Well, yea. So Ive done as much searching as I possibly could in an attempt to find some fellow EVO owners who have found themselves in a situation similar to mine. Although ive had success in finding similar problems, ive yet to find one that fits mine close enough. The problem has to do with the clutch engagement. Im aware of the pitfalls that go along with the oem evo pull style clutch, so I suspect my problem lies in that area. Currently, ive got a Spec Stage 3 clutch kit, factory slave with removed pill, braided clutch line, and the adapter plate to run a evo ix metal cmc. Recently i was slowing down to stop for a light. When i depressed the clutch pedal i felt engine vibration through the pedal upon reaching the halfway down portion of the pedal stroke. The clutch did disengage, but obviously not fully, because i had trouble selecting first, and there was just about zero slip travel in the pedal. The bite point is literally about an inch off the floor. So, seeing as how the actual pedal pressure has remained normal, Im lead to believe its not a hydraulic problem. That leaves the good ol' release fork and throw out bearing/retainer collar. Ive read about ppl having their collars break, wavy springs fail, pressure plates come apart, tob separating, even the pivot bosses for the release fork snapping off the casting. I know about issues where the fork can travel back to far during hard or fast shifts, and how a clutch stop can be installed to mitigate that occurrence. The one difference between all the stories ive found and my situation, is that i still have some clutch function, albeit, not much. I would think that if some component that works to maintain the attachment btwn the tob and pressure plate, had indeed failed, operation of the clutch would be impossible. Due to not having a garage at home, and dealing with the winter, here on the east coast, ive yet to get under the car to look through the inspection hole. However, I did slide the rubber boot away from the fork, so i could take a peak inside with a flashlight. I couldnt see much, but what i did see, wasnt anything i believe to be out of the ordinary. I could see where the tob interfaces with the pressure plate release levers. I could also see the clips on the tob that go on the fork, as well as the wavy spring and collar. All of which, looked to be intact. I tried to move the fork by hand to check for play, but found none. I didnt see any damage to the fork, tob, or pressure plate release levers, that indicate something has become misaligned or bent. Also, im not hearing any abnormal noises from that area, regardless to the position of the pedal, or the engine running. Nor did i have any indication beforehand that might have served as a warning that a failure was coming. The clutch has been on the car for about a year now, and theres roughly 10k miles on it. The only other issue ive had, related to the clutch, was a cmc failure due to the plastic elbow on the top of the ix cmc. It failed where the hose from the bmc reservoir clamps on. The plastic elbow is held to the metal cmc body, via one roll pin. The elbow itself, seals to the cmc with a rubber o ring seal. The hole in the plastic elbow that the roll pin goes through, managed to egg out and allow the elbow to lift up around the o ring, causing an extremely small leak that seeped fluid during pedal depression and sucked air during release. I bought a new cmc, bleed the system and ive been trouble free up to this point. I wondering if anyone else has experienced this problem, or heard of it. Im going to eventually get under it, drop the skid tray and take a look inside the inspection hole. Hopefully that will give me some answers. I know that if the tob or retaining collar did fail, its going to mean the trans needs to come out. I also know that means the subframe, along with the lca's, rack, sway bar, axles, transfer case, motor mounts, and exhaust need to come out as well. Luckily ive got connections to a tech who works at a mitsubishi dealership, who will do it on the side when im ready. I just need to figure out what parts im gonna need. Im thinking ill do a new tob regardless, probably a radium fork stop, and a monoloc (even though i supposedly already have one). I realize this post is pretty long, and i apologize for that. Even if you dont write a response, thank you for taking the time to read this. I really need to figure out what the hell happened, so i can get started with fixing it and driving again. Its only been 11 days and ive been driving my honda pilot. Needless to say, i miss my Evo!!! Thanks again!!

-WILL

 

Could be a number of things, you'll have to pull it apart and have a look..

 

I stopped reading at Spec Stage 3...

 

ayoustin, wow, that doesnt sound good. I have no prior experience with them. wouldnt be my first choice if i was going to buy a new clutch, but as it were, the car already had one. Up to this point, there hasnt been any problem. im probably up about 100hp over stock, and its always held the power without slipping or making noise. Otherwise, i know nothing about them. I take it from your comment that they have a bad rep, which is fine, ill buy something else if i need to, but brand quality wasnt the point of my post. If the brand of my clutch has a history of causing my issue, id appreciate you telling me instead of just dumping on the brand without explanation. My goal here is to find out what i could possibly be dealing with, and what commonly happens with the pull type clutch that mitsu uses. What purpose does it serve to say how you stopped reading after you read the brand? What do i do with that? Just buy a new clutch from a brand you approve of, and hope it doesnt happen again?I figured the point of this forum was to share information, i guess i was mistaken! Anyway, at least you read some of it.

-WILL

 

Just a suggestion.

You may want to separate your text into separate paragraphs versus one large wall-Of-Text. Will likely get more responses instead of users giving up on trying to read that large one paragraph.

 

It's pretty common for the retaining clip in the throw out bearing to fail. Aftermarket throw out bearings. An OEM throw out bearing with an ACT Monoloc retaining clip and a fork stop will keep you issue free with the pull system.

As as stated, try to space out your messages. Leaving a giant blob of text will hardly ever get good responses.

 

I admit I didn't read the whole post... my eyes were going crossed, trying to read it on my laptop LOL. From what I can tell of the replies, I'm with this guy:

The clips are well known for coming out. Ask me how I know . OEM TOB is the ONLY way to go. Add in an ACT Monoloc and you are good to go. I read pull-types of clutches are better for one reason or another.. something about being more efficient. I can't remember, exactly.

Anyway, good luck! I'd also suggest making your post shorter and more concise as well as adding some paragraph breaks.

 

Hey guys. I appreciate the responses from everyone. I will also follow the advice of everyone who suggested i space out my posts. I apologize.

So i still havent solved my problem. I did manage to pull my skid plate and look in through the inspection hole.

I was able to confirm that its using the ACT Monoloc, however, i have no way of determining the maker of the TOB. I can clearly see that the tob is still attached to the pressure plate release levers, and that there are no obvious signs of failure.

However, when i focused on the position of the wavy springs, i noticed that there was a gap between the monoloc and the levers on just one side. When the clutch pedal is depressed you can clearly see that its not pulling on the levers equally, causing the friction disk to only unclamp partially.

I tried to pull on the release fork, seeing if it would seat when i pulled it towards the slave. It did travel fairly easily, but it didnt really make any difference.

At this point, Im thinking something broke on the assembly of cages that are attached to the pressure plate levers, causing the tob to become misaligned.

Does anyone have any idea? Also, What is the specific name of the cages that attach to the pressure plate levers? I cant seem to find them anywhere. I just keep getting the monoloc/retaining collar. Are they only sold with the pressure plate? Do they come with a new tob if you order it from mitsubishi?


With the pedal depressed

 

If I understand you correctly, the part you're talking about is part of the pressure plate. The center springs are all connected at the middle by the cage that the monoloc clips into.

You might be able to see a bit better what's going on if you get in there with a borescope but otherwise you're gonna have to drop the tranny to see the whole situation.

 

It's kinda rare... but I've seen the mounting points for the fork rod thingy break. I wonder if that's what happened to yours. That could explain why the fork doesn't seem to be pulling straight. It may be something as simple as the pressure plate fingers being messed up and not letting the Monoloc seat correctly. Either way, everything has to come off, so may as well get 'er done. It should be pretty obvious, once it's apart. I'd also recommend NOT using that brand of clutch.