Sorry for the vague title, but I don't have a lot to work off of. A little background on the car, I have an 03' Track Pack, 71,000 miles now, with custom exhaust (Cat back), K&N intake, Skunk2 Plenum spacer, Exedy Stage 2 clutch, Spec Racing Flywheel (18lb), UpRev Osirus Tuner Package with configured maps, replaced fuel rails/injectors with new stock ones, complete engine tuneup with good fluids (used Nissan Transmission fluid 75-85, didn't want to mess up the weight from mixing redline), and Valvoline 75-90 for the differential, the rest is suspension/brakes/things that don't concern this post. I had a stock clutch and flywheel (65,000 miles) when I felt what I thought was the clutch slipping. I use my car for auto-cross and drive it hard at the track, so I figured yea it's about time for a new clutch. I bought a new clutch and flywheel (see above) and installed them myself. After installation there was a little clutch chatter which I thought would go away after the break in period. The clutch chatter is still there, not horrible, when I place the car in reverse and when taking off at low speeds. I did the 750 mile brake in period and only tracked the car recently (70,500 miles). I am having the same problem I had before where it seems like the clutch is slipping. I drive my car correctly, but can't seem to justify wearing out the clutch that fast. The problem is when in gear driving, if I floor the accelerator, the engine RPM goes up without the expected power to the wheels, then the RPM drops down after a second to what the wheels seem to be putting out and accelerates normally after that. It doesn't matter what gear I am in for this to happen. There is no fault codes, the slip light nor VDC light up when this happens either. I am going to be dropping the transmission and inspecting/cleaning the clutch, flywheel, throwout bearing, and gears when I get a chance. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem/know what is causing this. I used brake cleaner to clean the clutch/flywheel during installation (friend said that was the cause of chatter, I guess break cleaner leaves a residue? Not sure on that, but it's a theory (his theory)). Thanks in advance to anyone willing to help out or put in your 2 cents.

~Craig

 

It sounds like your clutch is slipping. If the rpm's go up, but your not feeling it go, then the clutch is slipping.

 

make sure your clutch pedal was properly bled. its a pita. but once it properly adjust it properly so the clutch engages all the way with the pedal out.

Did you use alot of grease when you replace your clutch?

 

shiftdrift06, It's funny you say that.. I read everywhere how it was going to be a PITA to bleed, but when I bled the lines it took like 5 minutes.

I pushed the pedal to the floor and then poured the fluid in while having my friend hold the pedal down, then had my wife continue to pour in the fluid while I was on the creeper connecting the hydraulic line. after the line was tight I filled the reservoir and slowly released the clutch. I then pumped the clutch several times maintaining the reservoir, and bled the line. When I was done it seemed to work fine.

For the first week I checked the reservoir daily and still had the SAME level fluid so I called it good. I didn't adjust any linkage for the clutch pedal though. I see what you are saying about maybe the clutch isn't fully engaging/disengaging. I'll try adjusting the pedal, I have the factory service manual and I know it's in there (I did it years ago) so I'll try that tonight.

As for the grease goes, no I didn't use a lot of grease during the install because I was afraid to over grease the damn thing. I think that might be the cause the clutch chatter but can't be sure until I get time off of work to drop the transmission again.

I really do think that you are on to something with fully engaging/disengaging the clutch though. Thanks for your help, if you can think of anything else let me know.

To everyone else, if you have an exedy stage 2 clutch can you let me know about how far the clutch pedal travel is for you? Mine is just less than stock, I adjusted it right after I bought the car 3 years ago.

Thanks to all,
~Craig

 

All,

I dropped the transmission again and did an inspection. I found that the problem was with the throw-out bearing. The bearing sleeve metal clip came off one side of the clutch arm some how (Installed incorrectly I assume. It was pretty difficult to stick on the arm the first time). This caused the clutch arm to pinch the sleeve to the transmission shaft, not allowing the clutch to be fully engaged. I took the clutch apart and inspected it to find that there was some groves in the pressure plate friction surface and flywheel. I cleaned everything up as much as possible, installed the Lithium Based MD grease and added a little to the fork that the clutch arm rides the sleeve on. I reassembled everything and torqued everything down to the specs. Bled the clutch, took about 15 min this time.

Started up the car and was amazed at how hard the clutch grabbed. The chatter I talked about was gone and everything seemed to be working fine. I took the car for a test drive and on one of the shifts the clutch pedal didn't return, I pulled the pedal back up with my toe until the spring caught it. Pulled over and checked the clutch reservoir. There was plenty of fluid and it didn't seem to have gone down.

I think it's time to replace the Master Cylinder (73,000 Miles). I was looking to swap it out with a Wilwood 5/8" bore MC, but it doesn't seem like it is a direct fit. If anyone has done this before please let me know what is required to do this, other wise I think I am going to replace it with the OEM MC and add stainless steel line while I'm at it.

Thanks, Craig