So i had a shop put in a new JWT clutch and light flywheel (~$600 in labor - is this reasonable?) and i've noticed a few differences in driving. Just wondering if this is normal.

a) Clutch now engages IMMEDIATELY when i take my foot off the pedal. I assume this is normal.

b) About a quarter of the way through letting my foot off the pedal, i kinda feel a vibration as it catches. Sorta like the same feeling as when you're about to stall and the engine kinda rattles. Is this supposed to happen? It never happened with the stock clutch. The more i feather the clutch, the more i feel it at this point. If i kinda pop the clutch, i don't really get it.

 

... sounds the same as my car. Seems normal ... but I'll let the experts chime in ...

 

Clutch response is normal ---Labor to install is not...I do them for close to half that price.

Its a 4-5 hour job at even 75.00 an hour is 375.00...thieves

 

i checked with three different dealers (nissan and others) and they all had really similar prices. Is this high even for a dealer price in southern california?

 

Can I ask how you like the setup now? feel the difference?

 

Normal ... Although FunctionTuned only charge me $399 to install.

 

Yes, this is normal. It will mellow a little bit with time but particularly when new w/FW, engagement is dead bottom, most hard not to stall when it's brand new. This clutch works best over time by very positively engaging it, i.e. don't ease it in, rev match best you can and let it out more quickly than you're used to. It's probably the 1200kg clamping force one from the sounds of it. Your OEM clutch had a lot of slop; this one does not.

Also note the FW will make a diff with revs spinning down much more quickly, don't be surprised if when you come off hard throttle quickly it really dives, as in down to 400 rpm or so. You may find your idle is 100-200 rpm lower (or not). If you have any stalling problems coming off throttle fast, there is a JWT tech bulletin for this; it is more common if you have a popcharger intake, too. Check with JWT.

For a clutch and FW replacement IMHO that is possibly up to $100-200 high on labor if that is all they did. It's certainly more than I am used to and labor rates are high where I live, that sounds like dealer rate. It's usually closer to $400 to pull the trans, $500 at most if replacing FW (which usually has to come off for resurfacing, anyway for the dual mass).

Hang on to your OEM FW - they are a bundle at MSRP, about $1000-1100. You may be able to sell it to someone who cannot resurface theirs for half that or a little less.

Expect the light FW chatter, if its too much for you, Redline makes a good syn fluid for gear use that has some NVH damping characteristics.

One thing I will predict is once you're used to it, and have some miles, you are going to find this was money well spent, and realize just what crap the OEM clutch really is - it always had some excessive slip to make the 6MT easier to drive for newbies. That meant under WOT OEM always slipped a little more than it should IMHO. It's no better than the value line clutch in a Max or Alty yet has to withstand more torque and more sudden torque.

HTH

 

You sure it's not wheel hop?

 

XXTuning here in CT charged me about the same, $400. I wasn't willing to do the work a) alone, and b) w/o a lift. I know people who have, but I wasn't one of them!

 

Sounds like they used $100-110/hr and 5.5-6 hrs. That's high. It almost sounds like a package price including resurfacing the old FW which was not reused.

+1^ on the thievery...

 

Wheel hop is a characteristic I at least associate more with F/F drivers with a crappy diff, or clutch drops in a F/R on throttle. Plus if you have TCS even, it's hard to get wheel hop from a start unless you really try hard. This is more like extremely low travel engagement, which will come up a little higher soon.

When starting out with a JWT Clutch with about twice the clamping force of OEM, this is perfectly normal. It gets easier both due to break-in and your own learning curve of how it works. It's worth it - it works great. I'm at 12,000 miles into mine, I love it.