In the past week i've driven my car about 2k miles, about 10 miles from home of my last trip the "service engine soon light" comes on. A few miles later I come to a stop and, putting my car into 1st it almost stalls out, so i put the clutch to the floor gave alot of gas (no tachometer can't tell RPMs) and barely was able to make the car start moving and had to do this at every stop. My friends brother drives it for me and says its the clutch and i need to replace it, does this sound right? i commute to school and need a quick solution so any help would be greatly appreciated and feel free to ask any questions (also looking at new car so a temporary fix is fine)

additional information:
i've recently replaced both the upper radiator hose and radiator cap due to leak problem, almost 133k miles, last oil change/checkup 130k, sohc manual, no tune ups or after market parts, clutch has been weak since about 125k, needed excessive amounts of gas (high RPMs) for recent highway traveling and accelerating, thats all that come to mind now anything else i will post when i think of it

 

have u tried reading the codes?

put the key into the ignition, turn it to on-off-on-off-on (but dont start it), the check engine light should start to blink. and it should do it like so, blink-blink-blink-blink-blink PAUSE blink-blink-blink-blink-blink LONG PAUSE. that code is 55 (no codes found).

 

k thanks i'll try it, but what would it mean if it is code 55?

 

it would just mean that no errors were found OR that its the end of the codes being given. like it could be 12, 21, 55. 55 is the last code meaning no more errors.

 

I just had my mechanic look at it and he said its definately the clutch, and he said it would end up costing about $900 total for parts and service. I would really like to try and avoid paying this much, is there a clutch that will work decently and still be cheap? A website that I can find one at? and does $400 for service sound eccentric or is that just me? I may have a couple friends that are much smarter with cars than I am help me with it but is there a site i could go to with some sorta guide for neon clutch replacing? thanks for any possible help guys I'd really appreciate it.

 

fork up 15 bucks and get a haynes manual. it has everything in there. you can get it at autozone or NAPA

 

I have to find a clutch by tomorrow or my mechanic will order one (its not fair to keep him waiting and holding my car), it may not sound reasonable but I need a quick find anything under $400 that works would be great. Thanks for the haynes manual idea and I would do it if I had more time but I need a car to commute to school. You guys have never let me down before thanks again for any possible help.

 

Autozone has clutches ranging from $159-299. but it would be A LOT faster to pay the mechanic. should only take like a day. if your changing the clutch for the first time. expect anywhere from a couple long hard days to over a week depending on how long you can work and so on.