Did your ACT clutch fail on you? If so, post here

[laserspeeddemon]

Ok now I'm going to show a side X-ray shot of the engine-tranny mounting. Again the left is correct and the right is misaligned. The Engine is dark gray, the tranny is light gray, the flywheel is green, the disc is brown, and the plate is yellow. As you can see the input shaft is straight in the left and angled up in the right due to the misalignment.

Can you imagine the stress you are putting on the whole clutch assembly. The clutch disc is the weakest link of the assembly, so it would be the first to fail. There are alot more messy details, but this is the best way to explain it without getting too complicated.

 

[TimG]

Ok. I can imagine the clutch dowel pins being absent. Now I imagine the assembly being able to shift side to side, but not the way you drew it in the second picture. I think I might be onto something though.

Sit tight. I have a flywheel assembly and ACT 2100 and street disk in my garage, I'm going to go look at it and see if I see any possible issues with the theory I just thought of.

 

[laserspeeddemon]

Ah, you see the pins don't just align the tranny side to side, but also make sure that the transmission sits flushed, on top and the bottom, against the engine, even before you tighten the bolts.

 

[TimG]

Everyone has their own ideas on the ACT disks. I love my ACT PP but the disk I took out, the springs are REALLY loose. It's almost stupid how loose they are compared to a new ACT disk. It's like I could use it as a tambourine if I played in a band... and played a tambourine.

I'm going to see if I can possibly pick up a Exedy disk to go along with it. I just hate how everyone contradicts each other on the ACT disk . It's really hard to make a decision when everyone says different things and the information being given is third hand experience and has no logic to back itself up.

Unfortunate for whoever, I made my mind.

 

[olmytsi]

Alright this thread has been going on forever and as evryone can see, this ACT disk problem is very real and serious. i think its time we all stop buying their disks so they do something about it.

I have a 2g awd and i put a 2600 kit with a fidanza on last summer (july 2004). The clutch job was done by a long time dsmer so it wasnt done wrong. I was running a 14b with fmic and fuel mods, unopened 7 bolt and making 240awhp...nothing to stress the clutch. I went to the track twice and ran 13s and had the occasional street race with 5k launches.
Fast forward to this summer. After putting around 9k on the clutch mostly daily driving to and from school not driving hard, it was time for a 6 bolt swap and so the clutch came out. I noticed that 1 spring was LOOSE, really LOOSE and i was short on cash so i reused it after sticking the 6 bolt in and drove on it for maybe 200 miles. I pulled the trans because i had gotten money so i ordered a new clutch disk, tob and fork 3 weeks ago. The disk went from 1 loose spring to 3 loose springs in around 200 miles and no more than 4000rpms or 4 psi ( seriously). I open the new clutch disk to put it in and ALREADY, a spring was a little loose.

This was the last act disk i buy. What does evryone recommend to replace it? Exedy? I heard about the sbr clutches failing already so thats a nono.

 

[v8s_are_slow]

it'd be nice if that happened and they did something about it. but we all know good and well that that just isn't gonna happen. i'm building my car up right now with a stroker and gonna have a shep tranny. my BIGGEST debate is the clutch disc. i really don't want a weak link such as having a bad clutch disc and having to pull it all out once again or taking a chance of having my completely brand new setup get messed up over something as this. i've started a thread....

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195734

mainly cause i don't know what other option i can go with. ACT is all anyone talks about really and so it's hard finding something else. i love the 2600 pp but other than that, i'll be really nervous to run a 3rd disc in my car and maybe have problems for a possible 3rd time. and their warranty sucks!

 

[MNGSX]

I just put in my Mcleod Sintered Iron clutch..

I discovered that my exedy disk was in 3 pieces with one of the spings out of it.

Funny thing is that it was never really launched hard and used for engine break in...

Apparently 1-2's and 2-3's and hp in the 6xx range is enough without launching...

This is what went in it.

 

[gsx951]

I just put in my Mcleod Sintered Iron clutch..

I discovered that my exedy disk was in 3 pieces with one of the spings out of it.

Funny thing is that it was never really launched hard and used for engine break in...

Apparently 1-2's and 2-3's and hp in the 6xx range is enough without launching...

This is what went in it.

Is the disc heavy and how does it shift?

 

[boostedinaz]

I discovered that my exedy disk was in 3 pieces with one of the spings out of it.

Funny thing is that it was never really launched hard and used for engine break in...

Exedy had a clutch problem, quick everyone jump ship. Get rid of all those clutches and start posting how bad they are so others are are in the know.


Not directed at you at all just making a point.

 

[MNGSX]

Its heavier than a organic clutch but not like super heavy or anything like that... The drive plate is a non marcel 1 piece plate w/o rivets and the sintered iron is sintered direct to it. The springs are encased in polyurethane in addition to having better pockets and the hub has an extra rivet as compared to a exedy hub.. Its almost like a full face clutch disk. It could theoretically be called a 4 puck but the slots in the disk seperating the "pucks" are only to allow for expansion when hot and it uses allmost all the surface area except for the expansion slots.

I had to take care of some other obligations this weekend. As of now its still up in the air with the trans back in it. There are some other minor things I want to do while it is up in the air.

I pulled the vapor can.. FYI It had a GM logo and was made by their rochester parts divison... I put the battery in the rear again and I am waiting on a 1 gallon fuel cell.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

This will be going where the batt and vapor can was.. With my SX pump feeding off one fitting and line from a intank rear pump going in the other.

Following my own advice from this thread.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=197449

I am adding a scatter sheild... Later on a tucked (hidden) cage and a SFI main rear cell..

Backroad runs with friends drag muscle cars with slips tell me I need stuff or I will get booted from most tracks.

Just going thru the whole car as PM so my new found power does'nt shatter anything else.

 

[my95tsi]

Damn i wish this post would just end. The whole post is sort-of ironic to me. Almost everyone on here that is bashing ACT drives a 2nd gen which is obviously notorious for the 7bolt crankwalk. Why did you guys decide to buy a 2g when knowing it could possibly have crank problems? Why didn't you go Subaru or Nissan or Toyota? I bet most of the people on here started modding their 2g on the stock 7 bolt and the MAJORITY of them didn't crankwalk. Stop being frickin babies and listening to all the crap that's out there. Yeah i'm not denying that maybe some ACT cluthes have failed but do you not see an upcoming movie because the critics hated it, or will you find out for yourself? My ACT 2100 was put in right before all this drama started. I used an oem throwout bearing and i also installed a streetlight flywheel. Well it's been over 12k now and my clutch is working just perfectly and i'm not easy on it either. Also my car has 83k on the clock right now with no signs of CW....

 

[MNGSX]

Is the disc heavy and how does it shift?

I LOVE this clutch... This is hard to kill because its a metallic but not grabby. It slips nice and is predicatable launch to launch.. A normal street rolling start is chatter free.

 

[laserspeeddemon]

Damn i wish this post would just end. The whole post is sort-of ironic to me. Almost everyone on here that is bashing ACT drives a 2nd gen which is obviously notorious for the 7bolt crankwalk. Why did you guys decide to buy a 2g when knowing it could possibly have crank problems? Why didn't you go Subaru or Nissan or Toyota? I bet most of the people on here started modding their 2g on the stock 7 bolt and the MAJORITY of them didn't crankwalk. Stop being frickin babies and listening to all the crap that's out there. Yeah i'm not denying that maybe some ACT cluthes have failed but do you not see an upcoming movie because the critics hated it, or will you find out for yourself? My ACT 2100 was put in right before all this drama started. I used an oem throwout bearing and i also installed a streetlight flywheel. Well it's been over 12k now and my clutch is working just perfectly and i'm not easy on it either. Also my car has 83k on the clock right now with no signs of CW....

actaully both mine was a 1g and both, even the 93 had 6-bolts in them.

 

[v8s_are_slow]

Damn i wish this post would just end. The whole post is sort-of ironic to me. Almost everyone on here that is bashing ACT drives a 2nd gen which is obviously notorious for the 7bolt crankwalk. Why did you guys decide to buy a 2g when knowing it could possibly have crank problems? Why didn't you go Subaru or Nissan or Toyota? I bet most of the people on here started modding their 2g on the stock 7 bolt and the MAJORITY of them didn't crankwalk. Stop being frickin babies and listening to all the crap that's out there. Yeah i'm not denying that maybe some ACT cluthes have failed but do you not see an upcoming movie because the critics hated it, or will you find out for yourself? My ACT 2100 was put in right before all this drama started. I used an oem throwout bearing and i also installed a streetlight flywheel. Well it's been over 12k now and my clutch is working just perfectly and i'm not easy on it either. Also my car has 83k on the clock right now with no signs of CW....

I thought this thread was about the piece of crap ACT failing. Not about getting crankwalk. Also, the clutch on my 2g never went bad. Just the one's on my 1g. So that theory ya have doesn't work. Also for starters, you're running a 2100. That's not really a clutch that'd withstand a lot of abuse anyhow if ya have any sort of power. Personally, if I have a lot of power and get the 2600, I'd expect the thing to hold up. Plain and simply put, the clutch didn't withstand even normal driving and I know of others who have had the same problem. Ya'll can say,"you must've installed it improperly," all ya want as well. I've been around the block enough times by now to know how to install a clutch properly. I'm switching to Spec clutches and bet I won't have the same problem there.

 

[my95tsi]

I thought this thread was about the piece of crap ACT failing. Not about getting crankwalk. Also, the clutch on my 2g never went bad. Just the one's on my 1g. So that theory ya have doesn't work. Also for starters, you're running a 2100. That's not really a clutch that'd withstand a lot of abuse anyhow if ya have any sort of power. Personally, if I have a lot of power and get the 2600, I'd expect the thing to hold up. Plain and simply put, the clutch didn't withstand even normal driving and I know of others who have had the same problem. Ya'll can say,"you must've installed it improperly," all ya want as well. I've been around the block enough times by now to know how to install a clutch properly. I'm switching to Spec clutches and bet I won't have the same problem there.

A 2600 on a fwd??? No thanks. My 2100 holds up just fine and it will hold a good amount. of power I personally wouldn't run a 2100 on an awd but for fwd it's perfect. I have seen 2100's on 11 sec awd work just fine for a long time. It all depends how abusive the driver is. For starters i didn't say installed it improperly but to assume ACT is craps is too much of a generalization.

 

[v8s_are_slow]

A 2600 on a fwd??? No thanks. My 2100 holds up just fine and it will hold a good amount. of power I personally wouldn't run a 2100 on an awd but for fwd it's perfect. I have seen 2100's on 11 sec awd work just fine for a long time. It all depends how abusive the driver is. For starters i didn't say installed it improperly but to assume ACT is craps is too much of a generalization.

Unless your profile isn't updated, a TSI is usually an awd. But true, I wouldn't want something that strong for a fwd. The thing here though isn't the strength of the pressure plate that's in debate. I personally love the 2600 pressure plate. Has a good feel to me and let's me know it's there and that it means business. The downside of the ACT clutches here lately, is the clutch disc. You might be okay with it but to me it's like playing russian roulette. You either get one that has the springs pop out (or get very loose, and I've had both problems) or you're lucky enough to get a good one. And you don't always have to be abusive with it. I've had them pop out on me during the break-in period.

I wasn't saying that you specifically were talking about improperly installing one, but most people jump to that conclusion. Just clearing that up before anyone tries to jump on that band wagon.

Personally, ACT use to be the top name for clutches with dsm's. Everyone was recommending them. But if you look now, there's word of a bad batch going around and obviously people are starting to have problems with these clutches here lately. Not like in the past. If this wasn't the case, this thread wouldn't be here and there wouldn't be this many replies of people having the same problem (springs popping out). Of course some other clutch brands might have failures as well. But I'm pointing out that I wouldn't consider ACT the top name anymore if the quality of their disc just isn't there anymore. And to me, it's not and that's the reason I've decided to go elsewhere cause I have better things to do than to pull my transmission as well as the hassle of trying to get it warrantied, which also in my opinion I think it sucks. Just my 2 cents, but hey, it's your money so ya'll do whatcha want with it. I know what I'm doing with mine.

 

[boostedinaz]

Personally, ACT use to be the top name for clutches with dsm's. Everyone was recommending them. But if you look now, there's word of a bad batch going around and obviously people are starting to have problems with these clutches here lately. Not like in the past. If this wasn't the case, this thread wouldn't be here and there wouldn't be this many replies of people having the same problem (springs popping out). Of course some other clutch brands might have failures as well. But I'm pointing out that I wouldn't consider ACT the top name anymore if the quality of their disc just isn't there anymore. And to me, it's not and that's the reason I've decided to go elsewhere cause I have better things to do than to pull my transmission as well as the hassle of trying to get it warrantied, which also in my opinion I think it sucks. Just my 2 cents, but hey, it's your money so ya'll do whatcha want with it. I know what I'm doing with mine.

This thread is well over a year old and as many have shown they have a different design already out there. What ever batch was bad has long since been gone and I would still consider them an excellent clutch company. I think to many people just want to bi*** and complain about it still, even though it has been WELL over a year ago.

I have also seen a few other clutch disk fail in the same manner and it has been more than one, but I dont see any thread about that. I am not sure why no one has complained about them, but like you said to each there own. I have about 3K on a the "clutch disk from hell" and have had no problems what so ever.

 

[v8s_are_slow]

I guess it'd be nice to know if anyone is having problems that are fairly recent with this clutch. Also, I did have an eClutchmasters disc that went bad on me as well. I posted my review on that in one of the threads in the hangout. So I'm not here just to complain about ACT's. Of course I'd still consider ACT if the problems of the disc is gone. But the warranty on an ACT is still something I'm not too pleased about.

I will say that I had a REALLY hard time trying to decide on another clutch besides an ACT because I've heard how some other clutches wouldn't hold up for very long and can't take repeated abuse, etc. But after a long debate I finally found one I think I'll be happy with. The main thing that had deterred me was the disc. Anyway, guess everything from here on out will just be the same ole crap unless someone can talk about new and recent failures.

 

[my95tsi]

Unless your profile isn't updated, a TSI is usually an awd.

Friendly FYI (Tsi=fwd Tsi awd= awd)

 

[v8s_are_slow]

Friendly FYI (Tsi=fwd Tsi awd= awd)

Alright thanks. 1st time I've heard of that but okiedoke. You own the car so should know better than me

 

[seth98es]

What would be a good indication of a failing ACT clutch? I have the 2600 and its been hard to get the car into gear on cold starts. And yesterday I started it and hear this clattering noise. Its definitely not lifter tick and it sounds like it is coming from the clutch area but am not positive.

Also, I did buy my 2600 about the time the bad batch was out. I have around 4-5k miles on it as of now.

 

[laserspeeddemon]

What would be a good indication of a failing ACT clutch? I have the 2600 and its been hard to get the car into gear on cold starts. And yesterday I started it and hear this clattering noise. Its definitely not lifter tick and it sounds like it is coming from the clutch area but am not positive.

Also, I did buy my 2600 about the time the bad batch was out. I have around 4-5k miles on it as of now.

Well, the chatter is the first sign of disc failure, at least for me it was, by the time my disc failed it would not come in or out of gear at all. There was no time when there just a little damage, is just blew up.

Sorry for your luck!

 

[gsx951]

I have the 2600 and its been hard to get the car into gear on cold starts.

You need to adjust your clutch, it is not fully releasing.

And yesterday I started it and hear this clattering noise. Its definitely not lifter tick and it sounds like it is coming from the clutch area but am not positive.

When do you hear the noise? when the clutch is engaged or disengaged?

 

[gsx951]

My MB010X (ACT 2600) clutch puked at 1500 miles. I called ACT got a return authorization and sent it for inspection. There was a problem with the diaphragm spring that kept the clutch from fully engaging. In spite of the fact that the warranty had expired, Dave Patterson replaced it with a new unit and apologized for any inconvenience caused by the failure. He tossed in a cool t-shirt too.

 

[zearro]

After purchasing my car, during a hard down shift the stock clutch spring threw a spring. I replaced it with an act 2600 thinking that it would take what I was throwing at it. now that I have pulled my car from the garage I noticed that it was making a rattling noise from the bell housing. I knew it was the clutch springs. Now that I have pulled the clutch disk it looks like the springs are eating into the hub! I will post pictures onto my gallery.
I rarely abuse my clutch and it has less than 6000 miles on it. I like the 2600 pressure plate pedal feel. My biggest concern will be if I can reuse the pressure plate. I am going to have to check for flatness with a true bar. I am going to call ACT tomorrow, and hopefully send them the disk for inspection. I do not expect a replacment, but i know this is pre failure.
I have installed several clutches so I do not think that i have missed anything. the bellhoushing alignment pins are there. I used all now bolts per the instructions. I aligned the clutch when I bolted it down. Lubed the imput shaft for the disk and the throw out bearing.