FX350 Clutch Issues
 

Hello everyone,

I recently put my car back together after replacing the clutch with a Clutchmasters FX350 kit with Nachi/OEM bearings/TOB and enclosed springs, Had a local speed shop resurface my flywheel just to be safe. After putting everything back together I noticed the clutch is incredibly hard to get used to. The engagement moved way up compared to stock and the car shudders coming off the clutch no matter gas I give it, absolutely not smooth at all. Shifting through the rest of the gears is fine but coming off the line is a nightmare. I chalked it up to needing broken in and time for me to get used to it. The engagement point is so tiny I have no idea how it could be correct...coming off the clutch super slow causes it to shudder and it feels like the cars lugging regardless of the gas you give it. If you try to be faster you can still feel that shudder but it just doesn't last as long.

Here we are 300 miles later and it is still just as bad, the clutch buzz on decel is obviously there but I have also noticed I can hear that same noise but not as loud when accelerating as well....I have bled my slave twice now and it didn't seem to help much at all. I adjusted my CMC and noticed it was very wet and leaking a bit which isn't uncommon from what I have read. I have decided to replace both the CMC and slave with OEM parts that should be here next week, I figured the slave should replaced anyway as it exploded the first time I put everything back together and missed the clutch fork and over extended the slave.. If that doesn't resolve the issue I am really thinking of pulling the trans again and going with a different clutch

My next question is which clutch to go with, I would like to keep everything else that I have and just swap out the disk for OEM but I am not sure how much the Clutchmasters PP can hold. I am aiming for 480rwhp with my setup.

Any input is appreciated and I will update this thread as my parts come in,

Thanks!

Is there a reason you went with the Clutchmasters FX350 setup? It uses an Exedy disc? Isn't there issues with this disc?

I had a local buddy recommend Clutchmaster's to me and I also got a good deal on it, if I can hold my power goal on this pressure plate and an OEM disk I will gladly swap it.

There’s a reason the deal was good.

The Clutchmasters PP relies on the friction material of the disc to achieve its bite. It will not work well with an oem disc, ESPECIALLY in an FI application.

I would scrap the whole thing.

-Act PP
-oem or choice of chromoly flywheel
-everything else oem

A proper car operator can expect over 150,000 miles of flawless operation with this setup. I have done it to countless cars over the last 16 years, and have 140k miles on this setup in my car.

Thankfully I already have the OEM parts so grabbing the ACT PP and oem clutch wouldn't cost too much. I also just realized I lost a 14mm socket when doing the top starter bolt and was unable to find it...I wonder if that is causing my buzz on acceleration. I have no idea how to even get to that area to remove the socket...what a pain!

I have no issues with my FX350. Smooth and no chatter. Engagement area same as OEM. How much did the machine shop take off of your flywheel and did it have a rough of mirror finish?

Sure wish I was in that same boat....and it wasn't a mirror, looked pretty textured.

Confused how you don't have any clutch buzz on decel?

Alright, at 750 miles on this clutch now, the rough shudder from a start hasn't gone away. I can't tell if it has gotten a fraction better or not but I did notice something odd.

After letting the car sit for a bit and cool down there is no shudder coming out of first gear, but after driving for awhile it returns? It isn't because the idle is higher because I can keep my RPM's at 3k and let off the clutch and it will still shake the same....any ideas what would cause that?

Maybe slave cylinder hanging up after tolerances close in or possible oil leak?

I have a brand new CMC and Slave installed to try and remedy this issue. Same as with my old parts sadly.