Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Transaxle Clutch pics

Well I pulled the clutch finally. I'm a little confused though. The clutch is just shot, and I have no idea why. Also to top it off it looks different then my new stage 1.

So does anyone have any idea as to why the clutch went out? I don't want to put the new one in until I have something to go on. The clutch had 14k miles on it. I should have gotten atleast 50k more then that.

Looks like it's glazed ... like you didn't break it in properly. Did you go WOT before 500 miles?

I took it pretty easy for the first 600-800 miles. So I don't know. SPEC says not go WOT until you have gone 450 miles in the installation instructions they enclose with the clutch package.

I guess the most pressing question is, Is there any component I should be worried about before I put everything back together with the new clutch. Right now I'm sitting at a stand still with the transmission hanging off to the side because I don't want to put this new clutch in and have the same thing happen down the road in another 14k without udnerstanding what went wrong the first time.

If it glazed early on, it would have slipped over its life and caused that.

Also, if the flywheel wasn't surfaced correctly and the standoff distance of the pressure plate when bolted to the flywheel is too high, it will not apply full clamp pressure and cause that same issue.

There are sure to be specifications as to how much standoff distance the pressure plate mounting locations should have. If the pressure plate mounts flush to the surface of the flywheel without being on any raised-up portions, i.e. same plane as the flywheel friction surface, then a flywheel that was not surfaced or had a lowered friction area could be too far out for good clamp pressure.
Bottom line is it has to be in the right range for good clamp pressure.
If you did nothing else wrong, I'd check there first.
Try to get stock specs for this figure, and ask SPEC what they recommend since they provide the disc and the aftermarket PP.
They would know the ideal distance and then you can tell the machinist to make it right where it needs to be.

Yes thats kind of what I was hearing from some other friends of mine.

Basically what I am hearing is replace the flywheel (I have an 00 SVT flywheel that I can use, which I will have resurfaced), replace the pilot bearing, then install the clutch. Checking to make sure that the stand-off distance is with-in spec.

Thanks for all of the advice. I will contact SPEC and see where things go.