Clutch Issue - Spec SS on a 07 GT500 . . . Advice is appreciated

[Shelb5zero0]

Hi SVTP,

I was hoping some of you could chime in with your expertise. I don't know much if anything about cars, so any help is appreciated.

Issue: Can't get the car in gear, while running. If the car is off, I can put it in any gear and even start the car in 2nd and drive it. Ran it on a start in 2[SUP]nd[/SUP], and shifted all the way up through 5[SUP]th[/SUP].

Parts: The stock clutch went out around 13K miles. I had a Spec SS clutch, new OEM Slave Cylinder put in at 13K miles by a shop here in town. That was about 1.5yrs. ago. The car now has 40K miles, so about 27K on the Spec.

I removed the bell housing this weekend, to take a look at the clutch, flywheel, and slave cylinder. I am attaching pictures of the clutch and flywheel below.

My father took the slave cylinder to Chris @ Dyno Edge yesterday, and they thought the unit was functioning fine. I bought a new Slave Cylinder yesterday, but before I put it in and reassemble everything, I wanted to see what you guys think about the clutch. The discs appear to have a lot of life in them. Input shaft is fine, little dirty in the pics but fine. The pressure plate fingers on the clutch are bent inwards at the top right side of the clutch. They sit about 1-2 millimeters in further than the remaining ones. It is about 3-4 of them that this happened on.

What do you think caused this? The slave cylinder? I compared the new one, to the old and they seem identical, with the exception of the “pilot” bearing, or throw out bearing . . . whatever it’s called.

Do you think the clutch is ok? Should I install the new slave cylinder with the pressure plate fingers like that?

Can I/should I bend the pressure plate fingers back?

Once again, sorry if I’m using the wrong terms on this. I don’t know much about cars. Any insight is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Shelb5zero0]

pics

 

[Shelb5zero0]

2nd pics

 

[Red-GT500]

Could the shop that did the install have forced the input shaft in to hard and bent the fingers? It is possible that its a defect, but i dont know why it would only bend those fingers and not all of them. Is it possible you have the wrong slave cylinder in there? and its over extending the fingers?

 

[Red-GT500]

BTW, who pried on your flywheel like that? I would be a little upset if a shop did that to an aluminum flywheel.

 

[Shelb5zero0]

Thanks Red-GT500,

We have a very reputable shop here in town, but they were too busy when the stock clutch went out. I took it to an inferior shop, which was a mistake. My guess is they damaged the flywheel taking off the bell housing. As for the pressure plate fingers, I hadn't thought of that honestly. If the damage was from the input shaft hitting them on the way in, then I guess I'm ok? I've driven the car for 27K miles since they did the install, and it was fine until this past weekend. I guess they may have been bent for quite some time then, because I know I didn't touch them when I removed the bell housing.

* oh, as I picked up my car from the shop, two ladies pull up next to me and say "nice car we just saw you racing it on 4th street" - The shop had some kid take it for a test drive as I was arriving for the pickup. Hence, why I'm doing it myself this time.

 

[Shelb5zero0]

I neglected to mention, that the factory oem replacement slave cylinder was used when the Spec was put in.

 

[Van@RevanRacing]

Unless you have to put the clutch in immediately I'd call SPEC. Get an RMA # and send it in and have it re-built. SPEC Twin Disc's are infinitely rebuildable and your should be serviced. I don't like what they did to your flywheel and the teeth on the pressure plate could result in premature failure and improper wear.

 

[Shelb5zero0]

Thanks Van/Revan Racing,
About an hour ago, I loosened up the bolts on the pressure plate. That resulted in the fingers rising back to level with the others. Did my pressure plate get loose? I'm not sure what would have caused this? I have a brand new slave cylinder, should I go ahead and install it and put everything back together? Or could the slave cylinder be affected by this? Sorry if these are dumb questions.

 

[Red-GT500]

If the fingers came back to their original position when you loosened up the pressure plate then it might be a sign of improper torque sequence when installing the pressure plate. Sounds like the shop didnt pull the stack down uniformly and just tightened one side down before the others where fully seated. Whatever you choose to do, make sure you do not get any grease or oil on the components when you re-install them. If you have handled the pieces (disks and friction surfaces) then use some brake cleaner to clean them very well before the install. I just did an install on my car this weekend and wore latex gloves after cleaning everything so that i could avoid even getting finger prints on the flywheel/pressure plate stack. But, Van is the expert here, i would say if he says to have it rebuilt then its probably the right choice. Especially since the flywheel is scratched up. And before you toss it all back together you might also consider changing the pilot bearing in the back of the crankshaft. They can be a huge pain to get out but its a good idea and cheap insurance when they only cost about 10 dollars.

And about the shop letting some kid race your car with a brand new clutch installed, i would make them pay for a new clutch and the replacement at another shop. I've only put 50 miles on my new clutch and its never been north of 3K RPMs. Proper break in is critical for any clutch. I hope these next 450 miles go quick, the car is brutal from a dead stop with the P trim. Its trying to grab but just hasnt fully seated yet.