. Now for my problems.
1.car has never ran hot. The gauge was always hovered around 1/4', never seen it near 50%. Now it runs about 75-90%, but has not overheated. Doesn't even seem to really be hot, sorta like gauge is faulty now.
2. Car now shutters when stress is put on it. Like starting off, it shutters until I get to a steady speed, does this all the time until I get to steady speed.
3. It has developed a small leak under right front, seems to be motor oil.

Like I said, prior to this repair, only had clutch slippage and bad o2sensor. I think paying 350.00 labor was fair price for repair, honda dealership wanted 1200 for the repair, which is probably 50 percent of what the car is worth.

He is saying that what he did could in no way affect the temperature of the car and has nothing to do with the oil leak, even though I had none of these problems prior to him working on it. I would appreciate any advice anyone could give me. Thanks in advance.

 

are the fans working when the gauge is reading hot? a shudder while engaging the clutch indicates a misaligned disc. oil leak, well that seems to be the least of the issues now. have him look at the car and the work he did, not blaming him, but replacing a clutch is a big job and it can be easy to miss something while putting things back together.

 

We all read and think of different things.

Me, be sure there isn't air in the cooling system. There is a bleeder on the t-stat housing that should be used with the heat set to MAX.....open the bleeder, turn the key to on - engine not running just on - turn the heat to max. Remove the rad cap. SLOWLY add coolant to the rad until a steady stream comes out of the bleeder. Close bleeder. Replace cap to FIRST click - not all the way just to the first "click". Be sure the blower inside the car is off, start the car and let it run. Keep an eye on the gauge, wait for the fans to cycle - depends on temps and that but this could take ~20 minutes.

If the fans do not cycle and the temp gets to 3/4 shut it off and let us know that is what happened.

If the fans do cycle at least once, I go for two but that is me. Shut the engine off. Remove rad cap -WARNING - Coolant is hot and the reason for only ONE CLICK on rad cap is so pressure will not build inside the rad------Warning. Top off rad if needed, fill the res to the proper level. Drive the car and see what you have.

Was the flywheel replaced or re-surfaced?

 

Thanks for the quick replies.
On the fans. If ur driving the car, the fan on left does not come on. We took plug off and check with test light, it is getting power. I took it to Autozone, the guy there said it was a condenser fan and would not affect the operating temperature. I know on some cars, fans will run after car shuts off, I have never heard this one do that.
Flywheel. I have no clue on that, he has never mentioned it, below is what he told me to get along with with the o2 sensor.

Duralast/Clutch Set (NU31183) | 1998 Honda Accord LX 4 Cylinders 2.3L MFI VTEC | AutoZone.com

Package Contents: Disc, Cover, Release Bearing, Alignment Tool, Grease Pack

As for the shuddering, it isnt doing it when u first engage the clutch, it is doing it when getting up to speed.

He is supposed to come by tomorrow and look at the car. I am not blaming him for the problems, I have been very polite to him, even though I had to contact him 3 times to get a another definite day to come look at it. He promised he would be by Tuesday, but he never called, showed up or replied to my text about it. That is the only thing that has worried me, making me feel like he will not stand behind his work. (He has done tons of work for my in-laws, but nothing ever this involved.) He is a nice guy, and I hope he will work with me on this, but him coming out and saying he did nothing to cause oil leak and temp without even looking at it, bothers me.... Is there anything he did that would cause this to happen, I would like to have a reply incase he says that again.

I did fill coolant up, but didnt know to bleed it, I will do that and advise if anything changes.

Thanks again.

 

Just me but I would replace the fan that is not working. There are two for a reason.

 

Very curious to know the final resolution. Thanks!