Clutch Issue - has anybody seen this before?
 

Hello, I am a bit baffled as to what happened with my car. The clutch setup consists of a Competition Clutch Stage 4 (sprung 6 puck) & an ACT Streetlite flywheel. I have about 6k miles on this setup, all of which have been a mix of highway/city. Last week, I decided it was finally time I launch this thing for the first time. First launch I spun through first, then I grabbed 2nd and 3rd no problem. Gave it about 10 minutes of no-boost driving, and some sitting, and did it again. Launched off the 2 step again, same story... spin city through first, go to grab second... clutch won't disengage. I launched it like I've launched all my AWD DSM's for the last decade. Ease off the clutch until I feel it start to engage, then swiftly release the pedal (and in this case it just blew the tires off the car immediately)


I diagnosed it, and realized it's not the hydraulic components, or the wave clip. So I pulled the trans last night. What I saw shocked me. Pressure plate came off, but the clutch disk did not. Would not come off when pulled by hand. I had to pry it off the back of the flywheel with a decent size screwdriver, it felt like it was "welded" to the flywheel. The pucks are broken up, with some material still stuck to the face of the flywheel & some to the pressure plate. Hub is intact, just the material on the pucks that's broken off in chunks front and back. :crap:


I have never experienced this before, has anybody else? What would've caused it? What clutch should I go with next? The car is making 340-350 ft-lbs to the wheels and 470-475whp. Those numbers might increase slightly, although not planning to go past the limits of the stock rods. I do plan to launch the car once in a while, that's why I initially went with a 6 puck (as I've ran many in previous DSMs)


I would post pics, as I have many - but photobucket is being stupid.

Whats up dude.
Idk what you mean by the pressure plate was off.

If you mean the bolts were completely off then i suspect installer error.

If they were all bolted down then i will say ive heared alot of horror stories about cc clutch.

I have not experience with competition clutch but ive heared alot of bad ****.

I will recommend a act brand clutch.

I used to have a act hdss in my set up that started slipping so i went act hdss pressure plate with a extreme 6 puck sprung disk from act. The car is anooying to drive, with new clunks and noises then before but the clutch is holding the power and shifts like butter uptop. No lock out issues. Its a great clutch once rolling but daily driving sucks.

So if you dont mind the characteristics of the 6 puck ill deff recommend.

If you want a more comfy clutch id go hdss act.

I was gonna go hdss again but i was informed if doing launches the hdss material gets too hot and warps the pressure plate and flywheel causing lockout issues. So i went with tbe CERAMIC 6 puck.

Hey! Sorry what I meant was, I unbolted the pressure plate and pulled it off as you normally do. The bolts were all tight as they should be. But normally when you unbolt the pressure plate and take it off, the clutch disk is free and falls right out. Mine did not, as it was stuck as if it was glued to the flywheel. I installed the flywheel w/ locktite, torqued to spec in a star pattern, same with the pressure plate. New OEM bolts, locktite, torqued to spec in a cross pattern so I know it was done right.


I heard good reviews on the CC "stage 3" so I figured I would be safe with the 4... I was wrong. I have had ACT in my previous DSMs but all sucked, although I heard ACT stepped their game up for the Evo platform and their stuff is good. 6 puck is okay with me, that's all I've ever run for the most part.

You over heated the clutch.

You are going to have to find another 3rd party host to post your pictures as Photobucket no longer supports this.... unless you are going to fork out their $400/year subscription fees.

I'm curious to see what your disk looks like. If it was working fine for 6k miles and two launches toasted this clutch, you may have slipped it a little too much without realizing it and did in fact overheat the clutch. You may think you were spinning, but I can almost guarantee that they RPMs shot up because the clutch was slipping and not so much tire spin.

Yeah I'm inclined to agree with you guys on the overheating, just not sure how. I've watched the launch video multiple times, where I can see smoke starting to come from the front tire from spinning, and I can hear the tires screeching as they're spinning on pavement once I released the clutch. It bit hard, and I am 100% it did not slip. If anything I am starting to think it's due to not giving it sufficient cool down between launches (about 10 min). At the track in the DSMs I usually waited 20+ minutes between runs on pucked clutches (had good luck with SouthBend, ACT was OK too), however I have hot lapped them a few times trying to chase a time goal while running out of time at night without issues.


Either way, CC told me to pound salt because the clutch is older than 90 days from date of purchase. Did not stand behind anything, for that reason alone. Guy on the phone said if it was in the 'warranty' period they would've done more. The damn thing sat in the box, new, for more than 90 days while I was gathering parts over the winter to put it together. But such is life.


I was able to carefully surgically remove the puck material off the pressure plate and flywheel. Luckily there's no scratches or grooving in either, they're as smooth and clean as it should be. As if nothing happened. So I'm thinking to order an ACT 6 puck sprung, and put it back together and see how that does. A part of me is thinking to do the full face disk just for drivability, the other part says to go back to a 6 puck. I know the disk is known for disengagement issues up in the RPMs (and it's held true on DSMs as well) so for that reason I would want to do the puck.


What do you guys think?

For anybody researching this in the future: Yes, an ACT 6 puck disk will work with the Competition pressure plate. Right now, my setup consists of an ACT streetlite flywheel, an ACT sprung 6 puck and a Competition Clutch pressure plate.

why not a twin disk? More money up front, but supposedly can take a pretty good beating.

Honestly I don't have any experience with the twin disks. I don't know how reliable they are for the long daily commute, I rack on miles. I don't know if they can also last a long time. The budget was also an issue... During the winter when I did everything else I didn't have the money for a twin, and now I was tight on cash due to getting a new place, moving, etc. Perhaps the next time around I can do a twin disk, assuming it is relatively reliable in the long run.

Sounds like the flywheel was issue to me upon reading this. Does anyone else have that same setup? I would have gone with a different flywheel like a findanza aluminum or similar

I think a fair bit of people are using the ACT flywheel. It was brand new along with everything else when I installed it. I've used many ACT flywheels before on the 4G63's without an issue, they've all been great.

I have used them before too and think they make a great product for the price. I was thinking the combination was not suited for that particular flywheel. Not that the flywheel itself was defective. Just a thought which is why i asked if their is anyone using same or similar stage clutch kit with that flywheel.

Last update for this for now if anybody searches later:


The ACT disk with the Competition PP is actually really nice. Break in was rougher, but with some miles and launches under it's belt it drives exceptionally well. Much, much better than it ever did with the Competition disk. The pressure plate is a bit heavier than stock, but a pleasant heavy not stupid Exedy heavy.


If you're reading this, while doing research to buy the Competition Clutch stage 4 kit for these cars - in my opinion, don't. Look elsewhere for a clutch. Their pressure plate is nice, the disk sucks and has sucked since day 1.

Sorry to hear your troubles OP!

I love my HKS Twin :-) only stalled her the first try too!

Hey, it's all part of the game :) Perhaps my troubles can help save somebody some headaches later if they come across this thread in time.