any good shops in Boston area ?

[tirebiter]

A friend with a '97 Sidekick Sport took her car into an as yet unnamed repair shop and they immediately said it needs a clutch. The clutch does not slip the car drives if you start it in gear. Everything points to needing clutch relerase hydraulic work. Anybody know a shop in the Boston, Ma area that has experience on these older Zuks ?

[noreeaster]

relerase

WHUT???

Can you be more specific?

I once had a 1973 Mercury Capri that the clutch froze on it from sitting. I warmed it up in neutral, shut it off, put it in gear and jump started it, then took it for a ride in the countryside bouncing my foot back and forth on the accelerator until the clutch plates broke free.

Didn't cost me a cent.

But if it's the hydraulics, then why did they say she needed a clutch when it has nothing to do with the plates? Did they say actuator?

[tirebiter]

It took two weeks for the problem to go from "is difficult to get it into gear" to "can't get it into gear anymore".
I wasn't there when the car was dropped off at the so-far unnamed shop. I am getting this info 2nd hand. They quoted $800.00 or more to replace the clutch and maybe needs a new flywheel for another $200.00. At my recommendation my friend went and took the car home starting it in gear and staying in 2nd the whole way, just a few blocks away. The paperwork they gave her states the car "needs a new clutch" among other items and prices given as quoted previously, nothing about the actuator or clutch release mechanism, which I'm sure is the problem. The vehicle has always been in use as a daily driver never sitting unused for more than a day or two.
I've experienced rusted/stuck clutches in cars that sat around unused for a few months and it is gratuitous when it releases without turning a wrench.
So do you have any clue who in this area (Alston/Cambridge) has experience wih these older 1997 Suzuki Sidekicks ?