Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Transaxle Help!!!

Ok, so about two months ago, my clutch went, so I decided to do some extra work while the transmission was dropped. I got a Torsen LSD, Spec Stage II clutch and a Fidenza flywheel installed.

When I picked up the car, i told my mechanic I'd see him in a couple of thousand miles to change the transmission flui out (riding standard fluid with friction modifier for break in, going back to Redline). After the swap, I noticed a light ticking sound when the car idled, that would disappear when the clutch was pressed. I posted on here and was told it was probably gear rollover from the stiffer clutch. There was no performance or any indication of reliability concerns.

OK, now fast forward two thousand miles or so. Car is working well, and every once in a while I hit the accelerator a little harder to see how the clutch/flywheel/LSD combo is settling in. Feels very nice. Good pull, Almost no torque steer, great cornering. Fine... until Christmas Eve. I was heading down the NJ Turnpike, to my godson's family's house and after a two miles on the highway, the engine starts racing and the acceleration disappears. Then after a few seconds of hunting for an effective gear, I feel the engine engage again. At this point, having just done a clutch swap, I am concerned, so I decide to go down to the next exit and get off to check it out at lower speeds.

Two miles later, it happens again. It's like the clutch just disappeared. No noise, no weakness, just no connection between the clutch and the transmission. After pulling over to the shoulder, I put it in first, release the clutch pedal, and the car rolls backwards slowly, with the grade of the highway. Reverse is the same. It's like the clutch is gone, completely. I can't feel it contact anything, nor any forward effort at all. The clutch pedal feels a little stiffer than normal. The shifter moves into each gear without a problem. Aside from that, there is no sign of anything wrong. There was a slight burning smell coming from the car, but not that of a burned out clutch, more like a chemical smell, slightly burned.

Does anyone have an clues what might be wrong? I didn't see any fluids leaking under the car. The engine sounds normal, but the ticking is gone at idle. Le tme know what ypou think.

Thanks..

it sounds like he never installed the hydraulic throw out bearing properly and now it has left you with no clutch at all. i would try bleading it first just as you would if your bleeding the breakes pump the pedal and hold it while realsing the pressure remeber to tighten the nut before realesing the pedal to pump again and always check to make sure you have enough fluid in the resivour. the valve is located on the bell housing of the trans in a black gromet you will see it from the top no need to crawl under your car and your clutch hydraulic fluid is the brake fluid it is all the same resivour. well i hope this helps you out if not it looks like your going to rip the trans out again. best of luck

No! There is only one way that throwout bearing/slave cylinder can go in.

If you've got a solid pedal then it is in and working.
If you can shift the shifter into gears while the engine is running and there is no grinding.....and you are positive you can feel the shifter clicking into gears, then the most likely cause is a burned up clutch.

The clutch smell you are used to is organic, smells sort of like burned out breaks. You have a spec stage II clutch that is made of kevlar. That wouldn't smell the same.

Someone posted on here that if some kind of oils or fluid gets on the kevlar then it will burn out fast.
Sounds to me like the tranny needs to come out and the disc be inspected.

We'll see tomorrow. The clutch pedal feels too normal to have a burned out clutch. It's almost as if the clutch completely disappeared. There was no fade, just a sudden lack of clutch and the engine was racing. The clutch has under 3,000 miles on it and exhibited no prior problems or weakness before sudden failure to engage.

When I have had clutches burn out in the past, they have caused the shifter and the clutch pedal to lock up. This feels completely normal, except the clutch is missing.. I mean really missing in action.

I've been doing a little research and it looks like it may be a throw out bearing or slave cylinder. Hope not, but that means the trannie is coming out again. Guess i'll have to put in the MSDS headers while the subframe is down.

Anyone else have any ideas?

If it helps with the diagnosis, I had posted a while back that there was a clicking or ticking sound coming from under the car a week or so after the clutch/flywheel/lsd was installed that would disappear when the clutch pedal was depressed. There did not seem to be any problems with the car, so I let it lie. The only other change that I notice is that the clutch pedal doesn't seem to have the play at the top it had before the failure.

Would greasy fingerprints cause sudden failure 4,000 miles into a new clutch? I mean total failure, as in the clutch seeming to disappear from the car. I've had clutches fail, and there was always some sort of sign. This happened at highway speed. One moment the car was fine, the next the engine was racing and there was no power at all going to the wheels. Now if I turn the engine over it sounds normal, clicking is gone. But when I put it into gear, the clutch doesn't catch at all. Zero. On almost level ground I can put it into first and it will roll backwards with even the slightest grade. Feels different from a clutch failure if you know what I mean..

Any chance it could be the master or slave cylinder or a clogged line. I know I'm clutching at straws, but I'm trying to be an optimist.

Nothing actually makes sense about this, but with the information you are giving me I definitely wouldn't point the finger at the clutch slave cylinder or throw-out bearing.

I'm still leaning toward a clutch disk problem.
Since you were just cruising around when it went out and not under heavy load I wanted to rule out clutch disk breakage. However, you should have some small tug on the clutch.

If the hub of the disk spun out, i.e. sheared off and is free-spinning withouth the disk friction material turning then you would get the exact same results you describe. It doesn't make sense for it to have happened at very light load though.
I'm thinking the hub in your clutch disk partialy sheared when you shifted under load. Then while you were cruising it went the rest of the way. It kind of makes sense to me that if the metal tabs that come out of the hub and have the friction material riveted to them were to break then there would be some intermittent grabbing/operation of the clutch. It might have been enough for it to spin and lock, until such time as the whole hub stripped out.

Either way you have to pull your transmission.
Let me know how it goes...if I'm correct I guess.

I'm going for glazed kevlar lining myself.

It's unlikely that a New T/O bearing would leak causing fluid to get on it but it is still possible.


Bad random thoughts...

Rear main leak.
T/O bearing leak.
Water/heavy rain contamination.
T/O bearing dust cover/inspection boot missing, removed, or etc.
Spilled fluid. Highly unlikely as it's sealed well, but you had mentioned the tranny was just serviced?

OK, after a while, I can finally post the results. The clutch lining is gone. i mean gone. The entire clutch wore away after 3K breakin miles and about 700 normal miles. No racing, no beating it up or riding it.

I am of the suspicion that the pressure plate was defective and the clutch was semi-slipping the entire time, thus leading to premature wear. I am going to go back to stock on the clutch. I am not plannign on modding to the extreme, so I should not need anything rated for a huge amount.