Should the clutch feel soft when it is new? Mine feels pretty soft right now. I was expecting to get a sore leg pressing in this clutch. Is this normal. I have 10 miles on it so far.

Dave
05 Ford F150 SuperCrew FX4

It starts off reaaaaal soft then gradually gets harder, but you won't notice it
Alvin

96 RST


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Alvin

http://www.cardomain.com/id/96rst

I also am getting this weird knocking sound when it idles. It did this before the clutch was installed but now its worse. It stops when i press the clutch. What could this be?

Dave
05 Ford F150 SuperCrew FX4

it will be soft at first. i think the knocking is lever that pushes the throwout bearing to the clutch. i bet it isn't seated perfect. i screwed around with my clutch last night and pullet all that apart and i didn't put it together perfectly and know i get a slight knock. the lever might be slightly touching the clutch so every time it goes around it lightly taps the clutch.


and then again this is a guess

http://home.bendcable.com/optimuspeterson <<<<HRC Stage 2 and Star Instructions
95 Eclipse - SOLD | 93 BMW 318is - SOLD | 2000 S-10 Extreme on 20's - SOLD
93 Toyota/shaved/bagged/body dropped - SOLD | 97 GSX - SOLD
2006 Scion tC

did you change or examine the pilot berring when you had the tranny out? if not then that could be a culprit, the pilot berring goes in the rear of the crankshaft, the front of the tranny mainshaft rides in this and keeps the shaft from jumping/flopping and what not. the next (most likely not the prob) could be a bad mainshaft berring in the tranny. They usually sound like shit grinding in the tranny, mine has been like this for 2 yrs now. being that you said it did this before you changed the clutch rules out the my first choice of a loose flywheel. I know people who have junked their rides due to this, it sounds like a engine knock. good luk dave

ASE certified master auto technician

Yeah its lud but defintely forp thje tranny area. If it doesnt hurt anything I will just leave it how it is. Ads long as it works I am OK with it.

Dave
05 Ford F150 SuperCrew FX4

my clutch did the same thing when I first installed it. mine was more like a grinding noise tho, not knocking. anyway, I just had to readjust the clutch pedal a bit and the noise was gone. u can do that from inside of the car right behind the clutch pedal. there is a little nut connected to the clutch pedal, just tightning it, or loosing it a bit till u get the noise to go away. try that b4 u go ahead and tear your tranny apart.

Adel

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Damn Adel, haven't seen you post on here in awhile! For you Dave, my clutch pedal isn't much stiffer than stock. I really like that clutch a lot. The only thing diff. is that it is "on/off". By that I mean that it is hard to slip it slowly, it just wants to grab

Ive had every clutch I can think of in my car (centerforce, brute power, clutchmasters stage III, o.e. stock replacement and now SPEC stage 3 six puck ceramic clutch suppose to be good for over 400hp. They all feel like crap. Only the clutchmasters stage 3 modular felt simular to the original. Event he oe stock replacement felt like a 3cyl geo metro clutch at the pedal. It probably will always feel soft but you'll get used to it and it will get a little firmer. You can adjust the arm underneath the clutch pedal to firm it up some just make sure you dont adjust it until the clutch is continuesly engaged.

:farfrommugen:
Yes I still own a 2gnt.
Damn right I've been here longer than U
klassic_liven@yahoo.com

Yeah Dave mine felt like nothing was there, it felt like I was just pushing in a pedal that wasn't connected to anything, but after about 500 miles, it got back to the stock feel.
I also was expecting it to be pretty firm but like I said mine feels stock and I have had aout 5K miles on it.

Mark Dollar
Stage 3-4 Turbo
See my White Avenger @
WWW.Armond30.com

I dont want to alarm you, but me and Matt95TGS just finished putting in his new motor and clutch, and when we started it, it was knocking really loud, like something was hitting in the bellhousing, clutch area..So we thought it was the throw out bearing, and yanked the tranny out. To our surprise, it was fine, but there was very fine metal shavings blowing off the flywheel(its a fidanza btw). So we took off the clutch, and took it apart. But before this, i held up the new clutch to the old clutch and something didnt look quite right...the stock clutch STILL HAD THE CENTERING RING attached to it!! So the new clutch disk pucks were not perfectly centered between the pressure plate and the flywheel, causeing the pucks to hit the inner lip of the flywheel. It wore a little groove in the flywheel, but it was ok. Check to be sure you put in that centering ring, as we had never done a clutch before, and didnt realize that part even existed. It should NOT make any knocking sounds at all, but maybe the first 10 minutes or so of driving, but none after that..

13.5 @108 MPH-2.2 60ft(stupid FWD!)
S16G @ 18 PSI/FMIC/Running on MegaSquirt II (Now with sequential
fuel injection)
My webpage: http://eclipsed4evr.home.comcast.net
-1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS-T- "Toy"
-1992 Plymouth Laser Turbo AWD(SOLD)
-2000 Honda CR-V(daily)

Whats a centering ring and what doies it look like?

Dave
05 Ford F150 SuperCrew FX4

Yeah tell me more about this centering ring. Since the disc is splined (see pic of disc) and fits on the shaft with little play where does it go and how does it center? I've never heard of this part until now.

:farfrommugen:
Yes I still own a 2gnt.
Damn right I've been here longer than U
klassic_liven@yahoo.com

The centering ring attaches to the flywheel. Its about 4" in diameter, and has a 1" round "nub" that sticks out, and that part fits into the indentation in the end of the crankshaft. BTW, this was on his stock modular clutch, and we installed the Fidanza flywheel, and Spec 4 puck Feramic clutch. The Fidanza flywheel had the round opening for this centering ring, but we didnt realize it was there, or even needed it. If you had bought a modular clutch setup, I'm not sure if it comes with this ring or not, but it came right out of his stock modular setup. Its just a metal disk like piece that has 3 tabs on it that fit into the center of the flywheel..It keeps the FLYWHEEL centered, not the clutch disk/pressure plate..because the holes that mount the flywheel to the flexplate have a little play in them, and are not the same exact size as the bolts that fit into them..

13.5 @108 MPH-2.2 60ft(stupid FWD!)
S16G @ 18 PSI/FMIC/Running on MegaSquirt II (Now with sequential
fuel injection)
My webpage: http://eclipsed4evr.home.comcast.net
-1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS-T- "Toy"
-1992 Plymouth Laser Turbo AWD(SOLD)
-2000 Honda CR-V(daily)

wait, if you are using a mmodular clutch then there is no way you can even get this in thing out of it? dave bought a CM stage 4 modular clutch. the modular clutch comes all together out of the box? does this ring go between the clutch and the drive plate? i am thoroughly confused? does this even matter for a modular clutch?
lates
james

Rest In Peace Heidi Doggy

Well since this was my first experience with our clutches, this is the info that i can tell you. Matt has a 95, with a modular clutch setup stock. If you look at the stock clutch, you have the pressure plate, then clutch disk, then flywheel, all rivited together. Then on the back part of the flywheel, the part that gets bolted to the starter flexplate, there is a centering ring that snaps into place, right in the center of the flywheel. It has a nub on it that fits right into the indent on the crankshaft, which when the clutch/flywheel assembly is put on, the ring keeps it all centered, so when you bolt the flywheel/clutch assembly to the starter plate, it keeps it all in line, centered, because the holes in the starter plate aren't perfectly the same size as the 4 bolts that hold the flywheel on. The holes are slightly larger, thus giving some off center movement of the whole flywheel/pressure plate assembly. So when we had his new clutch in without this ring, the pressure plate and the flywheel were not perfectly centered with the clutch disk. This made the flywheel spin in a non-circular motion,in relation to the clutch disk, because it was off centered. This resulted in the centered clutch disk pucks hitting a grove that was on the inside lip of the fidanza flywheel. It made a very lound knocking noise, metalic sounding. So IMO, you would need to use this ring no matter if its modular or nonmodular setup. But like i said, this was my first experience with our clutches, and he had a modular stock clutch, and we put in a non-mod one, but really, they are both the same parts wise, its just the non mod ones, the pressure plate and flywheel are not rivited toghere, they are bolted. And this centering ring just pops out of the stock flywheel...it has 3 metal tabs that press into the flywheel to keep in in place.. Now we used the Fidanza flywheel, which had the inner lip to it, where the clutch disk pucks would spin, just imagine a brake rotor, and the clutch disk gets sandwiched between that surface and the pressure plate surface, but imagine a lip that is on the outside edge of a rotor. So the clutch fits inside this piece. I'm not sure if all flywheels are like this, some may not have this inner lip at all, wich would mean you would not know if the clutch disk is off centerd from the flwheel/pressure plate surfaces. Remember, the clutch disk turns "freely" so to speak, between the flywheel surface and the pressure plate surface, and the clutch disk fits onto the tranny spline, which cneters that. So in a nutshell, the centering ring keeps the flywheel and pressure plate centered on the crank, and the tranny keeps the clutch disk centered inbetween the flywheel and the pressure plate.. Damn, i learned a lot over the weekend about clutches

13.5 @108 MPH-2.2 60ft(stupid FWD!)
S16G @ 18 PSI/FMIC/Running on MegaSquirt II (Now with sequential
fuel injection)
My webpage: http://eclipsed4evr.home.comcast.net
-1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS-T- "Toy"
-1992 Plymouth Laser Turbo AWD(SOLD)
-2000 Honda CR-V(daily)

AHHHH I see now, so this ring thing you are talking about is kind of like a spacer that takes up the space between the ridge on the drive plate and the flywheel. i'll see if it is needed when i put in my CM4 and post it.
lates
james

Rest In Peace Heidi Doggy

Ahh, so that is called a centering ring? I call it dead weight. Just pop it out with a screw driver and throw it in the garbage can where it belongs. Works fine without it. I was like, wtf is this guy talking about a centering ring.... heheh..

I wonder what the hell is making the noise in my tranny then? I guess it doesnt matter if nothing breaks. It is really annoying though.

BTW it started when the engine got rebuilt and it got worse since the new clutch.

Dave
05 Ford F150 SuperCrew FX4

>Ahh, so that is called a centering ring? I call it dead
>weight. Just pop it out with a screw driver and throw it in
>the garbage can where it belongs. Works fine without it. I
>was like, wtf is this guy talking about a centering ring....
>heheh..


Well ask Matt-95tgs about it...its NOT dead weight..we learned the hard way IF its not in the new clutch assembly, you clutch isn't properly lined up..maybe why you blew your tranny greg? If its not in there, it will cause a major unbalance too..not good there... And Dave, your clutch should NOT be making those noies, take it back to him to fix it. Something isn't right somewhere...or you can just let it be and damage your tranny or clutch.. I dont know, but maybe other clutches come already with the centering ring...All i know is that the Fidanza flywheel NEEDS this centering ring...Howell automotive also says the same thing..he got his clutch/flywheel from there..

13.5 @108 MPH-2.2 60ft(stupid FWD!)
S16G @ 18 PSI/FMIC/Running on MegaSquirt II (Now with sequential
fuel injection)
My webpage: http://eclipsed4evr.home.comcast.net
-1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS-T- "Toy"
-1992 Plymouth Laser Turbo AWD(SOLD)
-2000 Honda CR-V(daily)

The fact Dave already said the noise goes away when he presses in the clutch tells me it is his throwout bearing. Did you resuse the stock one or buy a new one? For such a simple annoying part you should always buy a new one.

05 Mazda RX-8
06 Lotus Elise

Dont the CM stage 4's come with a new throwout bearing? I am pretty sure mine did.

Dave
05 Ford F150 SuperCrew FX4

my centerforce makes a loud grinding noise also but goes away as the car warms up. clutch feels strong hasnt slipped so i guess ill leave it.


"Proud to be, a 2gnt" (was)


-mitsuman
95 gs
Hrc stg 2

-mitsuman 95 GS 5-spd w/97-99 front end
Repin The SoCal 2GNT'ers
mitsuman95@hotmail.com
AIM s/n : mitsuman95gs

As Matt has been saying, the centering ring is needed. I spoke to an extremely knowledgable person here in town sho builds custom clutches for a living and he said that most aftermarket clutches should come with both a throwout bearing and a new centering ring, however mine did not. Matt is correct though, the centering ring is critical in keeping your flywheel/pressure plate centered on the clutch disk. You can mainly tell if it is out of balance when you push in the clutch and put the car in gear. It will vibrate and possibly make some banging sounds. If the noise is going away when you push in the clutch, Murix is right, it is most likely the throwout bearing not aligning properly with the pressure plate teeth. What happens is when you tighten down the pressure plate to the flywheel with the disk in the middle, the springs clamp down on the disk and can cause the teeth of the pressure plate to become uneven. When there is pressure on the teeth (when you push in the clutch), the teeth are pushed up tight to the bearing which aligns them all back in a plane. When you release it, the teeth go back out of plane and can slap aginst the throwout bearing. You can probably eliminate the noise by adjusting the pedal of the car, but if you can't, I would have it looked at.

Matt
1995 Eclipse GS
2.0L, S16g Turbo, 8 Injectors, 26psi

1998 Eclipse GSX
2.3L Stroker, AEM EMS Converted to Speed Density, FP3065 Turbo, 35psi , and so on...