I need a clutch "Expert". Pictures in
09-06-2009, 07:14 PM
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I need a clutch "Expert". Pictures in Working on a project stock LT1 Camaro that I just got , smelled clutch so I pulled the tranny out to find out that the flywheel needed resurfaced but the clutch disk itself looks good to me with a good amount of life left, please look at the pictures and correct me if you think I'm wrong.
I replaced the pilot bearing and not sure if the previous guy didn't install the clutch correctly but not sure why I smelled clutch real bad.
Your help is greatly appreciated.
I replaced the pilot bearing and not sure if the previous guy didn't install the clutch correctly but not sure why I smelled clutch real bad.
Your help is greatly appreciated.
Last edited by MySuperSportCamaro; 09-06-2009 at 08:49 PM.
09-06-2009, 08:47 PM
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Thanks for help, what can cause it to get glazed? Just curious.
I never sandpapered a clutch disk, so just simply to lightly sandpaper it to take that glaze a little off?
I'll add a picture of the flywheel (Before I machined it) to show you how it was, maybe you can figure out why it got glazed when it still has a good amount of meet on the disk.
I really appreciate the info guys, just wanna keep this Camaro stock for now.
I never sandpapered a clutch disk, so just simply to lightly sandpaper it to take that glaze a little off?
I'll add a picture of the flywheel (Before I machined it) to show you how it was, maybe you can figure out why it got glazed when it still has a good amount of meet on the disk.
I really appreciate the info guys, just wanna keep this Camaro stock for now.
09-07-2009, 10:24 AM
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Youre right about the flywheel needing resurfacing, those black marks on the flywheel surface mean that at some point that metal was literally glowing red because it was so hot, which isnt a good sign.
If you wanna confirm that the friction disk has life left you'll need a dial caliper to measure its thickness, and do so at a few different points to get an average. The only reason I'm saying this is because when those disks get glazed bad enough they can wear down really really fast which causes more slipping and smell.
Yours from what I can see looks a bit glazed, I've seen much worse. I can't remember what the factory thickness is supposed to be, and hopefully someone who knows will chime in. If the disk still has some life in it, just do like what fleetmgr said and sand it down a bit and pop it back in.
Check the pressure plate too- if its surface looks burnt like the flywheel its junk, throw it away, and buy a new clutch kit. Pressure plates unfortunately cant be resurfaced because they need a certain thickness in order to properly clamp down on the friction plate when engaged.
As for how the clutch got glazed theres a few common reasons:
1. The most likely cause is that since its a stock clutch its just worn down naturally with time. The friction plate wore down as it should over the years and now its thin enough to the point where the friction plate can't fully clamp down on it. This causes slippage (since the friction disk is simply too thin for the pressure plate to bite down hard on), which in turn causes a shitload of heat, which in turn causes that smell and the glazing of all the surfaces.
2. It could also be driver error. This is absolutely nothing personal, but just make sure when you drive you dont ride the clutch longer than you need to. The clutch likes to be either fully disengaged or fully engaged because there's no friction or heat build up. While the clutch is partly engaged for those seconds during intial first gear acceleration or gear shifting youre creating friction and heat (which the clutch is made to handle) but if youre riding the clutch too long it is possible to heat it up enough to glaze over, but I dont think this is your problem.
3. This cause is less likely, but if youre 6 pressure plate bolts arent tightened enough into the flywheel, this can cause the same problem too. Sounds like the previous owner had the clutch removed for some reason. When he bolted it back in he may not have tighten it down enough which would cause the pressure plate to be very slightly apart from the flywheel which would eliminate its ability to fully clamp down. This, like the other 2 causes would cause excess slipping and in turn heat up and glaze/burn your clutch and flywheel.
When you put that clutch (or a new clutch) back in the car, make sure you torque all 6 bolts till the pressure plate touches the flywheel, then evenly in a star pattern to 22 ft lbs. And dont forget to use red thread lock.
Hope that helps and good luck.
If you wanna confirm that the friction disk has life left you'll need a dial caliper to measure its thickness, and do so at a few different points to get an average. The only reason I'm saying this is because when those disks get glazed bad enough they can wear down really really fast which causes more slipping and smell.
Yours from what I can see looks a bit glazed, I've seen much worse. I can't remember what the factory thickness is supposed to be, and hopefully someone who knows will chime in. If the disk still has some life in it, just do like what fleetmgr said and sand it down a bit and pop it back in.
Check the pressure plate too- if its surface looks burnt like the flywheel its junk, throw it away, and buy a new clutch kit. Pressure plates unfortunately cant be resurfaced because they need a certain thickness in order to properly clamp down on the friction plate when engaged.
As for how the clutch got glazed theres a few common reasons:
1. The most likely cause is that since its a stock clutch its just worn down naturally with time. The friction plate wore down as it should over the years and now its thin enough to the point where the friction plate can't fully clamp down on it. This causes slippage (since the friction disk is simply too thin for the pressure plate to bite down hard on), which in turn causes a shitload of heat, which in turn causes that smell and the glazing of all the surfaces.
2. It could also be driver error. This is absolutely nothing personal, but just make sure when you drive you dont ride the clutch longer than you need to. The clutch likes to be either fully disengaged or fully engaged because there's no friction or heat build up. While the clutch is partly engaged for those seconds during intial first gear acceleration or gear shifting youre creating friction and heat (which the clutch is made to handle) but if youre riding the clutch too long it is possible to heat it up enough to glaze over, but I dont think this is your problem.
3. This cause is less likely, but if youre 6 pressure plate bolts arent tightened enough into the flywheel, this can cause the same problem too. Sounds like the previous owner had the clutch removed for some reason. When he bolted it back in he may not have tighten it down enough which would cause the pressure plate to be very slightly apart from the flywheel which would eliminate its ability to fully clamp down. This, like the other 2 causes would cause excess slipping and in turn heat up and glaze/burn your clutch and flywheel.
When you put that clutch (or a new clutch) back in the car, make sure you torque all 6 bolts till the pressure plate touches the flywheel, then evenly in a star pattern to 22 ft lbs. And dont forget to use red thread lock.
Hope that helps and good luck.
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09-07-2009, 08:41 PM
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MySuperSportCamaro - No problem at all, I know how it feels to have mystery clutch problems and its frustrating as hell. I've gotten some good help on this forum in the past and I'm just passing it on.
wrd1972 - Well since youve got personal experience with resurfacing the pressure plate than youre right, assuming all LT1 pressure plates are similar to the SLP pressure plate. I was just going by what I was told by a few reputable sources like some mechanics and the SPEC tech guy that I drove nuts when I was having all the problems with my clutch a few weeks back. Oh which by the way you were right about my friction disk being out of specification (long story). Basically I adjusted my master cylinder to the point where it was pushing so far that my clutch fork was scraping the spinning pressure plate and the clutch was still barely not fully disengaging. Now I've gotta try to get my money back and never buy a Spec product again.
wrd1972 - Well since youve got personal experience with resurfacing the pressure plate than youre right, assuming all LT1 pressure plates are similar to the SLP pressure plate. I was just going by what I was told by a few reputable sources like some mechanics and the SPEC tech guy that I drove nuts when I was having all the problems with my clutch a few weeks back. Oh which by the way you were right about my friction disk being out of specification (long story). Basically I adjusted my master cylinder to the point where it was pushing so far that my clutch fork was scraping the spinning pressure plate and the clutch was still barely not fully disengaging. Now I've gotta try to get my money back and never buy a Spec product again.
09-08-2009, 09:38 PM
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I've only got about 6 weeks till the miserable New York weather starts up so I'm probably just gonna garage the car and forget about it, I'm tired of workin on it. I'll most likely buy a whole prebled hydraulic assembly and put that in during the winter, too.
Thanks again for the advice. And now I'm gonna stop hijacking this poor guys thread lol
