Hey guys I just installed my JWT 1200kg, and their light weight flywheel. I have an altima but you guys use the same flywheel and clutch, just different dowel pin placement on the flywheel. anyway i'm getting some pretty bad chattering when trying to pull away in 1st, i either have to rev up to like 2K-2.5K and depress the pedal, or just drop the clutch real quick to pull away. Otherwise it chatters and tries to die, after that its okay, its certainly hard to slip this clutch compared to stock though.

Anyway does this go away after it breaks in? Its only been on for like 50 miles so its not broken in yet.

Thanks,

Rob

 

I never experienced that kind of chatter. There is a mild "rice in a tin can" sound if my rpms drop really low, but never when accelerating under normal circumstances.

When mine was first installed I drove all the way home in traffic without noticing a sound. I had to try accelerating in 3rd from about 15mph to notice the chatter.

My guess would be that something's not right.

 

You did torque to recommended specs on the flywheel right?

 

would the torque specs really be that important? i don't think the mechanic set it exactly to torque specs. Its not chattering so to speak because there is no
noise at all, just when I try to slip the clutch with the revs under 2K the revs drop really quick and its hard to keep the car from dying. So i have to rev to 2.5K or so then slip it to pull away and the revs fall to about 1K and I pull away. now I've done some research and people say that with a lighter drivetrain its harder to pull away without dying. our stock flywheel was 34lbs and this one is 14lbs so its a big difference. I wasn't sure if it was due to the other clutch being so mooshy and easy to ride and i got used to it compared to this race clutch and really light flywheel.

I've also heard it takes a while to break in and it helps to do a hard slip a couple times to smooth it out?

 

we are taking it back out tomorrow night because we used the wrong dowel pin hole so its tripping a crank sensor code, and intake timing code. So we have to pull it. I wonder if this is also why its hard to pull way from a stop?

Once im going changing gears is easy and there is no shuddering, its just pulling away. Maybe I just need to get used to it i dunno.

 

Maybe you need a new mechanic

 

The JWT clutch takes a few hundred miles to break in. You will hear a slight chatter for a little while, but it goes away. Too bad your mechanic had other problems with it, though. Hope it all gets taken care of.

 

well he did a good job, jwt sent me a bad copy of the directions. There was supposed to be an arrow pointing to the correct dowel pin hole for the altima/maxima and then anotehr showing where the 350z/g35 hole is, but there wasn't any pointer. So its Jwt's fault. The clutch is great, the car is MUCH MUCH stronger especially in 1-3rd where driveline losses are at their worst.

Had JWT sent us a good direction sheet it would have been fine.

 

sorry for sidetracking

but how long is the install of the combo?

 

Dont do any hard slips. It takes 500 miles to break in a clutch.

 

oh okay.

Also install took about 8 hours, but we didn't hurry or anything.

 

My friend (who is a mechanic) did my JWT flywheel install in about 3 hours in his shop, and that was with a beer break. The 350Z's tranny was surprisingly easy to remove. Lots of room to work. This was his first 350Z tranny, so he could probably do it quicker if given another chance.

 

Where is he located?

 

He's a friend of mine up here in the central coast of California. (San Luis Obispo) He does quite a bit of after-hours work for friends and enthusiasts in our local sports car club. Good guy, and thankfully works for a good garage that lets him use the equipment after hours. (It's a German shop, but most of his personal work is on Japanese cars, his own included.)

 

aha we figured out what the problem was JWT sent us a 350z flywheel......dammit this **** ALWAYS happens to me. they use the same flywheel but our crank encoder is shimmed another 1/3" so it sits in front of our sensor. My flywheel has no shim and we tried to machine the flywheel down on the back to get it closer to the sensor but it just wasn't enough to get it in there

 

jim wolf can be a real dick too btw.... he sent me out a new altima flywheel but still
he acts like this was my fault.........

 

I have the flywheel. It chatters and that chatter has never gone away. It's prominant from 1,100 to 1,800 rpm and not very noticible except if I'm by a wall and starting off in first gear mainly because I hear more exhaust than anything else. It's normal.

As for Jim Wolf, he has longstanding word-of-mouth good reputation in the Z community. I don't know your car but if you machined the flywheel, I'm thinking you caused the problem. The flywheel when it was shipped to you should have been fine without machining and if it wasn't, you should have sent it back to them for replacement or refund rather than taking matters into your own hands and cutting into the part. The fact he sent you another flywheel dispite your messing with the first one is stand-up response by Jim Wolf. And, you calling him a dick after he did you right is just wrong.

 

yeah except he said IT IS THE RIGHT one so we were trying to make the RIGHT ONE work OKAY, jim told us it was the correct one because of which dowel pin hole was siliconed up (which was actually correct but not shim)


and after paying $500 to have a 350z flywheel installed (in an altima) and then paying $500 to have it done again to find out the flywheel didn't sit even NEAR the crank sensor so we machined it ALMOST right where it needed to be in front of the sensor.

FINALLY jim said oh............maybe you have a 350z flywheel, and told me how to check. .............took 5 seconds, he should have told me this last time

so now i have to pay $500 again to have the new one installed. and you think this is MY fault.............uh no i had to pay $1000 extra for JWT's mistake. hell the parts from JWT only cost $995 so basically i got ripped. I cannot reuse or sell the 1st one because it won't work on an altima or 350z and i'm out $1000. JWT IMo owes me alot more than just sending me the right part.

And the problems I was having was the FIRST time i had the stuff installed BEFORE anything was modified. After the flywheel was modifed there was NO CHATTERING. My mechanic said the flywheel was a bit warped so when he machined it, it was then nice and flat. So now I can engage the clutch nice and smooth but my crank sensor is pulling a code and my iginition timing is off because jim sent me the wrong flywheel.

oh but this is all my fault right?

 

I'm having a little difficulty understanding, please bear with me.

You got the 350Z flywheel which is supposed to work in the Altima. Your problem started when it didn't sit near the crank sensor. Did the second flywheel sit properly and did it look any different than the first? Your mechanic said it was warped so he machined it? And, your mechanic did both of these installations?

Look, I know you've spent a lot of money and I'm sorry you're in your situation. However, if I'm understanding everything correctly, I think your concerns should be with your mechanic who may not have done the first install right, should never have machined the flywheel - unless Jim Wolf told him to do that, which I doubt, and then installed it again. Your mechanic made $ with the first incorrect install, probably made money for machining something he should have left alone and is making more money with the second install. Does this sound like your mechanic is doing it right?

Let me ask you this, has anyone else with an Altima had the same problem? If so, maybe there really is a design defect with the JWT parts. But, if you're ticked off at someone, I think you need to look to your mechanic because from what you're posting, that looks like the problem to me.

I maybe entirely wrong and if so, I apologize in advance.

 

Two more things, when I said "you" I didn't realize a mechanic was involved. I should have when you said "we" so I shouldn't have said "you" shouldn't have cut into the part, I should have said "your mechanic shouldn't have cut into the part." He is supposed to know better.

With respect to the last sentence of your last post, your situation is not your fault. I think it's your mechanics. Good luck.