Car is a 2001 with T3/T4 turbo. I had a Competition Stage 4 (6-puck disc) clutch installed and flywheel resurfaced about 1,000 miles ago. I did a proper 500 mile break in, during which the clutch bedded in really well!

As of a couple of weeks ago I've noticed that the clutch engagement has become sticky and notchy. To better define it, I start the car the clutch engages smoothly. Once I drive it for a few minutes it starts to becoming sticky. Meaning, when I press the pedal, it feels like it's rough, sort of grinding and sticking. This makes clutch engagement difficult as the Stage 4 clutch has a very short engagement window. It actually gets worse the longer I drive the car. It is most noticeable in first gear, somewhat noticeable in second gear. Looking at my clutch pedal, everything looks good and clean. The pedal isn't catching on anything and there's no grease coming out of the cylinder.

Anybody experience a similar issue and able to pin-point it?

 

Just wanted to note that a brand new OEM throwout bearing was used during the install.

 

You will probably find your answer here Sticky Clutch Fix. Good luck!

 

Who installed the clutch for you? If ^^^ doesn't fix your issue, it could mean that not enough (or any) grease was applied to the throw out bearing guide before reassembly and the new throw out bearing is riding on the bare metal of the guide. Did you replace the throw out bearing guide as well? The old one could have been scored up from the previous setup.

 

Thanks for the tip S2klariat! This sounds easy enough, so I hope it fixes the problem.

CoolGuy - a performance auto shop here in Colorado installed it. I have to assume that they did the install properly, including the steps you mentioned. Unfortunately, I can't be sure, so I hope it's not internal. I don't have the space or tools to pull the tranny, which is why I had a shop do it in the first place.

 

Another thing that could be causing it is a rusted input shaft from the transmission. They were under lubed from the factory and can cause a "dragging" feeling. Ask the shop if they noticed any rust on the input shaft. When I changed my clutch there was rust so I cleaned it the best I could with PB blaster and used a nice Moly grease to grease the splines on the input shaft. Paired that with grinding down the slave ball and it's smooth as silk

 

i have the same problem, a hard grinding sound when engaging the clutch. sound harsh.

do you mean, i have to grease the side of the throughout bearing, where the fork pushes on?

 

I had the same issue after break in. It was the tube that the TB slides on. $20 part but i had to remove the tranny again.

 

I thought it was a hydraulic issue but no luck.

 

the tube?

please send pic or part number? i hate the sound when it engages......