I have been seeing alot of people having issues with their spec clutches lately and wanted to get an idea of the issues and symptoms they have been having. My personal situation is that I bought a spec stage 3 about 7-8 months ago, the car already had a spec flywheel which was resurfaced at the time of install. At the same time I also installed a 02 slave. All the work was done by a reputable shop who is a sponser on this site.

The 1st thing I noticed was the chatter, but I was told my damn near everybody on this site that that is normal for the break in period and it will go away. Sure enough it did after about 1,000 miles. Every thing was good at that point, the pedal felt great, it grabed hard and was easy to drive everyday. But as time went on I noticed the clutch began to engage higher and higher up on the pedal, untill it got to the point where is basically has to be released all the way to grab.

At this point I knew something was not right, but the car still drove fine and the clutch still grabbed so I dealt with it for a while. But just the other day I was on the freeway in 6th and went to pass someone who was driving slow and the drivetrain started vibrating and the motor started to rev with no resistance. I was so ******* pissed at that point I drove home and got on LS1Tech only to see that someone else pretty much had the same exact problem as me, and in that thread I saw multiple other owners who had similar results. So anybody else who has had spec clutches chime in with your experience good or bad.

 

I just installed my stage 3 about 600 miles ago. So far I like it and the adjustable master cylinder I was told would help. I just hope mine doesn't start acting up like everyone else's.

 

I autox a stage 2 with no problems thus far after 5 months of use. seems to be getting better as it gets used. I did however change the slave cylinder to the updtaed onem the master cylinder to the RAM adjustable and added a remote bleeder line to make it so I dont have to under the car to bleed it.

the car does not get driven much so it's hard to tell how long it's gonna last as it gets less tnan 6k a year. hopefully it holds up for anothe 8 years lol

 

I've had a SPEC in there for the past couple years and so far no major problems. I just had a 408 put in so I'm sure it is going to blow. However, just like yours the damn thing started releasing higher and higher until it also was basically the whole way out until it engaged. I bought a McCloud adjustable master cylender so hopefully that will take care of the problem when I get the car back. Try that and see if he helps. Best advice I can give you for now...

 

wrap your clutch line everybody smokes there clutch this way because the fluid boils up and doesnt transfer properly... I have 8k on my spec 3 plus still good. I wrapped my line recently wish i did it right away its realy easy insurance.

 

Yea it's weird as hell, it grabs but has to be releaed all the way to do so. The slipping has not gotten any worse but it still does it from time to time in OD gears.

 

Sounds like your clutch just wore out fast, maybe too muich slipping it around town perhaps?

I have a 3+ and I love it, it drives close to like a stock clutch does, no chatter either. I try to slip it as less as possible.

 

Well I do have a cam so I do have to ride it a bit to get it moving without bucking and jumping, but I wouldnt say I ride it enough to wear it out in 7,000 miles.

 

What are you wrapping it with? Exhaust wrap?

 

Sprayed, The only way to really assess the clutch itself is if you pull it out and send me some pics. It is possible, as aluded to above, that you are looking at a fluid issues that is affecting the actuation. Check you fluid for me...is it black? If so try changing it and rebleeding the hydraulics and we can go from there. A high pedal is generally evidence of increased wear but it is easier to start by trouble shooting the easier stuff rather than simply assuming the worst. Let me know what you find. Thanks,

 

Almost 30,000 miles on my Spec 3 w/ no problems.

 

spec 3+ no problems or issues 2 years and still going. 4-5000 rpm dumps.

 

my spec 3 only lasted about 7000 miles, it worked great and I never felt it slip or smelled anything burning either. but the disk looks like it was slipping bad.

could it be that the clutch was dragging?, release bearing is screwed as well which was new at the time of the clutch install. stock turned flywheel without the spacer as spec recommends. any insight Spec?

 

first i had a spec 3...40000 miles in my car took it out and put it in someone elses car.that was with a stock flywheel.baby cam and nitrous on that setup.
new setup is a spec 5 with an ebay SFI flywheel.motor is turbo'd now.the clutch feels lighter than stock and took burnouts and clutch dumps at the track a few weeks ago.still is fine.

 

I wouldn't buy a regular pucked spec 3....its not half the clutch the 3+ is...

Your clutch is toast. Guaranteed. It will soon start to slip in every gear then leave you stranded....

 

i just had that same problem with my new 01 z28 i just bought it came with a spec 3+ and it only had 8k on it and went out i just replaced it with a spec stage 2(3+ was overkill) and its perfect again and all the shops around here said they have all seen the same problem with the last couple of years batches of spec clutches and cant tell why....my car did the same thing as yours...anything under 2500 and the drivetrain would rattle like crazy and start slipping and anything above that i could still get on it and full throttle and everything it was wierd but i just put 100 miles on my spec 2 tonight and i love it way better pedal feel than the spec 3+

 

had a spec 3 now i have a spec 3+ w/aluminum fly and i love it.so far no problems drives like stock have maybe 2k on it

 

Great i wish i read these posts before i just bought my spec 3 on thur last week i hope my clutch was from the good batch.

 

Spec 4 Here, I barely broke in my stg 4 before sidesteping it at 6000 RPM at the track. About 200 10sec passes later and its still pulling hard. I couldnt do the 500 mile long around town break in because I'm running a spool with ET Streets and 4.56 PRO gears.

Ive thought about the heat on the hyd line issue but mostly run at the track so I'm shuting her off by the time things really get hot down there.

Good luck to ya, Tom

 

Spec 4F, welded itself to the flywheel, about 800 miles
Spec 4F, welded itself to the flywheel, got about 1200 miles out of this one.
Spec 5, pressure plate died after 1200 miles.
Spec 4F again, welded to flywheel several times and I finally gave up. Got tired prying the damn thing off the flywheel.

FYI, I went through 3 different flywheels during all this, all freshly resurfced or new. Spec was very good about the warranty replacements with me, but I got frustrated and gave up.