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OK... help with a spec 3

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Old 07-17-2008 | 04:45 PM
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Default OK... help with a spec 3

I very recently bought a spec stg three clutch for my 00 trans am. driven maybe 2000 miles on it and also did a 600 mile break in on it. i did put the slave cylinder spacer in behind the slave cylinder. the clutch feels like its slipping but coming out of first easily, it slips a little and then grabs like a ****, kinda like when you come out of the clutch too soon. i have a stock master cylinder on it with the drill mod. i have had a slipping clutc hbefore and usually, it slowly and easily engages but with this one it jumps into gear. also when in a high gear like say, third or fourth at low rpms, when i floor it it shakes bad like chatter almost. but while driving down the highway. oh yea, and the pedal used to engage at the very bottom and now at the very top. could this be because of the slave cylinder spacer and it i removed it would it not do this anymore??? can anyone please help me with this?????
Old 07-18-2008 | 10:23 AM
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Take out that shim. I had the exact same symptoms with my spec 3 when using the slave shim, took it out and it's great now. Your slave is too close to the pp fingers with that shim in place, preventing the clutch from engaging all the way. Sucks that you gotta drop the trans to take it out.
BTW, the spec 3 is a VERY grabby clutch due to it's pucked disc and friction material....it's an on/off sort of deal, no in between. Don't try to slip it or it'll be trashed in no time.
Old 07-18-2008 | 10:48 AM
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Originally Posted by jmm98LS1
The spec 3+ is a VERY grabby clutch due to it's pucked disc and friction material....it's an on/off sort of deal, no in between.

Don't try to slip it or it'll be trashed in no time.
Yeah, like in 3 months for me! That was my second one; the first lasted about 1.5 years - but this second one - 90 days? WTF?!?!

I'm still NA too...

Time to try a new brand.

Old 07-18-2008 | 05:13 PM
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hey question guys i just put a spec 3 in my car but
does the pedal seem to be harder to push or easiers bc mine is way different then stock bc stock was way hard to push down now its easy

got any anwsers
Old 07-21-2008 | 07:36 PM
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maybe it wasnt an oem clutch that came out of it......

thanks guys... it has slipped a bit already but if it hasnt slipped a lot it should still be ok to go with that clutch right???
Old 07-21-2008 | 07:40 PM
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i mean... because i hate to go in the tranny and put it all back together just to figure out that i have to do it all over again once the clutch resumes to slip.
Old 07-21-2008 | 10:15 PM
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Once I pulled the shim out of mine all has been well, and I beat the crap out of it every time I get it out.
Old 07-22-2008 | 07:48 PM
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ok awesome... thanks... i will try and see what my results are.
Old 07-23-2008 | 04:51 PM
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It sounds to me like you need to pull the shim. If the engagement point is high and the bearing is riding the diaphragm fingers then it will cause the clutch to sit partially released. This is not an issue with the unit...it is evidence of a difference in depth on your car (this can also be related to hydraulic variance too). Either way, pull the shim and it will release the pressure on the diaphragm fingers and allow the clutch to fully engage. Let me know if you have any further questions. Thanks!
Old 07-26-2008 | 02:08 AM
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thanks alot. if i have the time to do so on sunday, then i am going to try to pull out the tranny and do it then.
Old 07-29-2008 | 12:51 PM
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still havent had a chance to get under it and pull the shim out, but i am really hoping that that is what it is.
Old 08-02-2008 | 01:58 AM
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well i pulled the tranny out today to find out that i have a bad rear main seal in the back of the motor. the inside of the bell housing was saturated in oil. there was a puddle of oil on the bottom of the bell housing.

while driving the car i didnt let the clutch slip alot so i was hoping that i could salvage the clutch. i was planning on using some cleaner to clean the pressure plate and flywheel and the clutch disc to get the oil off of it.
should it be ok to run that clutch without it taking a **** on me???
Old 08-02-2008 | 11:54 AM
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oh and another thing should i keep the slave spacer in or go ahead and remove it????
Old 08-02-2008 | 11:57 PM
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anything??????
Old 08-04-2008 | 11:46 AM
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If you have a stage 3 (which uses a CSM disc material) then you should be able to clean the entire assembly with brake-clean and reuse it. Of course, you need to make sure you get all of the contaminant off to insure you have no further issues. A leaky rear main seal should have no effect on pedal height...unless you slipped the clutch so much as a result of the contamination that you wore a great deal of thickness out of the disc. If this happened then one would expect that the pedal would get higher. Check the disc thickness and let me know what it measures. Then we can go from there. Thanks!
Old 08-04-2008 | 03:35 PM
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i wound up having to buy a new disc. there isnt much more disc until i would run into the rivets so i decided to go ahead and get another. sucks but what do ya do you know.

Last edited by streetsurfinseth; 08-05-2008 at 12:54 AM.
Old 08-09-2008 | 03:31 AM
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do i resurface or just go with it.
Old 08-10-2008 | 12:52 AM
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Originally Posted by streetsurfinseth
do i resurface or just go with it.
Re-surface the flywheel & pull the spacer. Also, have the pressure plate/flywheel assembly balanced.
Old 08-16-2008 | 01:53 AM
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yeah wow i havent been on in a bit. i wound up putting it all back together after just cleaning it all up really good. i also left the spacer in because its releasing at the bottom. it seems to be holding up ok so far.(knocks on wood) did my break in and went to the track to get some times and only got pissed.
get there let the car cool from the trip, and get into the car to go to the staging lanes. no sooner than me getting halfway to the lanes did the bottom fall out and rain out the track. i was furious. so no times yet still gotta wait another week.




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