Centerforce clutch problem?? Heres the fix.
09-17-2004, 03:37 PM
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Centerforce clutch problem?? Heres the fix. I have worked with this problem for the last few months trying ot firgure out why I couldn't shift my car at WOT with my centerforce clutch. I replaced the slave with the 01-02 upgrade, and did everything their tech people told me to try to get this thing to shift properly. They finally told me an adjustable master cylinder would fix the problem. I wasn't about to spend another $300 to get my clutch to work properly. I did some research and found that the only clutch that had this problem was the centerforce, so I talked to a couple shops that installed them that said the only way tehy remedied the problem was with the Mcloed master cylinder. I talked to a firend that works for GM and he told me that not only did GM make an upgrade slave for the 01 and up cars, they also redesigned the masters to because of a bleedback problem. They never said anything about it to the public, because it would only effect a car running the centerforce clutch right off the bat because at high rpms, the wieghts ae pushing back on the throw out bearing and the fluid is bleeding back to the master cylinder keeping you from being able to bang the next gear. THis will not happen with the stock clutch or any other clutch that doesn't use centrifical wieghts to increase the clutches clamping pressure. So I decided tro try this theory out. Instead of ordering the Mcleod Master I ordered the 01 and up GM master ad threw it on there got it bled and took it out for a drive and it never worked better. I was so happy to finally have my clutch working like it should. The reason they worked fine when replace the master with teh Mcleod unit, was because like the upgraded master from GM, It had no bleed back problem. I later found out one of the dealerships in town was requiring you to give them your VIN number because they were trying to keep track of this problem.
I called centerforce and talked to their tech guys about my findings and they agreed with my findings and are going to look a little further into it, so there should be another tech article along with the centerforce clutch for LS1 cars soon.
I called centerforce and talked to their tech guys about my findings and they agreed with my findings and are going to look a little further into it, so there should be another tech article along with the centerforce clutch for LS1 cars soon.
09-20-2004, 12:38 AM
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That makes sense, when I put mine in, the gears would not go in with ther car on, I then took off the inspection cover and had someone press the clutch in and I could see the clutch disengaging when the car was off. The answer was right in front all the time, centrifigal force of the weights. When I called centerforce, they didn't know either, so I fixed the problem with the Mcleod adjustable. Great detective work.
06-25-2006, 08:28 PM
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2 years later and people still having problems. Why does Centerforce still sell this product without issues resolved. Initial problems are understood but 2 years later and the same S***. Come on Centerforce, this is pathetic. Either quit marketing your clutch for the gm hydraulic systems, reduce the centri weight's mass, or sell your clutches with a new master cyl and up the price to compensate. This is pretty lame. 
I have used your clutches before in mechanical linkages with great sucess. The problems are obvious, but you guys choose to ignore it. For that reason and my loss of $350 in your clutch I choose to never purchase anything from your company again no matter the application.
I have used your clutches before in mechanical linkages with great sucess. The problems are obvious, but you guys choose to ignore it. For that reason and my loss of $350 in your clutch I choose to never purchase anything from your company again no matter the application.
06-26-2006, 08:31 AM
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Originally Posted by red2000z28
Best thing to do if you have one, and don't want to spend the money on the upgraded hydraulics is to just remove the stupid weights.
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06-26-2006, 03:58 PM
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Originally Posted by 98turbls1
Is this a guaranteed problem everytime or is this going to happen on engines that spin higher rpms??
06-26-2006, 05:23 PM
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Originally Posted by 98turbls1
have you upgraded your master cylinder yet???
As I said before this problem has been known by Centerforce for years and they choose to ignore it. F-em and feed em fish heads. I'm done.
06-26-2006, 05:30 PM
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Originally Posted by 98turbls1
Why's that?? When spec has soooo many down falls and actually exploding on people... I've never heard of centerforce doing that...
EXACTLY!!!!.....anything you do to your vehicle as a "performance upgrade" is going to have its ups and downs.......but now me personally i'd rather have to work a little to make my clutch work flawlessly rather than lose my leg or total out my car by using a spec.
06-26-2006, 07:47 PM
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Originally Posted by C.J.
how hard is it to remove the weights?
06-26-2006, 08:04 PM
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Well i am pretty much blaming this mis-shift problem that the centerforce caused to be the culprit in thrashing my whole f***ing transmision! Im sorta pissed the more i think about it.
06-27-2006, 03:20 AM
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When i rebuilt my tranny I removed the weights. I took a pair of dykes and cut the metal snap ring that holds them all together, pulled it out and then slipped each weight off of each finger. Clutch still held fine. I had no slipping problems when I speed shifted it. The only thing that slipped was the tires going into 2nd 3rd and 4th.
This centerforce deal is what screwed up my tranny in the first place. I would never buy a centerforce clutch again. Then again, i guess we should all really be mad at GM for developing a hydraulic system that isn't worth a ****. If you have a Mcleod billet master cylinder, it has no problem holding the centerforce in at WOT. The stock master though works fine and does what it is designed to do under normal conditions. The weights on the centerforce puts the master through something that GM doesn't consider normal. I know a guy named jeremy, his screename is GTA91, he has a third gen with an LS1 T56 with the centerforce and weights removed and he has no problem clicking off consistent 11.50's @ 119 motor only with the weights removed from his centerforce. He launches it at around 6000 rpm and has no slipping issues as of yet.
This centerforce deal is what screwed up my tranny in the first place. I would never buy a centerforce clutch again. Then again, i guess we should all really be mad at GM for developing a hydraulic system that isn't worth a ****. If you have a Mcleod billet master cylinder, it has no problem holding the centerforce in at WOT. The stock master though works fine and does what it is designed to do under normal conditions. The weights on the centerforce puts the master through something that GM doesn't consider normal. I know a guy named jeremy, his screename is GTA91, he has a third gen with an LS1 T56 with the centerforce and weights removed and he has no problem clicking off consistent 11.50's @ 119 motor only with the weights removed from his centerforce. He launches it at around 6000 rpm and has no slipping issues as of yet.
06-27-2006, 12:41 PM
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Originally Posted by C.J.
Well i am pretty much blaming this mis-shift problem that the centerforce caused to be the culprit in thrashing my whole f***ing transmision! Im sorta pissed the more i think about it.