clutch going out?

[boarderbw]

ok so im driving on the interstate and i punch the gas and the rpms go up way faster than i accelerate. this has to be a worn out clutch right? i dont notice it slipping at lower speeds

[Legacy777]

yeah, probably the clutch.

[boarderbw]

thanks thats what i figured. i just thought i would notice it more in lower gears. i only notice it in 4th and 5th

[PhyrraM]

......... only notice it in 4th and 5th

While that may seem backwards, it's perfectly normal.

It's actually a good sign. It means that your clutch is worn out, but normally. Your not likely to encounter any other other problems once your into the job.

[entirelyturbo]

A worn-out clutch slips in high gear simply by virtue of the tall gear ratios. Regardless of the car's speed, accelerating puts a higher load on the engine (and therefore clutch) in a high gear than a low gear.

I would suggest that you begin sourcing replacement parts or get an appointment set up with a shop very soon. In my experience, if it's starting to slip, it probably doesn't have that much longer.

[kimokalihi]

Yeah when my clutch started slipping in my toyota pickup 4x4 89 I think it lasted about a month until I couldn't drive up a hill period in it. It would get going up the hill in 2nd gear and then slow down to a stop and roll backwards while you could hear the clutch spinning on the flywheel surface. See and smell smoke.

But that's with me wheeling the shit out of it all the time with the clutch slipping.

[Soul Shinobi]

I couldn't find a sticky, or a topic by searching, on how to replace the clutch. I need a clutch really bad too, it'll slip in any gear now if I give it too much gas...

I thought I read on here a while ago about one of you guys pulling the engine forward instead of dropping the tranny, is that really doable?

What's a good bang for your buck clutch? I know the OEM ones will last a long time, but I've heard about you guys throwing eBay ones on, do those really perform acceptably?

[entirelyturbo]

I would take the transmission out. Less wiring to mess with, and you don't need a cherry-picker.

Get a good clutch. Regardless of which way you do it, it is labor-intensive, so you probably won't want to do it again after only 30k miles because you bought a crappy clutch.

[Soul Shinobi]

Sound advice. Are there any non-OEM clutches that are good quality? If I had the money I wouldn't think twice about getting an OEM... I know an OEM unit with everything minus flywheel is around $250. What's labor usually cost at a non-dealer shop?

[Soul Shinobi]

It was brought to my attention in another topic the Exedy clutch kits can be had on eBay for around $150. Are these good? I'm under the impression that Exedy is a good company.

Also, the flywheel on the engine I'm rebuilding has signs of massive overheating, can it still be machined? Either way, what a good cost effective replacement?

EDIT: Interestingly, Exedy says they do not condone purchasing from eBay (of course, they want you to go to a proper supplier) but they even have a PDF that shows how to identify a counterfeit: http://www.exedyusa.com/oe/faq.php

[tturnpaw]

The luk clutches you get from Autozone are great. Many people don't realize luk is also a twin company to centerforce and they both make great clutches. As for the flywheel, you can usually get about five resurfaces done before they need replacement. I've had a flywheel that had massive overheating cracks on the surface from slipping the clutch with high horsepower and it was still able to be resurfaced.

[boarderbw]

as soon as i get my tax return which will be in a day or two im gonna order a competition clutch kit from maperformance.com. they are 375 which is cheap compared to act clutch at 575