SLO-EVO

iTrader: (52)

Long story short, my buddy is having serious issues with his clutch . I can not see his video so I am hoping that someone in the community will reach out and be able to shed some light on the situation for me. If all you have to say is shouldn't have got an ACT clutch, keep your BS comment to yourself.


From my buddy James:

hopefully someone can help me the get rid of this noise. below is the conversation with ACTman (CEO of ACT?)

Hello Mr. Starksen,

Aloha from Hawaii, my name is James, I had a new ACT HD street clutch installed on my evo 8 few weeks ago, I kept hearing a grinding noise coming from the front of my car when I decelerate while leaving the car in gear. Sitting at idle in neutral, a loud grinding noise can be heard, but immediatly goes away when I push the clutch in, its always happen on the 1st gear, and some times on the other gears too, the shop who installed my clutch said its normal, it is a common problem for ATC clutch, I did some research on Evom forum and a lots of people think its normal, but it doesn't seem normal to me, the noise scares people on the street every time! I m planning to replace the ACT clutch with an OEM clutch if i can't to get rid of this noise. I hope you can help me to solve this problem. thank you very much!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOYM7fRpyZg

please see video attached.
James.

Wow, that is a weird noise and not what I have encountered before. To be honest, I have no idea what that would be. It is normal to have a little more gear rattle noise using our clutch or a lighter flywheel, but it is more of a mild clatter, not a screech or whatever you would call that noise you have and the conditions are different as well.

So let's examine the symptoms together (as best as I can from your video and message):
The noise is only when the clutch is engaged and the noise seems to increase with rpm but not necessarily with load (since there is no load in neutral). In this senario, all the clutch parts are spinning together and the only motion is the dampening springs soaking up some of the torsional vibration (reducinging gear noise) and the release bearing spinning.

The only difference from engaged versus disengaged is that when engaged the disc and transmission are spinning. Because of this you can probably take the pressure plate out of the equation. And if the noise doesn't change when you put light pressure on the pedal you can probably take the release bearing from the list to. So the question in my mind is what is it in the transmission or clutch disc that could make that noise?

Thank you very much for your respond! I forgot to mention I have the ACT light flywheel installed with the clutch. The mileage now is 650 after the clutch was installed, I have tried many ways to change my driving habit, but still cannot get rid of the noise.

The noises you heard from the video are from 1st gear, yes, the noise is only when the clutch is engaged, if I releasing the clutch pedal slowly on 1st gear with out pressing the gas pedal, slight noise can be heard when the car starts moving, the noise will be louder if I press the gas when start, the noise increase with rpm but immediately goes away when I push the clutch pedal in or release the clutch pedal, it also happen a lot when down shifting.

I don’t know much about car, so I am not sure if transmission or clutch disc that could make that noise. I will bring your comments back to the shop and have them check on the problem again.

I really appreciate your help!
James

SLO-EVO

iTrader: (52)

Anyone?

SLO-EVO

iTrader: (52)

Bump.. Anyone?

SLO-EVO

iTrader: (52)

BUMP for answers!

heavens turbo

maybe its vibration from the fly wheel loose, or it could be something misaligned in the clutch itself, not torqued right, backed off bolts, etc. looks like a teardown is in order. good luck.

cssaddictm4

iTrader: (13)

My best guess is the disc was probably warped during the install. Does the car roll forward when the clutch is depressed in gear while on two step?

dastallion951

i get intermitten decel clutch noises on my act running hdss with prolite flywheel, ur gonna get some noise on decel...now noises when ur at idle with the clutch not engaged thats not normal, my guess possible bad throw out bearing install, or like the other guys said some bolt mightve backed off....try adjusting your clutch pedal to see if it helps with the noise, if clutch pedal isnt adjusted right, you have a good chance your throw out bearing is being pushed on all the time which can cause premature wear, as well as other issues.

Jmelocik@Spec-Ops

iTrader: (19)

The only time I have ever heard a noise like that after installing a brand new clutch was from not resurfacing the flywheel, you stated that you replaced the flywheel also? Did they spray it down with chemical cleaner like brake parts cleaner to remove the cosmoline? If they did not then it would have almost immediately glazed the friction disc and that would explain the noise. If you have the sprung hub friction disc the noise should not be as noticeable however if you have the solid hub disc it tends to be much more apparent. Feel free to PM me and let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

Josh

SLO-EVO

iTrader: (52)

This definitely isn't normal vibration noise. I fear it is something far worse than that.

The car does not roll when the car is in gear. How can you warp a clutch on install?

The TOB has been brought up on another occasion as well. Thank you for the input.


Josh, the flywheel was new, so it rules out the unsurfaced idea, but I am not sure if the shop cleaned the flywheel off with anything, and even so, wouldn't the break-in period eliminate this? I suppose it could cook the cosmoline on and make it permanant.

Thanks for the input, I am going to run all of this by him and see if he can pinpoint something a little better.