Mike,

Can you tell me how much adjustment is too much? I also have the ACT clutch and having lock-out problems at high rpm. I adjusted mine to have two threads left and shifting felt better but lock-out still not fix. Do you think 1 to 1.5 thread left is okay?

THanks.

 

Try the upper adjustment to get some additional upstroke in the pedal. Where does the clutch release at? How far off the floor?

Mike W

 

So your customer went to the track right after you adjusted it last night. How convenient.

 

Clutch is releasing way up top. I'm guessing about 3/4 or a little higher. I was able to press the clutch with my hand for a bit before it starts to get hard so I still have some free play left. I'll try the upstroke pedal adjust as well.

Thanks for the help.

 

Not even, we have no dragster tracks in So Cal, it is quite inconvenient.

We do have a 1/2 mile long dead end industrial street a block away from the shop and it was 8:00 at night. He was able to test it to his satisfaction.

Mike W

 

no i didnt go to the track right after, but i had alot of fun on the way home . car shifts perfect now past 7300 rpm . i didnt get locked out once.

i tried a whole bunch of things before this, short shifter, shifter metal base bushings, linkage metal bushings, braided clutch line, restrictor removal and still had the same problem.

oh yeah i didnt move the rod the wrong way i was told by some one else at rre to adjust it so it engages right when you start to lift the pedal from the floor.

 

I'm glad its finally working out for you. But, making a pass down a drag strip might be another story.

 

thats true but if i was on the track or on the street it would lock me out either way. but im going to irwindale this thurs to make sure

 

Good Luck(thumbup)

 

Thank you for posting this, i suggested to make this adjustment on page 2 of this thread. It would have been sad if ACT's reputation was ruined without people even trying this adjustment.

 

I feel so lucky to have a shop like RRE 30minutes away.
Lets hope that others have better luck after adjusting the pedal rod properly because i am very close to killing my stock clutch and i was leaning towards an ACT.

 

Mike, I know you were not responding directly to me with this, but I am the one who started this thread, so I feel it is worth my time to respond with an explanation of sorts...

You say that it's better to go first to the vendor, the mechanic, or the manufacturer, but hear me out as to why none of those even crossed my mind:

1) Vendor - I bought my ACT due to many years of loyal use with 3 separate DSMs, but I did so AGAINST the recommendation of my local shop who chose to DISCONTINUE the selling of ACT clutches after having recurring problems with customer cars, specifically one owned by a fellow Evo owner who only drove his ACT several thousand miles before it no longer worked. When they pulled it out, it had somehow worn all the way down to the rivets while also killing the tranny (synchros) in the meantime. Despite his warnings, I went ahead with the ACT in belief that the ACT HDSS had been improved over its previous version. When I went to the track to get some cool-weather runs for once, I found that I was heinously missing shifts, but I didn't know why. As the night wore on, I realized that I wasn't missing shifts, but rather was completely UNABLE to shift with any semblance of speed. When I went back and told my vendor, they just laughed and gave the big I TOLD YOU SO!!! I didn't expect my vendor to do anything, because it wasn't their fault, and there's no proof that it actually is the ACT.

2) Installer - I had it installed at the one local dealership that has a very well respected master tech and who won't just automatically void warranties for having an aftermarket clutch, especially if they installed it. They have done many, many clutches, and I was extremely pleased with the installation. Another reason I went there is due to the 6spd and ACD. I was worried that the local speed shops wouldn't know how to bleed the ACD like you seem to know how to do. Anyway, I certainly didn't see any reason to go back to the Mitsu service dept and mention my 7k shifting problems...I don't see any way in which they could help me in this matter.

3) Manufacturer - well, that's ACT. I know they won't take my hearsay and assumptions about the 7k lockout problem and do anything when there are tons of other people with the same problem who get nothing out of it. Again, there's no way to prove 100% beyond a shadow of a doubt that the ACT is causing all these problems. Could it just be my synchros from wear and tear after drag racing? Did the synchro problem randomly happen after I got the ACT installed? Did this same random, coincidental phenomenon also happen to everyone else with the same ACT problem? Is it just a post-wear-in adjustment issue that will go away once I adjust the pedal (doing it this week), or is that just a band-aid masking the REAL problem? In the end, let's say Dirk listens to my complaint and helps me out by providing me a free replacement. What will that do? I still have to pay a ton to have it installed, and I can only expect the same thing to happen again just like everyone else. What if he refunds my money? Well, I think that's extremely unlikely due to the plausible deniability as I detailed earlier, but even if I had the ~$500 cash in hand, that would just slightly reduce the cost of purchasing a $1500 twin disk Exedy plus a lot more for installation. Hey, it's still $500, right? True, but I highly doubt that would ever happen. Even so, I will email Dirk as you suggested just to see what he says. AT the very least, he will know that another loyal ACT customer is very upset with what has happened on his previously-fast Evo...

 

No problem, it isnt directed at you so much as my experience with the message board mentality in general. I saw a good person and a good company getting kicked around and stepped in to take a few body blows.

1) The vendor should be your liason with the manufacturer if you are dissatisfied with a product. Give them a chance to do their job.

2) EVO clutch installers should know about adjustment possibilities I would think.

3) The above failing, contact the manufacturer. I dont think you will get a free clutch or labor or change the world with one phone call, no. But if I was a manufacturer (and I am to a small extent a manufacturer) I would like the chance to deal with problems on a personal level first. Even if you are the first one to complain, it has to start somewhere.

Hopefully (in fantasy happy vendor world anyways) a thread would read like this:

I bought an ACT clutch for my EVO, it sucked. (My vendor) refused to help me and I wont be dealing with them again. But I contacted ACT directly and they were very helpful and concerned. Dirk the president there was very nice and gave me some ideas on how to adjust it. I went back to (my installer) and they fixed it in a few minutes. ACT kicks a$$

thumb up

+1

<ACT

Nice dude, good to hear it...


But for sure if ACT told you to kick rocks, ignored your concerns then lay it all out for the world to see. I'd be pissed too. I only deal with companies that care and are into customer satisfaction. Dirk is on his way to the Nopi show this week and cant respond to this mess right now. But I have been working with this exact problem with him for three weeks now. He has some good ideas but all the cars I get have been adjustable. As soon as I get one that cant be adjusted we'll go to the next step of pulling a tranny at no charge and digging into it deeper.

Does this sound like a company/person that does not care? Notice the date:
__________________________________________________ ___________

-----Original Message-----
From: Dirk Starksen
Sent: Friday, August 26, 2005 9:59 AM
To: mike@roadraceengineering.com
Subject: EVO clutches

Mike,

I have been getting a fair amount of complaints about shifting the EVO at high rpms. The problem seems to be limited to the single disc clutches (Stock, ours, Exedy, CM, etc). One in particular that was using our clutch comes from Tuan Pham who is a customer of yours. I guess he is using the Exedy twin currently. I am attempting to work with him on finding the cause. Do you have time to play games on this with us? Can we work out a deal in trade for ACT parts in exchange for labor to install, etc? I have my suspicions on what it might be but I am not sharing them on the forum or anything until I get definitive proof. I think getting to the bottom of this will help both of us. What do you think? I know you work late usually. If you want to call me on my cell, it is 661-555-1212. I don’t use it much for after work so just use it sparingly or the wife will have me sleeping outside.

Thanks,

Dirk P. Starksen
President/CTO
Advanced Clutch Technology Inc.
PH: 661-940-7555
Fax: 661-940-7541
__________________________________________________ __________


If you would have contacted ACT on September 3rd when you started this thread, you would have heard "We know it is a problem, we are looking at it seriously. For now please try adjusting it like this and if that does not work out for you we'll have some more ideas for you as soon as we can confirm some things here".

We (vendors/manufacturers) just appreciate a chance to make things right before it blows up big. You think we all love to wake up in the morning with an e-mail from a customer saying "Hey, you are getting murdered in a 10 page thread over last night, you might want to check it out" ? Yes there are companies that need to get killed on the internet publicly, ACT is not one of them.

Mike W

 

Mike,
You should probably remove Dirk's cell number from your post.

-Paul

 

555-1212 is the TV/movie version of a generic phone number :-) I do have the real one safe and private though.

Mike W