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SPEC Stage III clutch issues.

S

SHOspazz92

CEG'er
Joined
Jan 3, 2013
Messages
183
Location
North Carolina
While the car shifts great and does not give me any issues with the clutch pedal...etc, The TOB is VERY noisy at idle (obviously the noise goes away with the clutch pedal pressed in). I understand that generally the higher stage clutches will make some additional noise, but this is a little much IMO.

However, that is not the main issues. The issues I have is when I down shift. I always make sure to rev-match when I downshift but it seems that while releasing the clutch to complete the downshift I get a really LOUD rattle/grinding noise. It doesn't effect driveability in the least bit, but it has me concerned.

Has anybody experienced anything similar?

-Sam
 
Specs are crap, there is million threads here about them failing, they have nearly a 100% failure rate on this platform. Very likely it could be on its way out.
 
the TOB makes noise because the ceramic material from the clutch gets into it.


As for the noise, not sure. Either drive it until it wears out/fails or pull it apart and check it out.
 
Beans said:
Specs are crap, there is million threads here about them failing, they have nearly a 100% failure rate on this platform. Very likely it could be on its way out.
Click to expand...

Pretty much the same story in the SHO world, I'll be going to a Southbend Stage II when this one goes.

Redlineracer12 said:
Yup, my 3+ makes the same noises and has since I installed it. The loud rattling/grinding noise for me is not every time though; the better job i do rev-matching the less likely it is to happen.
Click to expand...

Same story. Glad I'm not the only one.

Thanks for the input and quick replies.

-Sam
 
Sam, this is normal for the SPEC clutches. However it should not be on it's way out. It's been that way since I bought the car and it still grabs just fine.

The ones that typically had problems that everyone complains about failing came after SPEC switched some of it's suppliers. The one on your car is from one of the older runs- before the switch. People have gotten 40k + miles out of these. The throwout bearing is OEM and was replaced with the clutch.

The grinding noise is the clutch, not the synchros, and unfortunately it's what they do. If you rev match you'll never hear the noise, I've always done this out of habit so I never noticed.
 
Thanks for the reply Hutch. I'm still trying learn to properly rev-match this car, as I'm used to the SHO (Heaver Clutch pedal, with a lighter Gas pedal, This car is the other way around!). I'm sure once I figure it out , all will be well. I still plan on purchasing a Southbend clutch soon to have on standby.

-Sam
 
Typically when they fail they do so in the first 5k miles, this one has 15k+ miles on it so it should be ok.

SHOspazz92 said:
Thanks for the reply Hutch. I'm still trying learn to properly rev-match this car, as I'm used to the SHO (Heaver Clutch pedal, with a lighter Gas pedal, This car is the other way around!). I'm sure once I figure it out , all will be well. I still plan on purchasing a Southbend clutch soon to have on standby.

-Sam
Click to expand...

sounds good man, enjoy it. Don't rule out a stock clutch either, it should be ok for the power level the car is at and they are cheap. I don't like the feel however.
 
It's funny you say that. For the longest time I ran pucked clutches, or stage 3+ clutches in my Track SHO. Being that it is a cable clutch setup it of course sucked to drive. After figuring that since the car was 1,000lbs lighter then stock with the weight reduction, I tried a stock clutch. 3 Years , 10,000 miles, 50+ Runs down the strip, 200+ Auto-X runs and countless WOT shifts at 8,000+ RPM...its held up great and of course is much easier to drive. Stock clutches FTW!
 
Spec 3 is a bit much for anything except a turbo 3.0. Yes they are noisy. Are you saying there is more noise when you release the clutch after shifting or while you are trying to shift it makes the noise?
 
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