Ring gear on flywheel almost came off..!!!

[rsnyder]

Well, I posted a thread a while back about a metallic rattling coming from the trans/ clutch area. I told everyone that I would advise when I found out what the noise was. It was the ring gear on the flywheel. It almost completely separated from the flywheel. The rivets were gone. Has anyone heard of this happening? It was the stock flywheel with a Spec 3 clutch. What the heck would have caused this??? Is it just a stock part defect...??

 

[JBN]

Was it the ring gear (outside edge of flywheel that the starter engages on) or the friction plate on the clutch side of the flywheel surface? I believe the ring gear is pressed on, and i know the friction plate is riveted on. I haven't heard of a ring gear seperating, but i have heard of the rivets breaking on a friction plate. How many miles were on the flywheel and how often do you race the car?

 

[rsnyder]

Was it the ring gear (outside edge of flywheel that the starter engages on) or the friction plate on the clutch side of the flywheel surface? I believe the ring gear is pressed on, and i know the friction plate is riveted on. I haven't heard of a ring gear seperating, but i have heard of the rivets breaking on a friction plate. How many miles were on the flywheel and how often do you race the car?

Yep, It was the ring gear that engages on the starter. It is riveted on by 6 rivets. My mechanic advised that he has never heard of this happening either. It was a stock Ford flywheel with 16,000 miles on it. I only went to the track once and made 6 passes, but it was already making noise at that point.

 

[Dana]

It is uncommon on these, but not unheard of. With the steel ring gear and aluminum flywheel, heat can cause issues. The rivets should lock them together, but obviously that doesn't always work...

 

[mustangshane]

Exact same thing happened to my 03. I had a SPEC stage 3 clutch with the factory flywheel. The ring gear seperated from the middle. The flywheel was held together by 2 rivets. It was a miricle that the flywheel didn't shatter with over 500 hp at that point. I put a billet steel flywheel in there now that should be safer.