Cluth does not engage under 4k rpm

[Atuca]

Hey guys, been a while since I had a problem, but it was inevitable.

The car brokeded QQ.

The clutch is slipping, really bad, like will not move foward until 4k rpm, than go like I had just launched it like a bat outa hell. The car pulls just fine if I "race" it everywhere, like driving at 4k+ rpm, but will not daily drive like normal.

I figure needs a new clutch, but meh, if it pulls fine at high RPM, maybe I am wrong. The car doesn't pull like it doesn't slip at all, once I hit 55 and shift it into 5th gear, it just slips all day, will not accelerate at all, barely holds its current speed, so I stopped driving the car and been in the slow ass RS i got.

Anyways, the only other thing I have noticed is the clutch pedal. It is useless until about an inch off the floor, so I thought maybe I just ned to bleed the system. But after thinking about it some, having no pressure in the lines would mean it wouldn't disengage, not engage. I can shift the car into 1st-5th without the clutch and the car doesn't move (unless reving engine)

The car has new Master and slave cylinders, SS clutch lines, and actually had a 3 puck clutch in there as of last year, the car only got 8k miles put on it, but who knows.

If anyone can shed some light on this, would be great, especially as I just sold my DD RS for 2.5k dollars today, I can afford a new ACT 2600 or 2900 with w/e disk and flywheel I need, but that will be discussed in another forum topic Thanks guys!

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

Try adjusting the clutch.

 

[Atuca]

talking to people they say adjust and bleed the system, but won't that help the clutch disengage? what about making it ENgage? can you adjust the rod to push the clutch less?

 

[kenamond]

I bought my ACT clutch and flywheel, because I thought the clutch was shot. Turns out it just needed adjusting. I got a good clutch out of it, though. Clutch would slip in higher gears and take a bit to engage in lower gears. Would slip all day long in 3rd on a hill at low speed.

 

[Atuca]

I am the other way around though, I am slipping in lower rpms and grabbing in high, I am 100% sure what is what is happening. Is it slipping or simply not engaging, I don't know, but the car goes at 4k rpm, will not go under that.

I will give my topic a few hours before I expect someone to know, but I am just reitterating the problem.

 

[pj91gsx]

The dowel pins for the tranny are pretty important be carefull not to lose them if you take the tranny off. No dowel pins will cause miss alignment of the transmission.

 

[Atuca]

I went out to adjust the clutch and all it did was make the clutch stiffen up closer to the half way point to disengage, but that did nothing to help make it engage. I just had to make sure, but basicly, here is what is happening: the first 4k rpm of my motor is useless, at 4k rpm the car creeps foward just like normal driving. So it is grabbing later in the rpm range, but not at lower. Strange, the exact opposite of what a slipping clutch should do. Any other ideas?

 

[Atuca]

from: RRE's Clutch And Flywheel Tech Info

Metallic Puck Style Clutch Discs
They wont die. They can take a ton of abuse and wont turn into kitty hair. Even when they get so hot that the pressure plate warps and the diaphragm looses it's spring pressure, they wont fully die. Cool, right? The down side of that "never dieing" is that it allows them to keep slipping, then heat up and grab. The slipping with out dieing makes the surface cracks in the flywheel and pressure plate that will eventually cause the flywheel to come apart. Whether it is a stock flywheel, lightened stock flywheel or a Chromoly flywheel, puck clutches make cracks that kill flywheels, that kill bell housings and more. They have their place but I don't think in a street car. In a race car that gets regular inspections they can be fine. Also most puck clutches have a solid hub center that will contribute to horrible coast down gear noise (worse in an AWD).


I read that and go, wow.. I have a 3 puck clutch, the clutch slips in low rpms, and as it gets to 4k rpm, it gets hotter, and grabs. So I am replacing my flywheel and clutch, but I think I found the answer I was looking for. Also is amazing but when I am coasting and going down in rpm, i do hear a noise that I thought was the driveshaft or rear xfer case, maybe it is just the puck clutch noise described here. *shrugs*

Anyone that has the same problem now knows the answer, slipping low, grabbing high, and has a puck clutch, get a new clutch and flywheel

 

[bacalhau16]

Very interesting find. But why replace both? If RRE is correct, sounds like the clutch is fine, and perhaps the surfacing on the flywheel is bad. Why not replace the flywheel or resurface it?

 

[kenamond]

So...

ACT2900 and street disk?

Deja vu!

 

[Atuca]

Modern Automotive Performance  :: DSM  :: Drivetrain  :: Clutch & Flywheel Combos  :: ACT MaXX Xtreme (2900) Clutch Kit + ACT StreetLite Flywheel

BAM bought it just now. Reread the RRE website, it says that the clutch will wear til there is nothing left, and it will start to ruin the flywheel as well. I am replacing the flywheel because with my limited mechanical ability, I want to drop the tranny once, not twice. If anyone is int he fremont area and thinks they can show me how to do it in two hours let me know, because until the clutch is fixed, I am not going to work >.<

Although, it says the bad clutch will ruin the flywheel, but if I am replacing the flywheel, who cares? Work is about 5 miles from me, I could just deal with it and get to work, I uno, I sold my profit RS and now don't have a DD, but I got the money to fix the GSX, so it will end up cool in the end, just, not for the next week of work..


On a ending note, the 2900 street disk and ACT flywheel look different int he picture compared to the one on extremepsi.com, I hope they are all the same in the end.. couldn't find anyone saying there was a difference, or anyone saying MAperformance.com was a bad sight, in fact found a few posts saying they were cheapest around, and they were, 669 compared to extremepsi at 708 shipped.

woot for saving 40 bucks!

 

[bacalhau16]

Well good luck with the install. Label all bolts to remember where to put them back. Staying neat and organized is very important, especially if you are not that mechanically inclined to begin with.