Flywheel Clutch Issue

[centerville]

I had the rear main replaced in my car. The shop that did the work said that my flywheel was pretty ugly so they cleaned it up. They did not have it resurfaced or did not charge me for that, not likely. Now shifting the car is rough. Car has not been brought up to full temp or speed as I am still working on a brake issue.

I have done some reading now and it might be a release issue. How can I diagnose this better?

Sorry for all the newbie questions guys. The learning curve for all of this has been steep.

[64GunPilot]

When you say shifting is rough what do you mean specifically? What platform are you driving? Nice red 3rd Gen right?

Is it hard to put into gear? Grinding when you put it in gear? This is typically a failure of the pressure plate to disengage fully. This could be a hydraulic problem with your slave cylinder or master clutch cylinder. Have these been replaced recently? Are they bled properly? Or is your car cable driven clutch? If its a clutch cable type then maybe the cable needs adjusting to allow for a full disengagement of the pressure plate.

If the clutch is engaging strong and disengaging properly and the trans can be shifted through the gears without trouble then read on:

The clutch feels "grabby" or jerky when you let out on the pedal? This could be a couple of things. They might have done a simple dingleball resurface of your flywheel using something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Brush-Research-Flex-Hone-For-Rotors/dp/B007SOW0WC . Maybe the new surface on the flywheel needs time to break in? They might not have hit it perfectly even as this would have been completely manual work with a drill. This is complete speculation as we have no idea what it looked like when it was removed and after it was reinstalled.

OR you might have a high performance stage3 clutch that grabs hard and feels jerky. This is just a characteristic of that type of clutch disc. You can change discs for a different feel, but this is obviously a lot of work.

Let us know more specifics of this "shifting roughness". How it feels specifically. Is it hard to shift, grinding, or clutch just feels weird?

[centerville]

Yeah more info for sure.

The car shifted like butter before going in the shop. 94 mustang t5 with mechanical clutch. When shifting from gear to gear it just does not want to smoothly go into the next gear. A couple times I had to double clutch to get it into gear. I can force it each time but that was not the case before it all came apart. Is there any reason to have the pressure plate anything but smooth?

[Sook]

Do you have a firewall adjuster or the factory pedal adjuster for the clutch cable? Clutch cable tension is the first place I'd look, sounds like it's not disengaging all the way.

- Josh

[64GunPilot]

Sounds to me like you need to tighten the cable. Do you have the steeda clutch adjustment system?

https://www.amazon.com/Steeda-555-7041-Clutch-Quadrant-Cable/dp/B002L1IZMQ

This system has an easy adjustment knob on the firewall plus the factory adjustment on the transmission end of the cable. If you dont have this kit installed youll have to go to adjust the cable from under the car. Many youtube how to videos.

99% sure this is your problem. Your clutch isnt getting full disengagement.

Still new to CMC but i believe per the rules this “mechanism” is allowed.

6.26 Clutch/Flywheel
6.26.1 Any single disc clutch and pressure plate of OEM stock diameter may be used provided that it is bolted directly to the unmodified OEM stock flywheel and the pressure plate is made of the same material as OEM.
6.26.2 Any clutch actuating cable and linkage mechanisms or master and slave cylinders as applicable may be used.

[Supercharged111]

I'd be looking at adjusting the cable too. As a point of reference, I installed an OS Given super single clutch in my car eons ago. The shifting was very notchy until the clutch bedded in, then it was good to go. You may need to wait for the flywheel to get bedded in until your feel comes back 100 percent.

[centerville]

I'd be looking at adjusting the cable too. As a point of reference, I installed an OS Given super single clutch in my car eons ago. The shifting was very notchy until the clutch bedded in, then it was good to go. You may need to wait for the flywheel to get bedded in until your feel comes back 100 percent.

This. I was wondering if that could affect it. 2metal surface rubbing and one has been changed slightly.

I do have the firewall adjuster and have changed where the shop had it set as I like the clutch more at the top being as short as I am. Has not seemed to help.

Thanks for the input guys.

[centerville]

Well I figured it out. I forgot they broke my clutch cable and replaced it. Cable was hooked to the wrong hook on the quadrant. Works better now.

[64GunPilot]

Awesome. Also if you havent already, double check your tranny fluid levels. Sometimes they will spill out the tail shaft housing during removal, and then forgotten about during reinstallation. Glad you figured it out.

[centerville]

So now under load 2nd to 3rd gear shift will not go. It goes up towards 3rd but not into gear as it gets up there it feels stiff. Also kind of gets stuck up by 3rd. I have to slow down to get the shift to complete. Tried adjusting clutch to make sure I am fully disengaged.

[Sook]

So now under load 2nd to 3rd gear shift will not go. It goes up towards 3rd but not into gear as it gets up there it feels stiff. Also kind of gets stuck up by 3rd. I have to slow down to get the shift to complete. Tried adjusting clutch to make sure I am fully disengaged.

I had a bunch of shifting issues at Hallett this year, ended up destroying the throw out bearing, melting the clutch spring fingers, and turning the front bearing retainer on the T5 blue. Take the shift fork cover off and try to see if anything is obviously wrong in there. Maybe the new cable is getting hung up? Can you float the gears between 2-3 without the clutch while moving?

Hopefully it's not an issue inside the box.

- Josh

[centerville]

So the transmission is coming out and going to the rebuilder to see whats up. I plan to replace all hardware and bearings. Does it matter where I get the pilot and throw out bearings from? There is a lot of difference in price out there. Also what about clutch choices? This is all new to me so I don't even know where to start except maybe lightest as possible.

[Sook]

So the transmission is coming out and going to the rebuilder to see whats up. I plan to replace all hardware and bearings. Does it matter where I get the pilot and throw out bearings from? There is a lot of difference in price out there. Also what about clutch choices? This is all new to me so I don't even know where to start except maybe lightest as possible.

I run a spec clutch and flywheel, because they have a contingency - I don't think it much matters. I've got national brand parts store stuff in mine and it seems to be fine. All the LS camaro work we've been doing with the #82 uses parts store stuff for pilot/throw outs and it's fine, the engines on the other hand...

I think the rules are explicit in saying you have to run a steel flywheel, so keep that in mind.

- Josh

[drecords]

So the transmission is coming out and going to the rebuilder to see whats up. I plan to replace all hardware and bearings. Does it matter where I get the pilot and throw out bearings from? There is a lot of difference in price out there. Also what about clutch choices? This is all new to me so I don't even know where to start except maybe lightest as possible.

If no luck inside the tranny, have a look at the clutch fork and throw out bearing. Beat my head over the wall with a clutch issue that was finally resolved with a new fork. LMR sells a Ford racing kit for trivial dollars that I keep in my box of spares.

[centerville]

I run a spec clutch and flywheel, because they have a contingency - I don't think it much matters. I've got national brand parts store stuff in mine and it seems to be fine. All the LS camaro work we've been doing with the #82 uses parts store stuff for pilot/throw outs and it's fine, the engines on the other hand...

I think the rules are explicit in saying you have to run a steel flywheel, so keep that in mind.

- Josh

Yeah I think I am just going to replace everything and save the old stuff for spares. And yes steal flywheel with a minimum weight if I remember right.

[centerville]

If no luck inside the tranny, have a look at the clutch fork and throw out bearing. Beat my head over the wall with a clutch issue that was finally resolved with a new fork. LMR sells a Ford racing kit for trivial dollars that I keep in my box of spares.

I have a 20% off coupon from LMR so good timing. Thanks

[centerville]

I run a spec clutch and flywheel, because they have a contingency - I don't think it much matters. I've got national brand parts store stuff in mine and it seems to be fine. All the LS camaro work we've been doing with the #82 uses parts store stuff for pilot/throw outs and it's fine, the engines on the other hand...

I think the rules are explicit in saying you have to run a steel flywheel, so keep that in mind.

- Josh

Which clutch are you running Josh?

[Sook]

Which clutch are you running Josh?

Not sure on part number, it was in the car when I got it. Maybe Tyler knows?

- Josh

[mach1]

Stage 1

[centerville]

Thanks guys.