Clutch acting weird..
Thread Starter
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 305
Likes: 0
From: Goldsboro NC
Clutch acting weird.. When I bought my Camaro the guy I bought it from told me that the previous owner had a new clutch installed but he wasn't sure. With that being said, I'm not sure whether or not my car has a new clutch in it.
Now the issue:
Under hard acceleration my clutch seems to slip for a second around 4500 rpm before I shift. When I release the clutch pedal when shifting it seems to engage far away from the floor, as in I release it almost all the way before it engages. This slipping thing only seems to happen sometimes.
Any help would be appreciated I'm hoping its not serious I have no money for a new clutch lol.
Now the issue:
Under hard acceleration my clutch seems to slip for a second around 4500 rpm before I shift. When I release the clutch pedal when shifting it seems to engage far away from the floor, as in I release it almost all the way before it engages. This slipping thing only seems to happen sometimes.
Any help would be appreciated I'm hoping its not serious I have no money for a new clutch lol.
TECH Regular
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 492
Likes: 0
From: Rochester, NY
If its really got a brand new clutch it shouldn't be slipping at all, obviously. Unfortunately the only way to tell is to pull the tranny and take clutch out, check the condition of the pressure plate diaphragm and the thickness of the friction disk.
There are a few things that I can think of off the top of my head that would cause a new clutch to slip, but like I said before, you won't know for sure unless you take the clutch out yourself.
One, the pressure plate bolts might have come loose, which would prevent the pressure plate from being able to fully clamp down on the friction disk. The factory torque for those bolts is only about 22 ft lbs, and if the installer didnt use some kind of thread lock, it is possible that the bolts loosened up.
Two, you could have an input shaft seal leak. If your input shaft seal on your transmission has a leak, the fluid has a straight shot down the shaft and right to your friction disk hub, where centrifugal force will spread it onto the friction material and contaminate it. I know this from experience, ruined two new clutches because of it. The leak was slow enough that the fluid would get cooked in the clutch and enough never accumulated enough to drip onto the ground as clear evidence.
Three, what are your driving habits like? Not saying you don't know how to drive stick but do you ride the clutch a lot when you drive? If you're one of those people who slips the clutch a lot during normal driving, you probably just glazed up your friction surfaces. Drive the car for a while normal, laying off the clutch as much as possible and the glaze will go away and your clutch will get grippy again. A clutch is just like the brakes, ride the brakes a lot and they'll heat up and glaze. Your car won't stop as well until you take it easier on the brakes and they'll almost always eventually recover.
There are a few things that I can think of off the top of my head that would cause a new clutch to slip, but like I said before, you won't know for sure unless you take the clutch out yourself.
One, the pressure plate bolts might have come loose, which would prevent the pressure plate from being able to fully clamp down on the friction disk. The factory torque for those bolts is only about 22 ft lbs, and if the installer didnt use some kind of thread lock, it is possible that the bolts loosened up.
Two, you could have an input shaft seal leak. If your input shaft seal on your transmission has a leak, the fluid has a straight shot down the shaft and right to your friction disk hub, where centrifugal force will spread it onto the friction material and contaminate it. I know this from experience, ruined two new clutches because of it. The leak was slow enough that the fluid would get cooked in the clutch and enough never accumulated enough to drip onto the ground as clear evidence.
Three, what are your driving habits like? Not saying you don't know how to drive stick but do you ride the clutch a lot when you drive? If you're one of those people who slips the clutch a lot during normal driving, you probably just glazed up your friction surfaces. Drive the car for a while normal, laying off the clutch as much as possible and the glaze will go away and your clutch will get grippy again. A clutch is just like the brakes, ride the brakes a lot and they'll heat up and glaze. Your car won't stop as well until you take it easier on the brakes and they'll almost always eventually recover.
