Is a puck clutch supposed to do this?

[Dream On]

Hey guys. As some of you may have read, I've been bitching about trying to get my car to disengage. The clutch is a Spec Stage 3, 6 puck. I've replaced all the parts, and done everything that I could think of to fix the problem. Today I went to my mechanic who tried to figure out why it didn't work out, and he said it was because the pressure plate fingers were bending in toward the disc too much. He said there isn't enough travel, and that's why it isn't working. He showed me this, and I can see what he's saying when he had the stock clutch and flywheel right beside it. I had it sent back to Spec to check it out, and they said it checked out fine and sent it back to me. I'll put up some pics in the next couple days, but should this be happening?

 

[i1nk83]

Take your flywheel off and either 1) measure the step height or 2) take it to a machine shop/somewhere that resurfaces flywheels and have them measure it. The flywheel should be .61. Your problem might be that the step on the flywheel is to small. And have you adjusted the master/pedal assy?

 

[Dream On]

I've done both. But what I'd really like to know is if puck clutch's are supposed to have flattened fingers.

 

[Scrymerr]

It is not going to bend at all. There is nothing keeping the clutch disc from moving back and forth, so even if the fingers were bent, as soon as the PP is disengaged, it should release pressure from the disc.

 

[Dream On]

Well as we tightened down the bolts on the perimeter of the pressure plate, the fingers started to flatten...I already sent the clutch back to Spec to get it checked, and they said it checked out ok...So from what you're saying, it shouldn't do that right?

 

[Morphius]

Well as we tightened down the bolts on the perimeter of the pressure plate, the fingers started to flatten...I already sent the clutch back to Spec to get it checked, and they said it checked out ok...So from what you're saying, it shouldn't do that right?

That's normal. As a clutch wears, the fingers will protrude more. The reason the new spec clutch looks so different to your old stock one is due to disk wear on the old one.

 

[Dream On]

My mechanic says that that is the reason I can't get the car to engage...What do you guys think about it?

 

[DSMstatus]

i just did my clutch and its hard to disengage. pretty much i cant lazy clutch it anymore, its gotta be pedal to the floor to work. the reason being is i did not know it at the time but my flywheel was resurfaced before i got it and i just did it again and they took of .025". thats a lot plus what ever they took off before. to make a long story short, it acts like the clutch fork pivot is worn out but its not, its just because the flywheel surface is just that much closer to the crank shaft now. when the flywheel is too thin, your slave cyl. rod runs out ouf length before it can completley disengage the clutch. maybe you have the same problem???

 

[GVR4592]

Sounds like you have a bad pedal assembly.

 

[motoman358]

Pedal assembly is wahat i was thinking as well. Also make sure that you have all of the tranmission bolts in and bolted to the block good and tight, if the tranny moves apart from the engine it will cause this (happened to a couple of my friends buying "moded" cars that did not have all of the tranny bolts in). If it is the pedal assembly though you can pick up an extended slave cyl. rod as a band-aid fix, but look into fixing the pedal assembly or replacing it.

 

[MNGSX]

Fix the pedal...

Look at the fork angle when off the clutch pedal...

If it isnt centered on the hole in the bell consider shiming and or replacing the pivot ball..

 

[dnhieu]

shim and replace the pivot ball. its too cheap not to. to check your clutch pedal assembly push the clutch to the floor and let off. then grab the clutch pedal with your hand and lift up on it. if it moves you need a new clutch pedal assembly.

 

[Dream On]

Guys, I've replaced it all. Slave, master, clutch fork, pivot ball, welded pedal assembly (absolutely no play) and bled the shit out of it. I think that I was supposed to adjust the pedal back in before bleeding, which I didn't do. I'll give that a shot next time though.

 

[97EclipseGS-T]

hows about them shifting cables? I replaced the cables when I did my whole drivetrain.



-PAUL

 

[Dream On]

They worked fine before, I'm not sure why I'd need to replace them now...

 

[jibberishballr]

Well i have the same clutch and i did everything you did and mine works fine now. The main problem was i had to adjust the clutch rod. Now it disengages fine. Also the clutch will be a little different if you are not used to it. I've gotten used to mine and love it. Way better shifting than my stock clutch. One of my friends with a TSI had the same problem and he replace the clutch lines with stainless steel ones along with adjusting the clutch rod. Also with these clutches you cant drive the same as you would stock. It could just be your driving...

Good luck!

 

[jongreene]

im not sure what you mean by not being able to drive it like stock, but i have a spec stg 3 and driving it is a breeze..just slip it a little and go

 

[Dream On]

My driving? The car won't go into gear! I haven't even had the chance to yet...

 

[jongreene]

yeah you tell him whos boss

 

[Dream On]

Just to update, replacing the FP pressure plate studs with the stock bolts fixed the problem. Apparently, the studs wouldn't let the pressure plate sit flush against the flywheel. I don't know why I used the damn things in the first place...