kjaz

Please check on the background of this thread here...

https://ls1tech.com/forums/introductions-greetings/1647289-new-owner-04-gto.html

Long story short I just picked up an '04 GTO with a six speed manual from a dealership last Monday. I had the car for a little over a day, when I lost pedal feel in the clutch while driving. I pulled over and had the car towed immediately back to the dealership.

They got another master cylinder in it thinking that was the most likely problem. When that wasn't it they took out the trans and began to check the slave and clutch.

I spoke with them a few minutes ago and they said the clutch was broken in half and the flywheel and clutch needed to be replaced. He also mentioned that it appeared to be an aftermarket clutch, but could not confirm...

Anyone know what would cause this type of failure?

I might be able to get pics at the end of the week.

SPEC-01

iTrader: (2)

What are they saying has broken: The disc, the plate, both? More info and pictures would help with assessment. Let me know more and I will be happy to assist you.

kjaz

Both I believe. I had a brief conversation with the shop manager at the dealership. It wasn't too descriptive. The car has been in the shop since tuesday. I dont have access to the car to get pics right now....


Sorry this is sort of generalized. I wish I could give pics and more info, but info coming to me is not mechanically detailed...

therealcreeper

iTrader: (37)

I had my friction material shear off of the clutch disk and wedge itself in the pressure plate, resulting in loss of pedal. I could push the pedal down and it would return but with absolutely no resistance, and the clutch was stuck fully engaged. Here's one of my threads, posting from a phone so I hope it works:

https://ls1tech.com/forums/manual-transmission/1370057-zoom-perfection-clutch-disk-failures.html

I would ask to see the broken parts though. If the pressure plate or flywheel indeed broke in half while the car was running you should've noticed hahah.

kjaz

That could be a very similar failure. They mentioned pieces of the clutch being wedged in other parts. If I had the car or parts in front of me I'm sure I could give a better description.

I will try to get parts and pics up as soon as I can. I am very interested as to whose clutch is in the car. The mechanic indicated it was an aftermarket one. ETA is Friday to have the car back.

The whole failure doesn't make sense to me. The car ran and drove fine until an attempt to change gears from 2nd to 3rd. The clutch then felt light and springy and I couldn't get the car into 3rd or any other gear.

More mind boggling is that the mechanic at the dealership drove the car around the lot in 1st gear to "test" the clutch. He reported to me that there was no slippage at all, which is why they replaced the master cylinder first.

I was under the impression that if a failure like this occurred most of the transmission would be laying on the pavement.... There was no pop, bang, boom, clunk, or anything of that sort... just a light springy clutch and wouldn't go into gear.

Perhaps something is lost in translation between me and the dealership...

SPEC-01

iTrader: (2)

Having something like this happen wouldn't inherently damage the transmission or scatter parts all over the ground. Keep us posted though. There has to be a reason for this issue and seeing the parts will shed lots of light on it.

therealcreeper

iTrader: (37)

when mine failed I just lost the pedal taking it out of gear after 100 highway miles. I drove the rest of the way home rev matching gears and it didn't slip either.

kjaz

Should have the car back today. Hopefully they will include the parts with it and I can post pics up later.

kjaz

67maro

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dekmbewdtlryd70/60G9UrimhU

Here is another link for pics. I was in front of the car when the clutch let go. Kjaz had just bought the car and owned it for a whole 27 hours when this failure occurred. We did a couple pulls in the car from a low roll without power shifting it. When the clutch failed it was under normal driving conditions just after making a complete stop and a left hand turn. Kyle maintained his composure but I would of been livid if I just bought the car. All that matters though is there's a new clutch on the car and its back to 100 percent.

SPEC-01

iTrader: (2)

That is the issue with using a finned-type carrier. What a mess!

kjaz

I don't know exactly what to look for in a quality clutch. Could someone elaborate on that? I may be looking to replace it at some point down the road since the dealership put the factory one in it. Not for some time, but it is also good to know in general or when the clutch on my DD wears out...

SSDoubleK

iTrader: (100)

Seems to be a common problem, this just happened to me 5-26-03 while at WOT from first to second, exact same description you are talking about, this is a great site to figure out issues quickly, to bad that Centerforce Clutch after just 5,000 miles of use is a POS! Not looking forward to putting in another clutch or having to fork out the cash!

cam

iTrader: (9)

Ya know as a small aside there was a board member here who ran a different disk with a centerforce pressure plate with GREAT results. I think it was a SPEC 3 disk iirc perhaps a search might find it? On a budget it might just be the ticket....