Friday03

How many miles are you guys getting out of the stock clutch?

RACER

I am hoping I will get about 40 - 50,000 miles as I don't do wheel burners, donuts, or high rpm clutch drops (as in drag racing). Who knows, maybe I'll get more than 50,000 miles.

I have broke a clutch in a 86 CRX twice. A piece of clutch disk molding (that surrounded a spring) broke off and wedged itself between the disk and pressure plate. This caused the clutch to be permanently locked (would NOT disengage).

The lining on the clutch disk was like brand new, as I am smooth and gentle with a clutch. The same exact thing happened on my Del Sol. A piece of metal (surrounding a spring) broke off and was wedged between the clutch disk and pressure plate causing the clutch to be permanently locked.

I am thinking that the stock clutches in both the CRX and the Del Sol just can not handle high rpm's. The Del Sol would rev to 8,100 rpm's.

So for me, it is not a matter of wearing out the lining on the clutch disk, it is a matter of the clutch disk literally breaking. Had I not had these failures, I would have received 100,000 miles of service on each clutch on both the CRX and the Del Sol.

Has anyone ever had or heard of this happening on a S2000? If not, I don't see why one of these clutches shouldn't last 50 - 75,000 miles (as long as the car is not drag raced or abused as in wheel burners)

RACER

[QUOTE]Originally posted by cyber_x

RedY2KS2k

[QUOTE]Originally posted by RACER
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blaks2k

Can we save money by purchasing the clutch, throwout bearing (whatever else) online.....as opposed to just bringing in the car? I realize that labor is a significant charge.

RACER

You might find the parts cheaper, but don't tell the installer/service writer until after they give you a quote for labor or they might jack up the cost of labor.

Personally, I would much rather replace the clutch myself as it is an easy job. It requires the right tools and mechanical aptitude. I get satisfaction doing the work myself and know it was done properly.

richlasner

quote:
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Originally posted by cyber_x


Cool, thanks a lot! When I push the clutch pedal in at low speeds, I get a slight shudder, almost as if the car is going to stall on me. It never actually stalls, but that makes me wonder if the clutch is disengaging fully. Also, I've recently developed the 1-->2 notchiness/grind, and I wonder if that could be related to the clutch failing to disengage. You've given me some stuff to look into...thanks a bunch.
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I've noticed the shudder thing a couple of times recently when the car is cold and I pull it out of gear to stop. It definitely feels like the clutch isn't completely disengaging, but the car never stalls. I have only 7500 miles on my MY03, am the first owner, and picked it up at the dealer the day after she was rolled off the delivery truck, so I don't think somebody test driving the car could have messed up the clutch. Anyone else out there noticing this shudder? If so, what did it turn out to be and what did you do to fix it?

RACER

Flush and bleed the clutch and call it the day. As far as the shudder, I am not quite clear on what you mean. Does it shudder letting the pedal out, or pushing the pedal in. Does it shudder while rolling, or when standing still? Does it shudder when upshifting or downshifting or both? If you said the car shakes while engaging the clutch from a standstill, then I would say the pressure plate is warped.

Keep in mind, this is a high performance sportscar. It as well as any car, has idiosyncrasies. Like I said before, just flush then bleed the clutch and call it the day. If you can smoothly engage the clutch from zero mph, and shift smoothly in any gear you want, then don't even trip. Just drive it.

cyber_x

RACER, richlasner:

I dropped off my car this morning at a reputable local shop. They will take a look at it and let me know what the problem is. So far, RACER's advice has been consistent with what the guy at the shop said. Based on my symptoms (slipping in 1st but not the higher gears, hollow sound when shifting, 2nd gear grind/notchiness, shudder at low speeds), the shop believes my clutch disc is most likely fine. They suspect that my clutch either fails to fully disengage, or the dampener springs are bad. They are also looking at the possibility of old/dirty clutch fluid. I should know what the issue is in a few hours and will post back here. Thanks a lot RACER...your advice and suspicions have been dead-on so far.

Friday03,

I currently have 54k miles on my original clutch. I learned stick on the car, so I would expect an experienced stick driver to be able to get more miles out of it. I'll find out later today whether my clutch disc is gone.

cyber_x

Update:

I got my clutch fluid bled and changed yesterday. So far, it seems to have reduced the notchiness/grinding when upshifting into 2nd. It also seems to have reduced the intensity of the shudder when I disengage the clutch at low speeds. Both of these symptoms are still present, but to a lesser extent (so far).

I have not detected any slippage since the new fluid, either. However, it's still too early to say for sure whether the new fluid helped. So far, after about 50 miles of driving, it seems to have helped, but I guess only time will tell.