Broken Clutch Spring
Thread Starter
11 Second Club
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From: Upper Marlboro, MD
Broken Clutch Spring I'm not clutch expert, so I need your guys opinions. Last May I was at the race track and I was on my way to another usual 12.9 pass and about 1 second after I shifted into 4th gear it popped out of gear and revved like it was in nuetral. I costed back down the return lane and parked it. It has very hard to get into gear, but it was still driveable. However, if I gave it too much gas it would pop out of gear, grind, and rev freely like in Nuet. I tried driving home babying it, but I didnt get much further than 1/4 before I couldnt even give it any gas without it popping out of gear. The dealership drained the tranny fluid, found metal shavings, so they dropped the tranny, replaced all the gears, and put in a new clutch. I examined the old clutch and it was fine, however 2 of the 3 spring things on the plate were broken....what do you think could have caused it? I did 'powershift' (WOT shifting)on the previous run before it broke, so I think that may have been it. I'm very warry about taking it to the track again, the last thing I need is another clutch replacement...any ideas?
FormerVendor
Joined: Nov 2001
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From: columbia, sc
Re: Broken Clutch Spring I know! The springs are designed to compress and absorb the shock through the driveline. Hard launches will work the springs until they eventually break or let the hub bottom out against its stops, worse, since this will cause the entire hub to break.
Most aftermarket street/strip discs use stronger springs, for instance ours are coated in a urethane material so they have a much higher absorption rate. Caveat emptor (is that right)- this also makes the disc drive a bit more aggressively.
Most aftermarket street/strip discs use stronger springs, for instance ours are coated in a urethane material so they have a much higher absorption rate. Caveat emptor (is that right)- this also makes the disc drive a bit more aggressively.
Thread Starter
11 Second Club
iTrader: (2)
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 1,297
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From: Upper Marlboro, MD
Re: Broken Clutch Spring I dont understand why they broke though. The dealership said dumping the clutch alot usually makes them break, but I dont even run drag radials on the track. So by using a stock RS-A tire I spin a lot, which I thought would reduce the stress on the clutch...but I guess I was wrong <img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="images/icons/confused.gif" /> I think powershifting a lot might have played a big part.
FormerVendor
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 366
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From: columbia, sc
Re: Broken Clutch Spring No doubt the powershifting could be a reason. Just remember every time the clutch engages those springs are taking the bulk of the shock. Although our friends at GM should know these cars will be driven hard, when they design the clutch its really not for 5K launches or powershifting. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" />
